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- In short: Power bills for Tasmanian households will increase by 9.51 per cent from July, an increase of $200 a year on the average bill
- What's next? Both the Australian and Tasmanian governments are offering $250 rebates for eligible households to help offset the increase
Electricity prices in Tasmania are set to rise by almost 10 per cent next month in a move that's been described as a "massive blow" for people already struggling with cost-of-living pressures.
Aurora Energy has been given approval to charge residential and small business customers an extra 9.51 per cent on average.
It means residential customers with median usage will be slugged about $200 more each year.
For businesses, annual bills will rise by between $126 and $284, depending on the type of tariff that applies.
The increase comes off the back of an 11.88 per cent surge in power prices last year.
The state's peak body for community services, TasCOSS, said the price hike would too much of a stretch for some households already burdened with rising interest rates, rental costs, food prices and fuel bills.
"It's going to be a massive blow for the many thousands of Tasmanians that are really struggling with rising cost of living," TasCOSS CEO Adrienne Picone said.
"One in four Tasmanians are experiencing poverty, meaning they're really struggling with being able to turn the lights on or turn the heater on or cook a meal."
Tasmanian Economic Regulator Joe Dimasi, who approved the increase, acknowledged the impact it would have on some customers.
"There's no question about it, these increases are higher than we would like to see," Mr Dimasi said.
"Unfortunately, what we are seeing is big increases in the wholesale price of energy, there's big increases in inflation and as a result we are seeing the rather big increases across all of Australia."
The Tasmanian price increase is among the lowest in the country, with NSW, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia facing hikes of between 17 and 29 per cent next financial year.
Mr Dimasi noted that both the Australian and Tasmanian governments were providing a rebate of $250 for eligible residential customers for each of the next two years and that would offset the rise for some people this year.
A separate rebate of $650 is available for eligible small businesses.
Adding 10 per cent to costs a 'scary thought'
For Mayble Parker, who lives in a share house in Hobart, the rising cost of living is already difficult to manage.
As a university student, she receives about $760 a fortnight in government support.
After paying rent and other bills, she said she was left with only about $150 a fortnight to cover food and social expenses.
"It's a bit tough sometimes, but I make it work," Ms Parker said.
She said even though she was a student, the $250 annual rebate would not apply to her share house because the electricity account was not in her name.
Adding almost 10 per cent to her share of the household bill would be hard to cover, she said.
"We're going to have to sacrifice either what plans we're doing or how much we leave the house or just living comfortably," she said.
"To add that expense, it's a bit of a scary thought."
Ms Picone urged the Tasmanian government to cap energy price rises at the national CPI rate.
"Being able to access energy is a basic human right," she said.
"It's not a 'nice to have' and it's something that we all should be able to access."
While a price cap was implemented several years ago, Energy Minister Guy Barnett said it was not under consideration now.
"That was appropriate for 2018, but the energy transition has moved on," he said.
"What we are focused on is caring for Tasmanians in a targeted way to ensure that we can meet their needs, and ensure that they are supported."
Aurora Energy said it had a range of support measures in place, including payment extensions, payment plans and direct financial assistance.
It encouraged customers who were struggling to pay their bills to contact the energy retailer.