NSA fighting for a better deal
National Seniors Australia (NSA) has long advocated measures to ease the cost of energy for older Australians.
Connect has reported extensively on power prices, and you can read about and join our Energy Affordability campaign here .
NSA's commitment to getting seniors the best deal on electricity is reflected in our energy policy recommendation in our 2026-27 Federal Budget Submission .
NSA says the Federal Government should provide:
1. An energy credit of $150 targeted to Australian households and small businesses via electricity bills who do not have solar and/or batteries to ensure it is targeted at need.
2. A one-off increase to the energy supplement to bring it to parity with past energy inflation (since September 2014) and reinstate indexation. For an Age Pension recipient, this would represent an annual increase of $90 (single) and $135.20 (couple). Indexation should use the energy component of CPI - if energy costs reduce, the supplement would reduce, thus incentivising government to maintain lower energy prices.
Household electricity prices in some states could fall by up to 10% next financial year under the energy regulator's draft determination for 2026-27.
The draft decision proposes reductions in Default Market Offer (DMO) prices across all regulated regions - New South Wales, South East Queensland, and South Australia - due to lower wholesale electricity costs and reduced environmental and retail operating costs.
If adopted in the final determination, DMO annual prices for residential customers would fall by between 1.3% and 10.1%, while small business prices would decrease by between 7.6% and 21.2%, depending on the region.
With the war on Iran pushing up energy prices, this is good news for consumers feeling pain at the petrol pump, but it could be false dawn if the war drags on? More on that later.
According to the Australian Energy Regulator (AER), the DMO sets an efficiently priced safety-net for households and small businesses on standing offer electricity plans and is supposed to act as a reference price to help consumers compare market offers.
It is important to note that the final DMO is not yet finalised and, even when it is, it will not necessarily be the lowest price you can pay for power. National Seniors Australia (NSA) recommends that, if possible, you shop around for the best price for your household. Easier said than done, as we point out below!
AER chair, Clare Savage, said the proposed price reductions reflect easing electricity costs and a shift to an efficient price framework under new government regulations, but said the AER continues to closely monitor global energy market developments.
"The reductions reflect easing costs across parts of the electricity supply chain, particularly wholesale energy where we've seen falling electricity contract prices, reduced spot price volatility, and increased output from wind and battery generation," Ms Savage said.
"Retailers have also reported lower retail operating costs, while reductions in the cost of environmental schemes have also had a positive impact on reducing prices."
Ms Savage said the regulator had "worked to ensure consumers have access to a trusted, fair, and reasonably priced Default Market Offer that, come 1 July, is locked in for the next 12 months, providing consumers who can't or won't shop around that important safety net".
Can you do better?
The DMO is the backstop price to protect disengaged consumers. It is not the best price for electricity - fewer than 10% of households and about 15% of small businesses remain on a DMO.
The AER recommends that consumers shop around for a better deal than the standing offers which use the DMO - noting that recent retail data indicates that some customers on the DMO could save up to 13% by moving to a mid-market offer in their region.
But the challenge for you, as a customer, is knowing if an electricity plan is actually a better deal and staying alert to your bill when the market offer expires.
While retailers are required to tell you at least once every 100 days if you could be on a better plan, the onus is on you to make sure you are on the best deal.
The Federal Government's Energy Made Easy website can help you compare prices in your area, but unfortunately, it's a dog's breakfast.
Our view is that there are too many plans which are impossible to compare, making it difficult for households to accurately know the real cost.
NSA is advocating for the retail market to be simplified and the DMO price be required to be displayed on electricity bills to show if a customer's chosen plan is better - or worse!
