Solar Feed-In Tariff Report 2018–19

Monitoring report

Solar feed-in tariff report 2018–19

October 2019

We wish to acknowledge the contribution of the following staff to this report: Michelle De Saram and Shannon Murphy

The Queensland Competition Authority has no objection to this material being reproduced, made available online or electronically but only if it is recognised as the owner of the copyright2 and this material remains unaltered.

Queensland Competition Authority Contents

Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY II

1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Solar feed-in tariffs 1 1.2 Monitoring and reporting in SEQ 1 1.3 Solar Bonus Scheme 2 1.4 Data sources 2 1.5 Components of a solar customer's bill 2 1.6 Advice for customers 2 1.7 Solar feed-in tariffs and retail prices differ 3

2 RETAIL FEED-IN TARIFFS 4 2.1 Terms of reference 4 2.2 Lowest, highest and average feed-in tariffs by quarter 2018–19 4 2.3 Trends between 2015–16 and 2018–19 9 2.4 New and/or innovative feed-in tariff structures 14

3 RETAIL ELECTRICITY OFFERS 16 3.1 Terms of reference 16 3.2 Most common tariffs and combinations of tariffs 16 3.3 Bills on solar offers, excluding the value of solar feed-in tariff payments 17 3.4 Comparison and ranking of the net overall electricity bills 20 3.5 Discounting strategies 26 3.6 Incentives 26 3.7 Solar metering charges 26

GLOSSARY 28

APPENDIX A: BILL CALCULATIONS 30

APPENDIX B: SUPPLEMENTARY DATA 31

Queensland Competition Authority Executive Summary

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Solar feed-in tariffs Solar feed-in tariffs are the prices that electricity retailers pay to solar customers who export surplus electricity to the electricity network. In south east Queensland (SEQ), retailers set the amount solar customers will receive for exports. The savings from using electricity from solar panels—rather than buying electricity from a retailer—usually exceed the revenue from feed-in tariffs. Consequently, retail electricity offers with the highest feed-in tariffs do not necessarily provide the lowest net overall bills for customers. When customers are comparing solar offers, it is critical they consider the amount of electricity they use, the times of the day that they use the most electricity and all other aspects of offers, not just the feed-in tariff.

Retail feed-in tariffs Across electricity offers for residential and small business customers, the number of retailers offering solar feed-in tariffs in SEQ has increased from 10 in 2016 to 23 in 2019. As both retail competition and wholesale energy prices increased in 2016–17 and 2017–18, so too did average solar feed-in tariffs in SEQ. In the June quarter of 2018, residential feed-in tariffs ranged from 6 to 20 cents per kilowatt hour (c/kWh) with the market average at 11 c/kWh. In the June quarter of 2019, residential feed-in tariffs again ranged from 6 to 20 c/kWh, with the market average at 10.7 c/kWh. The maintenance of 2017–18 feed-in tariffs in 2018–19 in SEQ was broadly consistent with trends in other regions of the National Electricity Market where feed-in tariffs are set by retailers.

Retail electricity offers Most retailers offered feed-in tariffs in 2018–19. Retail electricity offers with feed-in tariffs varied materially between and even within retailers, with different supply and usage charges, discounts, incentives and recurring fees resulting in a wide range of bills. Customers with small electricity consumption and low solar export ratio were generally better off with offers that had lower supply and usage charges, while customers with high consumption and a high export ratio were generally better off with offers that include higher feed-in tariffs, lower usage charges and discounts off usage charges. For residential customers, EnergyAustralia in many cases had the cheapest solar offers across the nine electricity consumption and solar export scenarios we analysed. For small business customers, Red Energy had the cheapest offers for solar customers.

More information Enquiries regarding this report can be made on the QCA website (http://www.qca.org.au/contact-us).

Queensland Competition Authority Introduction

1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Solar feed-in tariffs Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems generate electricity from the owner's home or business. If solar panels produce more electricity than the premises is using, the surplus electricity is exported, or 'fed in', to the electricity network. The figure below shows how a simple solar PV system works.

Source: Clean Energy Council, Guide to installing solar for households. Solar feed-in tariffs are the prices that the retailers pay solar customers for these exports. Most electricity retailers in south east Queensland (SEQ) pay solar customers a set amount that solar customers export into the network. Retailers make these payments because other customers import the electricity that solar customers export, which reduces the amount of electricity that retailers must buy on the wholesale energy market. In SEQ, retailers set the amount solar customers will receive for exports.1 Queensland has more solar systems (more than 560,000) than any other state, and one in three Queensland households has a solar PV system.2

1.2 Monitoring and reporting in SEQ The Queensland Government deregulated retail electricity prices for residential and small business customers in SEQ, including solar feed-in tariffs, effective from 1 July 2016. The government has since directed us to monitor and report on solar feed-in tariffs in the Energex distribution network, which covers SEQ. The direction requires us to report on solar feed-in tariffs that were available in the preceding tariff year (monitored on a quarterly basis) and to publish the report by 31 October each year.3

1 In regional Queensland, where there is limited competition, the QCA sets the feed-in tariff rate each year. More information is available on our 'Regional solar feed-in tariffs' web page. 2 Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy, 'Solar powers Queensland', media statement, 6 October 2019. 3 The direction notice and our solar feed-in tariff monitoring reports for 2016–17 and 2017–18 are available on our 'SEQ solar feed-in tariffs' web page.

Queensland Competition Authority Introduction

1.3 Solar Bonus Scheme Solar customers who applied for the Queensland Solar Bonus Scheme (SBS) before 10 July 2012 may also receive a subsidy in addition to a retailer feed-in tariff. As the SBS is a government- funded feed-in tariff paid through distributors, all eligible customers receive 44 cents per kilowatt hour (c/kWh) regardless of their chosen retailer. Although the SBS does not expire until 1 July 2028, the impact of the SBS is not part of the analysis in this report.

1.4 Data sources Retailer feed-in tariff and market offer data To help small customers to compare offers, the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) has developed a price comparator, which is available on its Energy Made Easy website.4 For our analysis of solar feed-in tariffs and bills on solar offers, we obtained information on retailers' standing and market offers in 2018–19 from Energy Made Easy.5

Consumption and solar export data The direction requires the QCA to calculate net bill positions for solar customers for a range of consumption and solar export levels. These consumption and solar export levels are based on metering information collected by Energex. We consider this the most appropriate data to use, as it is derived from the same data used to generate solar customer bills in SEQ.6

1.5 Components of a solar customer's bill Retail electricity offers for solar customers typically have four elements: • fixed supply charge(s), usually charged on a cents per day basis—supply charges generally cover infrastructure and metering costs associated with the electricity network, and retail costs • variable usage charge(s), generally charged on a cents per kilowatt hour basis—usage charges cover the cost of imported electricity • discounts, fees and other charges—which often have various terms and conditions attached to them • feed-in tariff amount(s), paid to solar owners for electricity that they export to the network.

1.6 Advice for customers The savings from using electricity from solar panels—rather than buying electricity from a retailer—usually exceed the revenue from feed-in tariffs. Consequently, retail offers with the highest feed-in tariffs do not necessarily provide the lowest net overall bills for customers. This

4 'Small customers' are defined as residential customers or business customers with an electricity consumption of less than 100 megawatt hours per year, as in the National Energy Retail Law, section 5 and National Energy Retail Regulations, section 7. See also the Energy Made Easy website. 5 In our previous solar feed-in tariff (FiT) monitoring reports we commented that solar customers would benefit from Energy Made Easy calculating annual electricity bills after solar payments have been applied. We encourage the AER, as part of its Energy Made Easy Redevelopment Project, to enhance the functionality of the website for the benefit of solar customers in SEQ. Details of the project are on the AER's website. 6 Tables 8 to 11 in section 3.4 show the consumption levels and export ratios used in our bill analysis.

Queensland Competition Authority Introduction

highlights the importance of solar customers considering their use of electricity and all aspects of an offer, not just the feed-in tariff. We encourage customers to periodically test the market. With more retailers to choose from and the lowest market offers getting cheaper over the past few years, active customers are likely to pay less than inactive or disengaged customers. Customers can also consult the websites of the Queensland and Australian governments, which provide general advice on how to engage with the retail electricity market.7

1.7 Solar feed-in tariffs and retail prices differ Electricity retailers would incur a loss if they offered a feed-in tariff equal to retail prices. The actual value of electricity generated by PV units is considerably less than the retail price, because when retailers buy energy from PV customers, they only avoid some of their normal business costs (costs of purchasing wholesale energy from generators and energy losses). However, they still incur most of their normal business costs (retail operating costs and network charges). Therefore, a 'one-for-one' feed-in tariff would require the retailers to subsidise solar PV customers; the cost of a subsidy would then need to be recovered through higher electricity prices.8

7 Queensland Government, 'Compare and choose electricity retailers' web page; Australian Government, 'Find the best energy deal' web page. 8 For more detail on this issue see Queensland Productivity Commission, Solar feed-in pricing in Queensland, final report, June 2016, pages 36–38 (particularly figure 17). Chapter 7 of the QPC report also discusses equity issues that can arise if solar feed-in tariffs exceed market rates.

Queensland Competition Authority Retail feed-in tariffs

2 RETAIL FEED-IN TARIFFS

This chapter reports on feed-in tariffs available in 2018–19, and compares them with feed-in tariffs available each year from 2015–16.

Key findings (1) As both retail competition and wholesale energy prices increased in 2016–17 and 2017–18, so too did average solar feed-in tariffs in SEQ. (2) A few retailers reduced their feed-in tariffs in 2018–19, but most either maintained or slightly increased tariffs, compared to 2017–18. (3) In 2018–19, residential and small business feed-in tariffs ranged from 6 to 20 c/kWh. (4) The trend in feed-in tariffs in SEQ was consistent with trends in retailers' feed-in tariffs in other parts of the National Electricity Market. (5) From the June 2018 quarter to the June 2019 quarter, the average solar feed-in tariff decreased marginally from 11 to 10.7 c/kWh on residential offers, and from 10.2 to 10 c/kWh on small business offers. (6) Only one retailer—Powerclub—offered a new or innovative feed-in tariff structure in 2018–19. Powerclub's market offers included an 'annual solar bonus' under which Powerclub reviews, at the end of the year, the actual wholesale value of a customer's solar exports compared to their feed-in tariffs. If the wholesale export value is higher than what a customer received through solar feed-in tariffs, Powerclub pays the difference.

2.1 Terms of reference Items 1, 4 and 5 of the terms of reference in the direction require the report to include: • a comparison of the lowest, highest and average feed-in tariffs between retailers • any trends in relation to retailers' feed-in tariffs in and between the reporting period (2018– 19) and preceding tariff years • any comment on the emergence of new and/or innovative feed-in tariff structures.

2.2 Lowest, highest and average feed-in tariffs by quarter 2018–19 Across electricity offers for residential and small business customers, the number of retailers offering solar feed-in tariffs in SEQ has increased from 10 in 2015–16 to 23 in 2019.

2.2.1 Residential offers In 2018–19, 25 retailers had residential offers available on Energy Made Easy, of whom 22 included feed-in tariffs on at least one of their offers.9 Momentum Energy, People Energy and Sanctuary Energy did not attach feed-in tariffs to any of their residential offers over the year.

9 One retailer, ERM Power, offered a solar feed-in tariff only to small business customers during 2018–19 (see Table 2). The 22 retailers with solar feed-in tariffs on residential offers, plus ERM Power, takes the SEQ total to 23.

Queensland Competition Authority Retail feed-in tariffs

In the March quarter, four retailers—DC Power, Locality Planning Energy, Powerclub and ReAmped Energy—entered the SEQ market, and in the June quarter, Future X Power entered the market. All five retailers offered feed-in tariffs to residential customers. The table below shows the feed-in tariffs, or range of feed-in tariffs, that each retailer offered to residential solar customers in SEQ during each quarter of 2018–19. Table 1 Residential feed-in tariffs by quarter, 2018–19 (c/kWh)

Retailer September qtr December qtr March qtr June qtr 1st Energy 6 6 6 6 AGL 10.6–20 10.6–20 10.6–20 10.6–20 Alinta Energy 11 11 11 11 Amaysim Energy 14 14 14 14 Click Energy 8–16 8–16 8–16 8–16 DC Power Co — — 15 15 Diamond Energy 12 12 12 12 Dodo Power & Gas 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 EnergyAustralia 16.1 16.1 16.1 16.1 Energy Locals 9–16 9–16 9–16 9–16 Future X Power — — — 7 Locality Planning Energy — — 10 10 Lumo Energy 6 6 6 6 Mojo Power 9–20 9–20 9–20 9–20 Origin Energya 7 7 7–17 7–17 Powerclubb — — 9.5 9.5 Powerdirect 10.6 10.6 10.6 10.6 Powershop 9.5 9.5 9.5 9.5 QEnergy 8 8 8 8 ReAmped Energy — — 8 8 Red Energy 6–11.5 6–17 6–17 6–17 Simply Energy 10 10 10 10 Highest 20 20 20 20 Average10 10.6 10.6 10.8 10.7 Lowest 6 6 6 6 Notes: We excluded the following offers from our analysis on the basis that their special terms and conditions distinguished them from generally available offers: a Origin Energy's Solar Boost and Solar Boost Plus offers, which had a requirement for customers to purchase solar systems through Origin. b Powerclub's solar offers, which required customers to have a battery system (or one being installed in the immediate future) capable of supporting almost all daily electricity usage between 3 pm and 8.30 pm. A dash (—) means the retailer did not attach a feed-in tariff to its offer(s) in the SEQ market, or did not have any offers in the market. Sources: Energy Made Easy; QCA analysis. The graph below shows retailers' feed-in tariff ranges for residential offers in the June quarter, and the average feed-in tariff of 10.7 c/kWh in the market in that quarter.

10 To calculate the market average FiT, we first calculated the simple average of FiTs on each retailer's portfolio of offers (excluding offers with no FiT attached), and then calculated the simple average of all of the retailers' averaged FiT. This approach removes any effect that retailers with a relatively large share of offers with FiTs in the market would have on the market average.

Queensland Competition Authority Retail feed-in tariffs

Figure 1 Residential feed-in tariffs, June quarter 2018–19 (c/kWh)

Lowest FiT Highest FiT Average Retailer Average

20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0

Note: Retailers are sorted by their highest feed-in tariff (in descending order). Sources: Energy Made Easy; QCA analysis. QCA assessment Range of feed-in tariffs The feed-in tariffs offered to residential customers ranged from 6 to 20 c/kWh in each quarter. AGL and Mojo Power offered the highest feed-in tariffs of 20 c/kWh on their Residential Solar Savers (AGL) and Connect and EnergyPass (Mojo Power) solar offers. There were no special terms or conditions on the AGL offer, but on the Mojo Power offers the 20 c/kWh tariff only applied to the first 2,000 kWh of solar export in the year (with 9 c/kWh above that threshold).11 Most retailers' feed-in tariffs remained unchanged through the year—with the exception of Origin Energy and Red Energy. Origin Energy introduced new Solar Boost offers over the second half of the year with a feed-in tariff of 17 c/kWh.12 Red Energy increased its highest feed-in tariff from 11.5 to 17 c/kWh from the second quarter onwards. Average feed-in tariff The average feed-in tariff offered to residential solar customers was fairly stable over the year and ranged from 10.6 to 10.8 c/kWh.

2.2.2 Small business offers In 2018–19, 20 retailers had small business offers made available on Energy Made Easy, of whom 19 offers included feed-in tariffs on at least one of their offers. Momentum Energy did not attach feed-in tariffs to any of its offers available over the year.

11 For more detail on Mojo Power's declining solar FiT blocks, see section 2.4. 12 On Energy Made Easy, these Solar Boost offers had no requirement for customers to purchase solar systems through Origin Energy. They were therefore considered to be generally available offers and included in our analysis.

Queensland Competition Authority Retail feed-in tariffs

Powerclub and Future X Power published small business offers in SEQ for the first time in the March and June quarters respectively. ERM Power did not publish any offers on Energy Made Easy during the second half of the year. The table below shows the feed-in tariffs, or range of feed-in tariffs, that each retailer offered to small business solar customers in SEQ during each quarter of 2018–19. Table 2 Small business feed-in tariffs by quarter, 2018–19 (c/kWh)

Retailer September qtr December qtr March qtr June qtr 1st Energy 6 6 6 6 AGL 10.6–20 10.6–20 10.6–20 10.6–20 Alinta Energy 11 11 11 11 Amaysim Energy 10 10 10 10 Click Energy 10 10 10 10 Diamond Energy 12 12 12 12 EnergyAustralia 16.1 16.1 16.1 16.1 Energy Locals 9–12.1 9–12.1 9–12.1 9–10 ERM Power 8 8 — — Future X Power — — — 7 Lumo Energy 6–11.5 6–11.5 6–11.5 6 Next Business Energy 10 10 10 10 Origin Energya 7–17 7–18 7–18 7–18 Powerclubb — — 9.5 9.5 Powerdirect 10.6 10.6 10.6 10.6 Powershop 9.5 9.5 9.5 9.5 QEnergy 8 8 8 8 Red Energy 6–11.5 6–17 6–17 6–17 Simply Energy 10 10 10 10 Highest 20 20 20 20 Average13 10 10 10.4 10 Lowest 6 6 6 6 Notes: We excluded the following offers from our analysis on the basis that their special terms and conditions distinguished them from generally available offers: a Origin Energy's Business Solar Boost Plus offers which had a requirement for customers to purchase solar systems through Origin. b Powerclub's solar offers, which required customers to have a battery system (or one being installed in the immediate future) capable of supporting almost all daily electricity usage between 3 pm and 8.30 pm. A dash (—) means the retailer did not attach a feed–in tariff to its offer(s) in the SEQ market, or did not have any offers in the market. Sources: Energy Made Easy; QCA analysis. The graph below shows retailers' feed-in tariff ranges for small business offers over the June quarter compared to the average feed-in tariff of 10 c/kWh in the market for that quarter.

13 To calculate the market average FiT, we first calculated the simple average of FiTs on each retailer's portfolio of offers (excluding offers with no FiT attached), and then calculated the simple average of all of the retailers' averaged FiT. This approach removes any effect that retailers with a relatively large share of offers with FiTs in the market would have on the market average.

Queensland Competition Authority Retail feed-in tariffs

Figure 2 Small business feed-in tariffs, June quarter 2018–19 (c/kWh)

Lowest FiT Highest FiT Average Retailer Average

20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0

Note: Retailers are sorted by highest feed-in tariff (in descending order). Sources: Energy Made Easy; QCA analysis. QCA assessment Range of feed-in tariffs The feed-in tariffs offered to small business customers over the year ranged from 6 to 20 c/kWh in each quarter. AGL offered the highest feed-in tariff of 20 c/kWh on its Business Solar Savers offers. There were no special terms or conditions on the AGL offer. Most retailers' feed-in tariffs remained unchanged through the year. Origin Energy introduced a new Business Solar Boost offer in the December quarter, with a feed-in tariff of 18 c/kWh.14 Red Energy increased its highest feed-in tariff from 11.5 to 17 c/kWh in the December quarter onwards. Lumo Energy did not have its Lumo Business Premium offers—which had a feed-in tariff of 11.5 c/kWh—on Energy Made Easy in the June quarter. Similarly, Energy Locals did not have its Save Me business offers—which had a feed-in tariff of 12.1 c/kWh—on Energy Made Easy in the June quarter. Average feed-in tariff The average feed-in tariff offered to small business solar customers was fairly stable over the year and ranged from 10 to 10.4 c/kWh.

14 On Energy Made Easy, these solar offers had no requirement for customers to purchase solar systems through Origin Energy. The offers were therefore considered to be generally available offers and included in our analysis.

Queensland Competition Authority Retail feed-in tariffs

2.3 Trends between 2015–16 and 2018–19 2.3.1 Residential offers The table below shows retailers' solar feed-in tariffs for residential customers in the June quarters from 2015–16 to 2018–19.15 Table 3 Residential feed-in tariffs, June quarter of 2015–16 to 2018–19 (c/kWh)

Retailer 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 1st Energy — — — 6 AGL 6 6 10.6–20 10.6–20 Alinta Energy — — 11 11 Amaysim Energy — — 14 14 Click Energy 6–11 6–11 8–16 8–16 DC Power — — — 15 Diamond Energy 8 8 12 12 Dodo Power & Gas 4 4–6.5 8.5 8.5 EnergyAustralia 6 6 11–16.1 16.1 Energy Locals — 10 10–12.1 9–16 Future X Power — — — 7 Locality Planning Energy — — — 10 Lumo Energy 6 6 6 6 Mojo Power — 7.3 9–20 9–20 Origin Energy 6 6–10 7 7–17 Powerclub — — — 9.5 Powerdirect 6 6–8 10.6 10.6 Powershop — 8.2 12.2 9.5 QEnergy — — 8 8 ReAmped Energy — — — 8 Red Energy — 6 6–11.5 6–17 Simply Energy — 6.2 11.3 10 Urth Energya 5–10 — — — Highest 11 11 20 20 Average 6.5 6.7 11 10.7 Lowest 4 4 6 6 Number of retailers with 9 13 16 22 a feed-in tariff a Urth Energy's retail authorisation was revoked by the AER in February 2017 following the company's entry into administration. A dash (—) means the retailer did not attach a feed–in tariff to its offer(s) in the SEQ market, or did not have any offers in the market. Sources: Energy Made Easy; QCA analysis.

15 Appendix B shows the FiTs available for all four quarters of each year from 2015–16 to 2017–18.

Queensland Competition Authority Retail feed-in tariffs

The graph below shows residential feed-in tariffs from the September quarter 2015 to the June quarter 2019. Figure 3 Residential quarterly feed-in tariffs, 2015–16 to 2018–19 (c/kWh)

Highest Average Lowest

22 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Sep Dec Mar Jun Sep Dec Mar Jun Sep Dec Mar Jun Sep Dec Mar Jun 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19

Sources: Energy Made Easy; QCA analysis. QCA assessment The average feed-in tariff decreased marginally from 11 c/kWh in the June quarter 2018 to 10.7 c/kWh in the June quarter 2019. This is because two retailers (Powershop and Simply Energy) reduced their feed-in tariffs. Most retailers either maintained or slightly increased feed-in tariffs in 2018–19. The number of retailers offering residential customers solar feed-in tariffs increased substantially over the four years, from 9 in 2015–16, to 16 in 2017–18 and 22 in 2018–19.16 Over the same period, the range of solar feed-in tariffs widened from 4 to 11 c/kWh in 2015–16 and 2016–17, to 6 to 20 c/kWh in 2017–18 and 2018–19. These increases—in both the number of retailers offering feed-in tariffs and the value of the feed-in tariffs in 2017–18—suggest that as retailers entered the SEQ market, they competed for customers by offering and then maintaining higher feed-in tariffs. The increase in feed-in tariffs in 2017–18 also coincided with a significant increase in wholesale energy costs. As part of its ongoing inquiry into the National Electricity Market (NEM), the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) reported that: • the highest average quarterly market prices in recent years were during the first half of 2017 and by June 2018, prices in Queensland had eased17

16 ERM Power offered a solar feed-in tariff only to small business customers during 2015–16 (see Table 15). The 9 retailers with solar feed-in tariffs on residential offers (see Table 14), plus ERM Power, takes the total to the 10 retailers mentioned in section 2.2. 17 ACCC, Monitoring of supply in the National Electricity Market, inquiry report, March 2019, page 51.

Queensland Competition Authority Retail feed-in tariffs

• using retailer cost data (for residential bills), average wholesale costs (on a per customer and c/kWh basis) were higher in 2017–18 in all NEM jurisdictions than they were in each year back to 2014–15.18

2.3.2 Small business offers The table below shows retailers' solar feed-in tariffs for small business customers in the June quarters from 2015–16 to 2018–19.19 Table 4 Small business feed-in tariffs, June quarter of 2015–16 to 2018–19 (c/kWh)

Retailer 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 1st Energy — — — 6 AGL 6 6 10.6 10.6–20 Alinta Energy — — 11 11 Amaysim Energy — — — 10 Click Energy — — — 10 Diamond Energy 8 8 12 12 EnergyAustralia 6 6 11–16.1 16.1 Energy Locals — 10 10–12.1 9–10 ERM Power 8 8 8 — Future X Power — — — 7 Lumo Energy 6–7 6 6–11.5 6 Next Business Energy — — — 10 Origin Energy 6 6 7 7–18 Powerclub — — — 9.5 Powerdirect 6 6–8 10.6 10.6 Powershop — 8.2 12.2 9.5 QEnergy — — 8 8 Red Energy — 6 6–11.5 6–17 Simply Energy — 6.2 11.3 10 Urth Energya 5–10 — — — Highest 10 10 16.1 20 Average 6.5 6.7 10.2 10 Lowest 6 6 6 6 Number of retailers with 8 11 13 18 a feed-in tariff a Urth Energy's retail authorisation was revoked by the AER in February 2017 following the company's entry into administration. A dash (—) means the retailer did not attach a feed–in tariff to its offer(s) in the SEQ market, or did not have any offers in the market. Sources: Energy Made Easy; QCA analysis. The graph below shows small business feed-in tariffs from the September quarter 2015 to June quarter 2019.

18 ACCC, Inquiry into the National Electricity Market, inquiry report, August 2019, pages 96–98. 19 Appendix B shows feed-in tariffs relating to all four quarters of 2015–16 to 2017–18.

Queensland Competition Authority Retail feed-in tariffs

Figure 4 Small business quarterly feed-in tariffs, 2015–16 to 2018–19 (c/kWh)

Highest Average Lowest

22 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Sep Dec Mar Jun Sep Dec Mar Jun Sep Dec Mar Jun Sep Dec Mar Jun 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19

Sources: Energy Made Easy; QCA analysis. QCA assessment The average feed-in tariff decreased marginally from 10.2 c/kWh in the June quarter 2018 to 10 c/kWh in the June quarter 2019. This is because three retailers (Energy Locals, Powershop and Simply Energy) reduced their feed-in tariffs; the majority of the retailers either maintained or slightly increased feed-in tariffs in 2018–19. The number of retailers offering solar feed-in tariffs to small business customers increased substantially over the four years, from 8 in 2015–16 to 13 in 2017–18 and 18 in 2018–19. Over the same period, the range of solar feed-in tariffs widened from 6 to 10 c/kWh in 2015–16 and 2016–17 to 20 c/kWh in 2018–19. The increases in both the number of retailers offering feed-in tariffs and the value of the feed-in tariffs in 2017–18 suggest that as retailers entered the SEQ market, they competed for customers by offering—and then maintaining—higher feed-in tariffs.

2.3.3 Trends in other NEM regions While wholesale energy costs are determined separately in each region of the NEM, energy does flow between regions. We would expect feed-in tariff levels to differ between regions, but price trends to be largely aligned. Considering price trends in other regions also informs our assessment of the SEQ market. New South Wales In New South Wales, IPART sets an annual benchmark solar feed-in tariff range to help customers decide whether the tariff a retailer is offering is reasonable.20 Although the 2018–19 benchmark

20 IPART, Solar feed-in tariffs: The value of electricity from small-scale solar panels in 2018–19, final report, June 2018, page 1.

Queensland Competition Authority Retail feed-in tariffs

of 6.9 to 8.4 c/kWh was lower than the 2017–18 benchmark of 11.9 to 15 c/kWh, IPART reported that: • over the most recent years, retailers have been competing to offer higher solar feed-in tariffs to attract solar customers • there was now a very wide range of feed-in tariffs being offered to customers, with the vast majority of tariffs above the benchmark range for 2018–19.21 Victoria In Victoria, the Essential Services Commission (ESC) sets the minimum feed-in tariff(s) that retailers can credit to customers. For 2018–19, the minimum (single-rate) feed-in tariff was 9.9 c/kWh, which was 1.4 c/kWh lower than the 11.3 c/kWh for 2017–18.22 The ESC surveyed feed-in tariffs available in the Victorian market in February 2019 and found: • While some retailers had reduced their feed-in tariffs to 9.9 c/kWh, other retailers continued offering 11.3 c/kWh. • AGL, Amaysim Energy, Click Energy, Origin Energy and Momentum Energy offered higher feed-in tariffs, which ranged from 12 to 20 c/kWh on some plans. • Some higher feed-in tariffs were only available under special terms and conditions; for example, Origin Energy offered a 25 c/kWh tariff if a customer also bought their solar panels from the retailer.23 South Australia In South Australia, the Essential Services Commission of South Australia (ESCOSA) monitors retailers' solar feed-in tariffs in a similar way as we monitor feed-in tariffs in SEQ. ESCOSA's latest monitoring report shows that the average of retailers' highest feed-in tariffs was almost unchanged between 2017–18 (15.1 c/kWh) and 2018–19 (15.2 c/kWh).24 Regional Queensland The solar feed-in tariff in regional Queensland was marginally lower in 2018–19 (9.369 c/kWh) than in 2017–18 (10.102 c/kWh).25 However, the feed-in tariff in 2017–18 was significantly higher than in 2016–17 (7.448 c/kWh), with increased forecast wholesale energy costs the main contributor.26

21 IPART, Solar feed-in tariffs: The value of electricity from small-scale solar panels in 2018–19, final report, June 2018, page 3; IPART, Review of the performance and competitiveness in the NSW retail energy market from 1 July 2017 to 30 June 2018, final report, November 2018, pages 52–53, figure 4.8; IPART Review of the performance and competitiveness in the NSW retail energy market 2018–19, draft report, October 2019, page 24, figure 1.5. 22 The ESC observed that this outcome may appear counterintuitive, given average wholesale prices between the two periods increased by around 18%. The ESC explained that the result was caused by changes in the prices during the daylight hours that solar PV units are exporting electricity, relative to prices during the evening peak; the prices during daylight hours are the prices relevant to setting the single-rate tariff: ESC, Minimum electricity feed-in tariffs to apply from 1 July 2018, final decision, February 2018, pages 1 and 11. 23 ESC, Victorian Energy market Update: March 2019, March 2019, page 11, figure 4.2. 24 ESCOSA, Energy Retail Price Offers Comparison Report 2018–19, report to the Minister for Energy and Mining, August 2019, page 18, table 2.3; QCA analysis (only retailers with feed-in tariffs in both 2017–18 and 2018–19 were included in calculations). 25 QCA, 2018–19 Solar feed-in tariff, determination, May 2018, page ii. 26 QCA, Solar feed-in tariff for regional Queensland for 2017–18, final report, May 2017, pages 5 and 7.

Queensland Competition Authority Retail feed-in tariffs

2.3.4 Conclusion Given that wholesale prices eased in Queensland ahead of the 2018–19 year, a decrease in feed- in tariff levels would not have been unexpected in SEQ. It may be that, as has occurred in some other NEM regions, competitive pressure in SEQ dissuaded retailers from reducing their feed-in tariffs, and/or the easing of wholesale prices was not sufficient for retailers to reduce feed-in tariffs. Retailers do not appear to discriminate between solar and non-solar customers in SEQ. Most retailers did not publish separate offers for solar and non-solar customers on Energy Made Easy in 2018–19. The retailers who did publish separate solar and non-solar offers on Energy Made Easy also did not include higher underlying supply and/or usage charges on solar offers. Although offers on Energy Made Easy do not represent the bills actually paid by customers, the offers do suggest that retailers did not increase the underlying supply and/or usage charges for non–solar customers to offset the feed-in tariff payments made to solar customers.27

2.4 New and/or innovative feed-in tariff structures A small number of new and/or innovative tariff structures and plans have emerged in SEQ since the retail electricity market was deregulated.

Previous reporting periods The table below shows the new and/or innovative tariff structures that emerged in 2016–17 and 2017–18. Table 5 New and/or innovative feed-in tariff structures, 2016–17 and 2017–18

Retailer Plan name(s) Tariff structure / plan

Origin Energy Solar Boost In 2016–17, Origin Energy offered Solar Boost Plus to residential solar Plus customers who installed a solar system through Origin Energy. These customers received a 12 c/kWh feed-in tariff, which was 2 c/kWh higher than the retailer's generally available Solar Boost offer for a 24- month benefit period.

Mojo Power Connect and In 2017–18, Mojo Power attached a variable feed-in tariff of 20 c/kWh EnergyPass for the first 2,000 kWh exported on its Connect and EnergyPass offers. The feed-in tariff was capped at 2,000 kWh per annum (or 5.47 kWh per day). Mojo Power explained on its website that, due to solar PV systems exporting differently day to day, it had taken the approach to pro rata the calculation for each billing period. After the first 2,000 kWh exported, Mojo Power's feed-in tariff in Queensland was 9 c/kWh.

Note: The 2016–17 report also commented on Urth Energy's innovative feed-in tariff structures; however, as Urth Energy's retail authorisation was revoked by the AER in February 2017 following the company's entry into administration we have not included its FiT structure in this table. The Solar Boost Plus, Connect and EnergyPass plans remained available in SEQ in 2018–19.

27 See the datasets on our 'SEQ solar feed-in tariffs' web page for more detail. We also note that ESCOSA recently found that most retailers were not discriminating between solar and non-solar customers, and that the majority of retailers were making their best-priced market offer available to solar customers: ESCOSA, Energy Retail Price Offers Comparison Report 2018–19, report to the Minister for Energy and Mining, August 2019, pages 19–20, tables 2-4 and 2-5.

Queensland Competition Authority Retail feed-in tariffs

Current reporting period Powerclub entered the SEQ market in March 2019, with a range of market offers that provided customers with access to wholesale electricity market prices for a minimum one-off, refundable (at its value at time of exit) contribution of $40 per 1,000 kWh of annual consumption to the customer's 'Powerbank'.28 The retailer explained on Energy Made Easy that the Powerbank was used to smooth wholesale price volatility and that 'Powerwatch' would notify customers of high prices to help avoid them. Powerclub also attached annual membership fees ($39 for residential customers and $79 for small business customers) to its offers. To access Powerclub's Solar FiT + Battery offers, Powerclub stated on Energy Made Easy that customers must have, or be installing in the immediate future, a home battery system capable of supporting almost all usage between 3 pm and 8.30 pm. On its website, Powerclub explained that it paid a competitive feed-in tariff [of 9.5 c/kWh] and that at the end of the year, Powerclub will review the customer's actual wholesale value of their solar exports compared to their feed-in tariffs. If the wholesale export value is higher than what a customer received through solar feed-in tariffs, Powerclub will pay the difference under its 'annual solar bonus'.29

28 On its standing offers, Powerclub stated that it did not recommend its standing offer to its members and suggested that (a) customers on this plan transfer as soon as possible to a Powerclub plan offering wholesale access, and (b) if wholesale access did not suit a customer's needs, Powerclub recommended choosing the best market offer from another retailer on Energy Made Easy. 29 Powerclub, '4 things you need to know about solar power' web page.

Queensland Competition Authority Retail electricity offers

3 RETAIL ELECTRICITY OFFERS

This chapter shows each retailer's range of bills on offers that included a feed-in tariff, but without solar feed-in tariff revenue applied. The chapter then identifies the three cheapest offers in the market across a range of electricity consumption and solar export levels.

Key findings (1) Most retailers offered feed-in tariffs in 2018–19. Retail electricity offers with feed-in tariffs varied materially between and even within retailers, with different supply and usage charges, discounts, incentives and recurring fees resulting in a wide range of bills. (2) Based on all available offers, and taking into account the value of solar feed–in tariffs, offers with solar feed-in tariffs included were always cheaper than offers without solar feed-in tariffs. (3) Customers with a small electricity consumption level and a low solar export ratio were generally better off with offers that include lower supply and usage charges, while customers with a high consumption and high export ratio were generally better off with offers that included higher feed-in tariffs, lower usage charges and discounts off usage charges. (4) For residential customers, EnergyAustralia in many cases had the cheapest solar offers across the nine electricity consumption and solar export scenarios we analysed. Similarly, for small business customers, Red Energy had the cheapest solar offers across the nine electricity consumption and solar export scenarios we analysed.

3.1 Terms of reference Items 2 and 3 of the terms of reference require the report to: • report on variations to retailers' generally available market offer prices that are offered in conjunction with a feed-in tariff, including variations to fixed and variable electricity charges • compare and rank the net overall bill position from generally available market offers, considering electricity charges and feed-in tariffs. This analysis is to compare net bill outcomes for a range of different residential and small business electricity customers with solar PV systems, varying by total electricity consumption (e.g. a small, typical and large residential customer) and high, medium and low solar export/use ratio. The analysis should include retail market offers with and without feed-in tariffs and specify the retailer for each offer.

3.2 Most common tariffs and combinations of tariffs We determined the most common tariffs and tariff combinations by analysing (unpublished) Energex data on the number of solar customer national metering identifiers on each Energex network tariff. The table below lists the most common network tariffs and combinations of tariffs, with the network tariff codes shown in brackets.30

30 See Energex, Energex Network Tariff Guide 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2019, July 2018 for detail on Energex's network tariffs.

Queensland Competition Authority Retail electricity offers

Table 6 Most common tariffs and tariff combinations for solar customers

Customer type Network tariff(s) Residential Residential flat (T8400) Residential flat (T8400) and controlled load super economy (T9000) Residential flat (T8400) and controlled load economy (T9100) Small business Business flat (T8500)

3.3 Bills on solar offers, excluding the value of solar feed-in tariff payments In 2018–19, most retailers in the SEQ market attached feed-in tariffs to some or all of their retail offers. Some of these retailers had significant differences in the supply charges, usage charges, discounts, incentives and recurring fees (that is, membership fees and fees to access wholesale prices) on their offers. Differences in these elements of offers also led to significant variances in bills across retailers. To explain the variations in prices offered in conjunction with feed-in tariff, the analysis below provides bill value ranges for each retailer's solar offers. The bill calculations exclude the impact of solar exports so that the variations in the bill can be attributed to supply charges, usage charges, discounts and recurring fees. The analysis in this section presents offer prices as an annual bill for a solar customer—with typical consumption—on the most common tariffs and tariff combinations. The median consumption level is used to represent a typical level of consumption, as it is in the middle of the consumption range. While the terms of reference requires us to report on generally available market offer prices, we report on all offers in the market that offered solar customers a feed-in tariff, even where the offer was a standing offer. We consider this provides a more complete report on the options available to solar customers.31 Table 7 below shows each retailer's highest and lowest solar offers—but excluding feed-in tariff revenue—for the June quarter of 2019 for residential and small business solar customers.32 In addition, a spreadsheet containing all offers, including all supply and usage charges, is available on our website.33 Table 7 shows typical bills for residential and small business customers ranged from: • $1,289 (Click Energy) and $2,244 (QEnergy), for customers on flat rate tariffs • $1,390 (ReAmped Energy) and $2,512 (QEnergy) for customers on flat rate with super economy controlled load tariffs • $1,457 (QEnergy) and $2,558 (QEnergy) for customers on flat rate with economy controlled load tariffs. • $2,508 (Red Energy) and $4,135 (QEnergy), for customers on small business flat rate tariffs.

31 Our solar FiT reports for 2016–17 and 2017–18 also included standing offers for this analysis. 32 All offers are presented as published on the Energy Made Easy website. AGL's, Origin Energy's and Powerdirect's offers include the solar metering charge, which they charge solar customers separately. 33 The dataset accompanying this report is available on our 'SEQ solar feed-in tariffs' web page.

Queensland Competition Authority Retail electricity offers

Table 7 Annual bill variations (excluding solar feed-in tariff payments), residential and small business offers, June quarter 2019 ($ per year)

Retailer Residential flat rate Residential flat rate with super Residential flat rate with economy Small business flat rate economy control load control load Lowest Highest Variance Lowest Highest Variance Lowest Highest Variance Lowest Highest Variance 1st Energy 1,489 1,933 445 1,622 2,160 538 1,669 2,204 535 2,600 3,710 1,110 AGL 1,327 1,725 398 1,426 1,853 427 1,490 1,938 448 2,583 3,326 743 Alinta Energy 1,358 1,462 104 1,452 1,565 113 1,509 1,629 119 2,687 2,687 0 Amaysim Energy 1,601 1,601 0 1,808 1,808 0 1,832 1,832 0 2,966 2,966 0 Click Energy 1,289 1,841 552 1,455 2,078 623 1,474 2,106 632 3,030 3,130 100 DC Power Co 1,812 1,812 0 2,047 2,047 0 2,058 2,058 0 — — — Diamond Energy 1,475 1,475 0 1,577 1,577 0 1,640 1,640 0 2,899 2,899 0 Dodo Power & Gas 1,469 1,893 424 1,576 2,038 463 1,634 2,120 486 — — — EnergyAustralia 1,343 1,776 434 1,431 1,870 439 1,482 1,940 459 2,630 3,099 469 Energy Locals 1,416 1,711 295 1,598 1,896 298 1,608 1,950 342 2,848 3,263 415 Future X Power 1,338 1,722 384 1,436 1,855 419 1,492 1,934 442 2,674 3,247 573 LPE 1,374 1,795 421 1,471 1,833 362 1,555 1,919 364 — — — Lumo Energy 1,677 1,677 0 1,796 1,796 0 1,876 1,876 0 3,195 3,195 0 Mojo Power 1,739 2,005 266 1,862 2,128 266 1,893 2,160 266 — — — Next Business Energy — — — — — — — — — 2,705 2,908 204 Origin Energy 1,340 1,685 345 1,426 1,800 374 1,483 1,879 396 2,650 3,151 501 Powerclub 1,505 1,542 37 1,642 1,685 44 — — — 2,759 2,828 69 Powerdirect 1,387 1,387 0 1,485 1,485 0 1,548 1,548 0 2,967 2,967 0 Powershop 1,329 1,411 82 1,491 1,583 92 1,506 1,599 93 2,518 2,755 237 QEnergy 1,348 2,244 896 1,404 2,512 1,108 1,457 2,558 1,101 2,556 4,135 1,578 ReAmped Energy 1,315 1,315 0 1,390 1,390 0 1,473 1,473 0 — — — Red Energy 1,419 1,677 258 1,569 1,796 227 1,573 1,876 302 2,508 3,195 687 Simply Energy 1,337 1,539 202 1,495 1,717 222 1,533 1,761 227 2,723 2,778 55 Notes: 1. A dash (—) means the retailer did not have any offers on Energy Made Easy. 2. Bill values coloured green are the cheapest for the tariff/tariff combination, and values coloured orange are the most expensive. Sources: Energy Made Easy; QCA analysis.

Queensland Competition Authority Retail electricity offers

For retailers with a range of offers, variations in bills are attributed to different supply and/or usage charges, and/or different discounts, incentives or recurring fees. Figure 5 and Figure 6 show retailers' June quarter solar bills, excluding solar feed-in tariffs, ranked from highest to lowest bill variation.34 Figure 5 Variations in the residential flat rate solar bills, excluding solar feed-in tariff payments, June quarter 2018–19

Lowest bill Highest bill

$2,400 $2,200 $2,000 $1,800 $1,600 $1,400 $1,200 $1,000

Note: Retailers are sorted by highest bill variation (in descending order). Sources: Energy Made Easy; QCA analysis. The reasons for the three largest variations are mixed: • QEnergy's variation ($896) was the result of supply and usage charges of 132 c/day and 33.653 c/kWh respectively on its highest solar offer (also a standing offer), compared to 99 c/day and 18.655 c/kWh respectively on its lowest solar offer. • Click Energy's variation ($552) was due to no discount being attached to its highest solar offer, and a 30% conditional discount being attached to its lowest solar offer. • 1st Energy's variation ($445) was due to the usage charge on its highest solar offer (also a standing offer) being 28.97 c/kWh, compared to 21.78 c/kWh on its lowest solar offer. Amaysim Energy, DC Power Co, Diamond Energy, Lumo Energy, Powerdirect and ReAmped Energy had no bill variation, as these retailers had only one type of solar offer in the SEQ market.

34 Figure 5 only shows variations in the residential flat rate tariff. As per Table 7, the residential economy and super economy control load tariffs showed similar variations to the residential flat rate movements.

Queensland Competition Authority Retail electricity offers

Figure 6 Variations in the small business flat rate solar bills, excluding solar feed-in tariff payments, June quarter 2018–19

Lowest bill Highest bill

$4,400

$4,000

$3,600

$3,200

$2,800

$2,400

$2,000

Note: Retailers are sorted by highest bill variation (in descending order). Sources: Energy Made Easy; QCA analysis. The three largest variations were because of differences in supply and usage charges: • QEnergy's variation ($1,578) was the result of supply and usage charges being 154 c/day and 35.367 c/kWh respectively on its highest solar offer (a standing offer), compared to 129 c/day and 20.5 c/kWh respectively on its lowest solar offer. • 1st Energy's variation ($1,110) was the result of supply and usage charges being 149.1 c/day and 31.29 c/kWh respectively on its highest solar offer (a standing offer), compared to 120 c/day and 21.3 c/kWh respectively on its lowest solar offer. • AGL's variation ($743) was due to the supply and usage charges being 133 c/day and 27.8 c/kWh respectively on its highest solar offer, compared to 113 c/day and 21.13 c/kWh respectively on its lowest solar offer. Alinta Energy, Amaysim Energy, Diamond Energy, Lumo Energy, and Powerdirect had no bill variations, as these retailers had only one type of solar offer.

3.4 Comparison and ranking of the net overall electricity bills Import and export ratios We have ranked customers' net overall bill positions for generally available market offers by: • total electricity consumption (imports) for a small, typical and large residential customer • high, medium and low solar export/import ratios. The analysis includes offers with and without feed-in tariffs. Electricity import and solar export/import ratios are based on Energex metering data, which is the actual data used by retailers to generate electricity bills for customers. We used the following percentile levels for electricity import and solar export/import ratios to develop a nine-scenario matrix (Tables 8 to 11 below) by tariff type:

Queensland Competition Authority Retail electricity offers

• 75th percentile—three-quarters of solar customers will import less electricity than the 75th percentile customer • median—half of solar customers will import less electricity than the median customer, or 50th percentile customer • 25th percentile—one-quarter of solar customers will import less electricity than the 25th percentile customer. Annual bill rankings The following tables show the three cheapest offers in 2018–19 for each tariff type, for each of the nine combinations of imports to export/import ratio. The cheapest offers vary according to a customer's electricity import level (on the left side of each matrix below) and the ratio of exports to imports (at the top row of each matrix below). Other key conclusions that can be drawn from the tables: • Bills that included solar feed-in tariff revenue were always cheaper than bills without solar feed-in tariff revenue. • Customers with a small import level and low export ratio were generally better off with offers that include lower supply and usage charges. • Customers with a high export level and high export ratio were generally better off with offers that included higher feed-in tariffs, lower usage charges and discounts off usage charges. • Across the nine scenarios for each residential tariff type, EnergyAustralia often had the cheapest offers for solar customers. • Across the nine scenarios for the small business flat rate tariff, Red Energy had the cheapest offers for solar customers.

Queensland Competition Authority Retail electricity offers

Table 8 Net annual bill ranking for residential flat rate offers, June quarter 2019

Low export ratio Medium export ratio High export ratio

Retailer Offer name FiT (c) Bill ($) Retailer Offer name FiT (c) Bill ($) Retailer Offer name FiT (c) Bill ($) Import 2,949 kWh, export 757 kWh Import 2,949 kWh, export 1,753 kWh Import 2,949 kWh, export 3,480 kWh Simply Simply AFL Plus 10 10 840 EnergyAust Anytime Saver 16.1 725 EnergyAust Anytime Saver 16.1 447 Energy Online Home Home Small Click Energy Click Saturn Solar 16 854 Simply Simply AFL Plus 10 10 741 Red Energy Qantas Red Saver 17 449 imports Energy Online Simply Simply RACQ Plus 21 10 879 EnergyAust Anytime Saver 16.1 741 EnergyAust Anytime Saver 16.1 463 Energy Online Home Home Import 4,630 kWh, export 1,189 kWh Import 4,630 kWh, export 2,752 kWh Import 4,630 kWh, export 5,463 kWh EnergyAust Anytime Saver 16.1 1,151 EnergyAust Anytime Saver 16.1 899 EnergyAust Anytime Saver 16.1 463 Typical Home Home Home imports EnergyAust Anytime Saver 16.1 1,177 EnergyAust Anytime Saver 16.1 925 EnergyAust Anytime Saver 16.1 489 Home Home Home EnergyAust No Frills 16.1 1,197 EnergyAust No Frills 16.1 945 Red Energy Qantas Red Saver 17 491 Import 7,072 kWh, export 1,815 kWh Import 7,072 kWh, export 4,204 kWh Import 7,072 kWh, export 8,344 kWh EnergyAust Anytime Saver 16.1 1,538 EnergyAust Anytime Saver 16.1 1,153 EnergyAust Anytime Saver 16.1 486 Large Home Home Home imports EnergyAust Anytime Saver 16.1 1,577 EnergyAust Anytime Saver 16.1 1,192 EnergyAust Anytime Saver 16.1 526 Home Home Home EnergyAust No Frills 16.1 1,582 EnergyAust No Frills 16.1 1,197 EnergyAust No Frills 16.1 531 Note: The QCA analysis provides only one offer per retailer. However, there could be multiple offers by a retailer with the same bill value. Sources: Energy Made Easy; QCA analysis. Customers with small import levels and low export ratios should find offers with lower supply and usage charges attractive. Simply Energy's AFL Plus 10 Online offer had supply and usage charges of 84.21 c/day and 26.19 c/kWh respectively, a usage discount of 10% and other incentives. Customers with high import levels and high export ratios should find offers with higher feed-in tariffs, lower usage charges and larger usage discounts attractive. EnergyAustralia's cheapest Anytime Saver Home had a feed-in tariff of 16.1 c/kWh, usage charges of 25.2 c/kWh, a usage discount of 28% along with a sign-up incentive. The different Anytime Saver Home offers in some of the scenarios reflect different discounts off usage charges and incentives attached to the offer at different times.

Queensland Competition Authority Retail electricity offers

Table 9 Net annual bill ranking for residential flat rate with control load super economy offers, June quarter 2019

Low export ratio Medium export ratio High export ratio

Retailer Offer name FiT (c) Bill ($) Retailer Offer name FiT (c) Bill ($) Retailer Offer name FiT (c) Bill ($) Import 3,630 kWh, export 736 kWh Import 3,630 kWh, export 1,535 kWh Import 3,630 kWh, export 2,779 kWh EnergyAust Anytime Saver Home 16.1 959 EnergyAust Anytime Saver 16.1 830 EnergyAust Anytime Saver 16.1 630 Home Home Small ReAmped ReAmped Energy | 8 967 EnergyAust Anytime Saver 16.1 848 EnergyAust Anytime Saver 16.1 648 imports Energy Anytime & CL Home Home Simply Simply AFL Plus 10 10 973 EnergyAust No Frills 16.1 877 Red Energy Easy Saver 17 671 Energy Online Import 5,629 kWh, export 1,141 kWh Import 5,629 kWh, export 2,381 kWh Import 5,629 kWh, export 4,309 kWh EnergyAust Anytime Saver Home 16.1 1,247 EnergyAust Anytime Saver 16.1 1,048 EnergyAust Anytime Saver 16.1 737 Typical Home Home imports EnergyAust Anytime Saver Home 16.1 1,275 EnergyAust Anytime Saver 16.1 1,075 EnergyAust Anytime Saver 16.1 765 Home Home EnergyAust No Frills 16.1 1,293 EnergyAust No Frills 16.1 1,093 EnergyAust No Frills 16.1 783 Import 8,309 kWh, export 1,684 kWh Import 8,309 kWh, export 3,514 kWh Import 8,309 kWh, export 6,361 kWh EnergyAust Anytime Saver Home 16.1 1,644 EnergyAust Anytime Saver 16.1 1,349 EnergyAust Anytime Saver 16.1 891 Large Home Home imports EnergyAust Anytime Saver Home 16.1 1,685 EnergyAust Anytime Saver 16.1 1,391 EnergyAust Anytime Saver 16.1 932 Home Home EnergyAust No Frills 16.1 1,689 EnergyAust No Frills 16.1 1,394 EnergyAust No Frills 16.1 936 Note: The QCA analysis provides only one offer per retailer. However, there could be multiple offers by a retailer with the same bill value. Sources: Energy Made Easy; QCA analysis. EnergyAustralia's Anytime Saver Home offer had the lowest bill outcome under each of the nine combinations of imports to export ratios. This offer had a feed-in tariff of 16.1 c/kWh, usage charges of 25.2 c/kWh and 16.1 c/kWh for its flat rate and control load respectively, a usage discount of 28% and other incentives. The different Anytime Saver Home offers in some of the scenarios reflect different discounts off usage charges and incentives attached to the offer at different times.

Queensland Competition Authority Retail electricity offers

Table 10 Net annual bill ranking for customers with residential flat rate with control load economy offers, June quarter 2019

Low export ratio Medium export ratio High export ratio

Retailer Offer title FiT (c) Bill ($) Retailer Offer title FiT (c) Bill ($) Retailer Offer title FiT (c) Bill ($) Import 3,346 kWh, export 643 kWh Import 3,346 kWh, export 1,389 kWh Import 3,346 kWh, export 2,554 kWh Simply Simply AFL Plus 10 10 949 EnergyAust Anytime Saver 16.1 844 EnergyAust Anytime Saver 16.1 656 Energy Online Home Home Small Click Energy Click Saturn Solar 16 949 EnergyAust Anytime Saver 16.1 861 Red Energy Easy Saver 17 672 imports Home EnergyAust Anytime Saver Home 16.1 964 Click Energy Click Saturn Solar 16 866 EnergyAust Anytime Saver 16.1 674 Home Import 5,584 kWh, export 1,073 kWh Import 5,584 kWh, export 2,318 kWh Import 5,584 kWh, export 4,263 kWh EnergyAust Anytime Saver Home 16.1 1,309 EnergyAust Anytime Saver 16.1 1,108 EnergyAust Anytime Saver 16.1 795 Typical Home Home imports EnergyAust Anytime Saver Home 16.1 1,338 EnergyAust Anytime Saver 16.1 1,138 EnergyAust Anytime Saver 16.1 825 Home Home Click Energy Click Saturn Solar 16 1,354 EnergyAust No Frills 16.1 1,154 EnergyAust No Frills 16.1 841 Import 8,517 kWh, export 1,636 kWh Import 8,517 kWh, export 3,536 kWh Import 8,517 kWh, export 6,501 kWh EnergyAust Anytime Saver Home 16.1 1,768 EnergyAust Anytime Saver 16.1 1,462 EnergyAust Anytime Saver 16.1 985 Large Home Home imports EnergyAust No Frills 16.1 1,812 EnergyAust No Frills 16.1 1,507 EnergyAust No Frills 16.1 1,029 EnergyAust Anytime Saver Home 16.1 1,813 EnergyAust Anytime Saver 16.1 1,507 EnergyAust Anytime Saver 16.1 1,029 Home Home Note: The QCA analysis provides only one offer per retailer. However, there could be multiple offers by a retailer with the same bill value. Sources: Energy Made Easy; QCA analysis. Customers with small import levels and low export ratios should find offers with low fixed and usage charges attractive. Simply Energy's AFL Plus 10 Online offer had supply charges of 87.31 c/day and usage charges of 26.19 c/kWh and 23.85 c/kWh for its flat rate and control load respectively, a usage discount of 10% and other incentives. Customers with high import levels and high export ratios should find offers with high feed–in tariffs, low usage charges and large usage discounts attractive. EnergyAustralia's Anytime Saver Home had a feed-in tariff of 16.1 c/kWh, usage charges of 25.2 c/kWh and 20.3 c/kWh for its flat rate and control load respectively, a usage discount of 28% and other incentives. The different Anytime Saver Home offers in some of the scenarios reflect different discounts off usage charges and incentives attached to the offer at different times.

Queensland Competition Authority Retail electricity offers

Table 11 Net annual bill ranking for customers with small business flat rate offers, June quarter 2019

Low export ratio Medium export ratio High export ratio

Retailer Offer name FiT (c) Bill ($) Retailer Offer name FiT (c) Bill ($) Retailer Offer name FiT (c) Bill ($) Import 3,461 kWh, export 333 kWh Import 3,461 kWh, export 1,435 kWh Import 3,461 kWh, export 4,889 kWh Red Energy Qantas Red Easy 17 1,184 Red Energy Qantas Red Easy 17 997 Red Energy Qantas Red Easy 17 409 Small Powershop Auto Pay with Mega 9.5 1,223 EnergyAust Everyday Saver 16.1 1,081 Red Energy Qantas Red Saver 17 514 imports Pack Business AGL Business Essentials 10.6 1,251 EnergyAust Rate Fix Business 16.1 1,082 Red Energy Easy Saver 17 525 Import 9,038 kWh, export 869 kWh Import 9,038 kWh, export 3,747 kWh Import 9,038 kWh, export 12,767 kWh Red Energy Qantas Red Easy 17 2,361 Red Energy Qantas Red Easy 17 1,872 Red Energy Qantas Red Easy 17 338 Typical Powershop Auto Pay with Mega 9.5 2,436 EnergyAust Everyday Saver 16.1 2,027 Red Energy Qantas Red Saver 17 549 imports Pack Business QEnergy QE Biz Saver Smart 8 2,487 EnergyAust Everyday Saver 16.1 2,053 EnergyAust Everyday Saver 16.1 575 Business Business Import 22,981 kWh, export 2,210 kWh Import 22,981 kWh, export 9,527 kWh Import 22,981 kWh, export 32,463 kWh Red Energy Qantas Red Easy 17 5,303 Red Energy Qantas Red Easy 17 4,059 Red Energy Qantas Red Easy 17 160 Large Powershop Auto Pay with Mega 9.5 5,467 EnergyAust Everyday Saver 16.1 4,391 Red Energy Qantas Red Saver 17 638 imports Pack Business QEnergy QE Biz Saver Smart 8 5,524 EnergyAust Everyday Saver 16.1 4,458 Red Energy Red Easy 17 687 Business Note: The QCA analysis provides only one offer per retailer. However, there could be multiple offers by a retailer with the same bill value. Sources: Energy Made Easy; QCA analysis. Red Energy's Qantas Red Easy offer was the lowest bill outcome across the nine combinations of imports to export ratios. This offer had a feed-in tariff of 17 c/kWh and a usage charge of 20.67 c/kWh.

Queensland Competition Authority Retail electricity offers

3.5 Discounting strategies Some retailers reduced discount rates on market offers with higher solar feed-in tariffs. • AGL's residential offers included guaranteed discounts ranging from 12 to 14% or conditional discounts ranging from 24 to 28% on offers that included its standard feed-in tariff of 10.6 c/kWh. However, its Solar Savers offer with a 20 c/kWh feed-in tariff included no discounts. • Origin Energy's residential offers included guaranteed discounts ranging from 12 to 20% or conditional discounts ranging from 10 to 28% on offers that included a feed-in tariff of 7 c/kWh. However, its Solar Boost offers with a 15 to 17 c/kWh feed-in tariff included a guaranteed discount of 4%. A similar type of strategy was observed in respect to AGL and Origin Energy's small business offers. We consider that these discounting strategies add to the complexity of comparing offers, but also expand the range of options for customers to choose from.

3.6 Incentives Some retailers' bill estimates were lowered due to fixed or once-off incentives. Customers should note that in the second year of being contracted to such an offer, a customer maintaining the same import/export ratio will receive a higher bill than in the first year. As such, it is important for customers to note the length of the contract period when signing up for a plan with a fixed incentive, as the real value of that incentive is spread over the term of the contract.

3.7 Solar metering charges We reported on solar metering charges in our solar feed-in tariff monitoring reports for 2016–17 and 2017–18 (summarised in the table below). Table 12 Solar metering charges, 2016–17 and 2017–18

2016–17 A small number of retailers consistently offered lower electricity prices to non-solar monitoring customers than they offered to solar customers. In some cases, retailers advised this report was due to the solar metering charge, which did not apply to non-solar customers, being incorporated into the supply charge.

2017–18 All retailers, except Alinta Energy, Mojo Power, Origin Energy and Powerdirect either monitoring did not include higher charges for solar customers on Energy Made Easy, or did not report publish solar metering charges. Further, in 2016–17, AGL included higher supply charges on offers that included feed-in tariffs than it did on offers that did not include a feed-in tariff. However, in 2017–18, AGL did not vary its supply charges on Energy Made Easy across its solar and non-solar offers.

Queensland Competition Authority Retail electricity offers

In 2018–19, the solar PV metering charge levied by Energex was 6.631 c/day.35 Based on our analysis of retailers' offers on Energy Made Easy in 2018–19: • AGL, Origin Energy and Powerdirect listed solar metering charges as a separate fee type. AGL and Powerdirect included an annual fee of $28.105 (GST inclusive) for solar metering charges on all solar offers. This converts to a solar metering charge of 7.7 c/day (GST inclusive). Origin Energy separately identified metering charges of 7 c/day (GST inclusive) on some of its solar offers. • Alinta Energy's solar offers had different supply charges compared to its non-solar offers— with the difference (6.43 c/day) equalling the Energex solar metering charge for 2017–18. • Mojo Power offered a solar feed-in tariff on its Energy Without Benefits (Solar) offer, which had a different supply charge to its non-solar Energy Without Benefits offer—with the difference (6.43 c/day) equalling the Energex solar metering charge for 2017–18. • Powerclub offered a solar feed-in tariff on its Powerbank Home/Bis Flat (Solar) offer, which had a different supply charge to its non-solar Powerbank Home/Bis Flat offer—with the difference (6.631 c/day) equalling the Energex solar metering charge for 2018–19. Our view remains that to make it easier for solar customers to compare and select offers, all retailers should clearly and consistently identify their solar metering charges in their offers on Energy Made Easy. In our view, including solar metering charges in daily supply charges—and publishing separate solar and non-solar offers—would be the most effective way to achieve this.

35 Energex, 'Historic pricing publications' web page.

Queensland Competition Authority Glossary

GLOSSARY

1st Energy 1st Energy Pty Ltd

AER Australian Energy Regulator

AGL AGL Sales Pty Ltd

Alinta Energy Alinta Energy Retail Sales Pty Ltd

Amaysim Energy amaysim Energy Pty Ltd

Click Energy Click Energy Pty Ltd

DC Power DCP Company Limited

Diamond Energy Diamond Energy Pty Ltd

Dodo Power & Gas Dodo Power & Gas (M2 Energy Pty Ltd)

EnergyAustralia or EnergyAust EnergyAustralia Pty Ltd

Energy Locals Energy Locals Pty Ltd

ERM Power ERM Power Limited

ESC Essential Services Commission (Victoria)

ESCOSA Essential Services Commission of South Australia

FiT feed-in tariff

Future X Power Future X Group Pty Ltd

GST Goods and Services Tax

IPART Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (NSW)

kWh kilowatt hours

Locality Planning Energy or LPE Locality Planning Energy Pty Ltd

Lumo Energy Lumo Energy Pty Ltd

Mojo Power Mojo Power Pty Ltd

Momentum Energy Momentum Energy Pty Ltd

Next Business Energy or NBE Next Business Energy Pty Ltd

NSW New South Wales

Origin Energy Origin Energy Pty Ltd

People Energy People Energy Pty Ltd

Powerclub Power Club Limited

Powerdirect Powerdirect Pty Ltd

Powershop Powershop Pty Ltd

Queensland Competition Authority Glossary

previous tariff year(s) 2015–16 and/or 2016–17 and/or 2017–18

QCA Queensland Competition Authority

QEnergy QEnergy Limited

QPC Queensland Productivity Commission

Red Energy Red Energy Pty Ltd

reporting period 1 July 2018 to 20 June 2019

Sanctuary Energy Sanctuary Energy Pty Ltd

Simply Energy Simply Energy Pty Ltd

Queensland Competition Authority Appendix A: Bill calculations

APPENDIX A: BILL CALCULATIONS

In accordance with the terms of reference, this report is based on offer data as published on the AER's Energy Made Easy website. In calculating annual bills, we included: • fixed supply charges • variable usage charges • one-off sign-up bonuses • guaranteed and conditional discounts • annual membership fees • solar metering charges • fees to access wholesale prices • feed-in tariff amounts (for section 3.2 only). We did not add additional charges to bills for features offered by retailers that incur an additional charge (e.g. GreenPower), or fees and charges that did not apply to all customers (e.g. credit card payment fees and paper bill fees). The table below shows how these elements were used in calculating market offer prices and net bill position for solar customers. Table 13 Market offer prices and net bill position formulae

Market offer price annual bill

Supply costs + Cost of electricity + Membership – One-off sign up + GST (retailer imported fees and/or bonuses, daily supply (retailer variable fees to access guaranteed and charge x usage x annual wholesale conditional 365.25)a consumption prices discounts level)

Net overall annual bill position

Supply costs + Cost of electricity + Membership – One-off sign up + GSTb – Revenue from (retailer imported fees and/or bonuses, solar exports daily supply (retailer variable fees to access guaranteed and (annual charge + usage charge x wholesale conditional consumption metering annual prices discounts level x export charges x consumption ratio x retailer 365.25) level) FiT) a Includes metering fees which retailers identify as being charge separately (if any). b While revenue from solar FiT payments may attract GST for some customers, we understand this does not appear on electricity bills.

Queensland Competition Authority Appendix B: Supplementary data

APPENDIX B: SUPPLEMENTARY DATA

Feed-in tariffs in previous reporting years The following two tables show the residential and small business flat rate feed-in tariffs in each quarter of 2015–16, 2016–17 and 2017–18. Table 14 Residential feed-in tariffs by quarter, 2015–16 to 2017–18 (c/kWh)

Retailer 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 Sep Dec Mar Jun Sep Dec Mar Jun Sep Dec Mar Jun AGL 8 6–8 6 6 6 6 6 6 10.6 10.6 10.6 10.6–20 Alinta Energy — — — — — — — — 11 11 11 11 Amaysim Energy — — — — — — — — — 14 14 14 Click Energy 6–11 6–11 6–11 6–11 6–11 6–11 6–11 6–11 10–15 10–15 8–16 8–16 Diamond Energy 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 12 12 12 12 Dodo Power & Gas 4 4 4 4 4–6.5 4–6.5 4–6.5 4–6.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 EnergyAustralia 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 11 11 11 11–16.1 Energy Locals — — — — — 10 10 10 12.1 10–12.1 10–12.1 10–12.1 Lumo Energy 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 Mojo Power — — — — 7.3 7.3 7.3 7.3 9 9 9–20 9–20 Origin Energy 6 6 6 6 6 6 6–10 6–10 7 7 7 7 Powerdirect 6–8 6–8 6–8 6 6–8 6–8 6–8 6–8 10.6 10.6 10.6 10.6 Powershop — — — — — 8.2 8.2 8.2 10.8 10.8–12.2 12.2 12.2 QEnergy — — — — — — — — — 8 8 8 Red Energy — — — — — 6 6 6 6 6 6–11.5 6–11.5 Simply Energy — — — — 6.2 6.2 6.2 6.2 6.2–11.3 11.3 11.3 11.3 Urth Energya — 5–10 5–10 5–10 5–10 5–10 — — — — — — Highest 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 15 15 20 20 Average 6.6 6.6 6.6 6.5 6.5 6.7 6.8 6.7 9.8 10 10.7 11 Lowest 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 6 6 6 6 a Urth Energy's retail authorisation was revoked by the AER in February 2017 following the company's entry into administration. A dash (—) means the retailer did not attach a feed–in tariff to its offer(s) in the SEQ market, or did not have any offers in the market. Source: Energy Made Easy.

Queensland Competition Authority Appendix B: Supplementary data

Table 15 Small business feed-in tariffs by quarter, 2015–16 to 2017–18 (c/kWh)

Retailer 2015–16 2016–17 2017-18 Sep Dec Mar Jun Sep Dec Mar Jun Sep Dec Mar Jun AGL 8 6–8 6 6 6 6 6 6 10.6 10.6 10.6 10.6 Alinta Energy — — — — — — — — 11 11 11 11 Diamond Energy 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 12 12 12 12 EnergyAustralia 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 11 11 11 11–16.1 Energy Locals — — — — — 10 10 10 12.1 10–12.1 10–12.1 10–12.1 ERM Power 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 — 8 8 8 Lumo Energy 6–7 6–7 6–7 6–7 6 6 6 6 6 6 6–11.5 6–11.5 Origin Energy 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 7 7 7 7 Powerdirect 6–8 6–8 6–8 6 6–8 6–8 6–8 6–8 10.6 10.6 10.6 10.6 Powershop — — — — — 8.2 8.2 8.2 10.8 10.8–12.2 12.2 12.2 QEnergy — — — — — — — — — 8 8 8 Red Energy — — — — — 6 6 6 6 6 6–11.5 6–11.5 Simply Energy — — — — 6.2 6.2 6.2 6.2 6.2-11.3 11.3 11.3 11.3 Urth Energya — 5–10 5–10 5–10 5–10 5–10 — — — — — — Highest 8 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 12.1 12.2 12.2 16.1 Average 6.8 6.7 6.6 6.5 6.5 6.8 6.7 6.7 9.7 9.6 9.9 10.2 Lowest 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 a Urth Energy's retail authorisation was revoked by the AER in February 2017 following the company's entry into administration. A dash (—) means the retailer did not attach a feed–in tariff to its offer(s) in the SEQ market, or did not have any offers in the market. Source: Energy Made Easy.

Queensland Competition Authority Appendix B: Supplementary data

Annual bill variations for the first three quarters of 2018–19 The following four tables show the lowest and highest bills for the residential and small business tariffs/tariff combinations, excluding solar feed-in tariff payments, for the first three quarters of 2018–19. Table 16 Annual bill variations, residential flat rate offers, September, December and March quarters 2018–19 ($ per year)

Retailer September December March Lowest Highest Variance Lowest Highest Variance Highest Lowest Variance 1st Energy 1,488 1,933 445 1,488 1,933 445 1,488 1,933 445 AGL 1,338 1,725 387 1,361 1,725 364 1,337 1,725 388 Alinta Energy 1,358 1,721 363 1,358 1,721 363 1,358 1,721 363 Amaysim Energy 1,415 1,712 297 1,465 1,565 100 1,465 1,601 137 Click Energy 1,507 1,841 334 1,607 1,841 234 1,289 1,841 552 DC Power Co — — — — — — 1,812 1,812 0 Diamond Energy 1,475 1,663 188 1,475 1,475 0 1,475 1,475 0 Dodo Power & Gas 1,469 1,893 424 1,469 1,893 424 1,469 1,893 424 EnergyAustralia 1,343 1,752 409 1,343 1,752 409 1,343 1,752 409 Energy Locals 1,416 1,711 295 1,416 1,711 295 1,416 1,711 295 Locality Planning Energy — — — — — — 1,374 1,795 421 Lumo Energy 1,677 1,677 0 1,677 1,677 0 1,677 1,677 0 Mojo Power 1,489 2,005 516 1,739 2,005 266 1,739 2,005 266 Origin Energy 1,483 1,711 228 1,340 1,685 345 1,340 1,685 345 Powerclub — — — — — — 1,542 1,542 0 Powerdirect 1,387 1,725 338 1,387 1,725 338 1,387 1,725 338 Powershop 1,329 1,376 47 1,329 1,411 82 1,329 1,411 82 QEnergy 1,320 2,244 924 1,320 2,244 924 1,348 2,244 896 ReAmped Energy — — — — — — 1,315 1,315 0 Red Energy 1,422 1,677 255 1,422 1,677 255 1,468 1,677 209 Simply Energy 1,337 1,672 335 1,337 1,672 335 1,337 1,672 335 A dash (—) means the retailer did not have any offers on Energy Made Easy. Sources: Energy Made Easy; QCA analysis.

Queensland Competition Authority Appendix B: Supplementary data

Table 17 Annual bill variations, residential flat rate with controlled load super economy offers, September, December and March quarters 2018–19 ($ per year)

Retailer September December March Lowest Highest Variance Lowest Highest Variance Highest Lowest Variance 1st Energy 1,653 2,160 507 1,653 2,160 507 1,653 2,160 507 AGL 1,434 1,853 419 1,457 1,853 396 1,436 1,853 417 Alinta Energy 1,452 1,848 396 1,452 1,848 396 1,452 1,848 396 Amaysim Energy 1,617 1,767 150 1,667 1,767 100 1,667 1,808 142 Click Energy 1,721 2,078 358 1,820 2,078 258 1,455 2,078 623 DC Power Co — — — — — — 2,047 2,047 0 Diamond Energy 1,577 1,787 210 1,577 1,577 0 1,577 1,577 0 Dodo Power & Gas 1,576 2,038 463 1,576 2,038 463 1,576 2,038 463 EnergyAustralia 1,431 1,870 439 1,431 1,870 439 1,431 1,870 439 Energy Locals 1,598 1,896 298 1,598 1,896 298 1,598 1,896 298 Locality Planning Energy — — — — — — 1,481 1,843 362 Lumo Energy 1,796 1,796 0 1,796 1,796 0 1,796 1,796 0 Mojo Power 1,612 2,128 516 1,862 2,128 266 1,862 2,128 266 Origin Energy 1,584 1,826 242 1,426 1,800 374 1,426 1,800 374 Powerclub — — — — — — 1,685 1,685 0 Powerdirect 1,485 1,853 368 1,485 1,853 368 1,485 1,853 368 Powershop 1,491 1,544 53 1,491 1,583 92 1,491 1,583 92 QEnergy 1,385 2,512 1,128 1,385 2,512 1,128 1,404 2,512 1,108 ReAmped Energy — — — — — — 1,390 1,390 0 Red Energy 1,541 1,796 256 1,541 1,796 256 1,541 1,796 256 Simply Energy 1,495 1,869 374 1,495 1,869 374 1,495 1,869 374 A dash (—) means the retailer did not have any offers on Energy Made Easy. Sources: Energy Made Easy; QCA analysis.

Queensland Competition Authority Appendix B: Supplementary data

Table 18 Annual bill variations, residential flat rate with controlled load economy offers, September, December and March quarters 2018–19 ($ per year)

Retailer September December March Lowest Highest Variance Lowest Highest Variance Highest Lowest Variance 1st Energy 1,683 2,204 521 1,683 2,204 521 1,683 2,204 521 AGL 1,495 1,938 443 1,518 1,938 420 1,500 1,938 438 Alinta Energy 1,509 1,927 418 1,509 1,927 418 1,509 1,927 418 Amaysim Energy 1,640 1,790 150 1,690 1,790 100 1,690 1,832 142 Click Energy 1,745 2,106 361 1,845 2,106 261 1,474 2,106 632 DC Power Co — — — — — — 2,058 2,058 0 Diamond Energy 1,640 1,863 223 1,640 1,640 0 1,640 1,640 0 Dodo Power & Gas 1,634 2,120 486 1,634 2,120 486 1,634 2,120 486 EnergyAustralia 1,482 1,940 459 1,482 1,940 459 1,482 1,940 459 Energy Locals 1,608 1,950 342 1,608 1,950 342 1,608 1,950 342 Locality Planning Energy — — — — — — 1,555 1,919 364 Lumo Energy 1,876 1,876 0 1,876 1,876 0 1,876 1,876 0 Mojo Power 1,644 2,160 516 1,893 2,160 266 1,893 2,160 266 Origin Energy 1,652 1,904 252 1,483 1,879 396 1,483 1,879 396 Powerdirect 1,548 1,938 390 1,548 1,938 390 1,548 1,938 390 Powershop 1,506 1,560 53 1,506 1,599 93 1,506 1,599 93 QEnergy 1,446 2,558 1,112 1,446 2,558 1,112 1,457 2,558 1,101 ReAmped Energy — — — — — — 1,473 1,473 0 Red Energy 1,612 1,876 264 1,612 1,876 264 1,612 1,876 264 Simply Energy 1,533 1,917 384 1,533 1,917 384 1,533 1,917 384 A dash (—) means the retailer did not have any offers on Energy Made Easy. Sources: Energy Made Easy; QCA analysis.

Queensland Competition Authority Appendix B: Supplementary data

Table 19 Annual bill variations, small business flat rate offers, September, December and March quarters 2018–19 ($ per year)

Retailer September December March Lowest Highest Variance Lowest Highest Variance Highest Lowest Variance 1st Energy 2,748 3,710 962 2,748 3,710 962 2,748 3,710 962 AGL 2,912 3,326 415 2,583 3,326 743 2,583 3,326 743 Alinta Energy 2,687 3,222 536 2,687 3,222 536 2,687 3,222 536 amaysim Energy 2,980 3,130 150 3,030 3,130 100 2,966 3,130 165 Click Energy 2,980 3,130 150 3,080 3,130 50 3,105 3,130 25 Diamond Energy 2,899 3,073 174 2,899 2,899 0 2,899 2,899 0 EnergyAustralia 2,727 3,099 372 2,727 3,099 372 2,656 3,099 443 Energy Locals 2,848 3,263 415 2,848 3,263 415 2,848 3,263 415 ERM Power 2,749 3,786 1,037 3,786 3,786 0 — — — Lumo Energy 2,856 3,195 340 2,856 3,195 340 2,856 3,195 340 Next Business Energy 2,705 2,908 204 2,385 2,908 524 2,385 2,908 524 Origin Energy 2,756 3,177 421 2,756 3,151 395 2,650 3,151 501 Powerclub — — — — — — 2,828 2,828 0 Powerdirect 2,967 3,326 359 2,967 3,326 359 2,967 3,326 359 Powershop 2,518 2,607 89 2,518 2,755 237 2,518 2,755 237 QEnergy 2,697 4,135 1,438 2,565 4,135 1,570 2,556 4,135 1,578 Red Energy 2,747 3,195 448 2,747 3,195 448 2,747 3,195 448 Simply Energy 2,723 3,029 306 2,723 3,029 306 2,723 3,029 306 A dash (—) means the retailer did not have any offers on Energy Made Easy. Sources: Energy Made Easy; QCA analysis.