Queenslanders will receive a $325 – $1,372 rebate on their electricity bills from July this year. Discover who’s getting what, and how the $2.5 billion price tag will be paid for.
Announced yesterday morning by Premier Steven Miles, the rebates will be applied to bills in the first quarter of the 2024-25 financial year.
- Households will receive a $1,000 rebate.
- Eligible seniors, pensioners and concession card holders will receive $1,372.
- Small businesses to receive $325.
“This follows the success of the current $550 rebate provided to households this year, which has helped lower electricity bills by 9.5 per cent and bring down inflation,” said Premier Miles. “A lower energy bill puts more money back in the pockets of Queenslanders.”
Anyone would think there’s a state election looming. But seriously, no doubt many cash-strapped (and not so) Queenslanders will be welcoming the news. There’s nothing recipients will need to do to receive it – this will happen automagically.
Coal To Pick Up The Tab
Last month we reported on how National Electricity Market (NEM) states fared in Q1 this year with wholesale power prices compared to the first quarter of last year. Queensland didn’t do well – $118/MWh (up 13 per cent). It experienced the highest average price and also the biggest increase year-over-year.
Even though Queensland’s solar uptake is impressive, the state is still heavily dependent on coal-fired electricity generation. Last year, coal power accounted for 68.9% of electricity consumption in the state. This year, it’s sitting on 66% so far.
So, it’s quite fitting that coal royalties will provide the money needed for the power bill rebate; although that does nothing to mitigate the emissions and other damage coal wreaks.
The Queensland government introduced three new tiers to the coal royalty structure for coal sold, disposed of or used on or after 1 July 2022, and have done very nicely from it. According to Budget 2023/24 papers, the new progressive coal royalty rates generated additional royalty revenue of around $5.8 billion in 2022–23.
“Our investment back into the people of this state is only possible because the Miles Labor Government is collecting Queensland’s fair share of coal royalties from multinational mining companies,” said Deputy Premier and Treasurer Cameron Dick.
Mr. Dick then went on the attack, stating such generous rebates would be under threat if the other mob got into power.
“That’s why we are delivering these record rebates upfront, so they cannot be undone by a future LNP Government.”
Solar Owners Cash In
$1,000 is a significant chunk of change – and for households already minimizing their electricity bills with a solar power system, it will be particularly sweet.
For those who don’t have solar panels, the $1,000 could contribute to acquiring a system and having tiny bills in future not dependent on future QLD government rebates, as there’s no guarantee these will continue or at what level regardless of who is in power.
According to the SolarQuotes solar calculator, a 10 kW system installed in Brisbane can save approximately $1,350 a year; depending on energy consumption profile. Solar owner or not and to get the most mileage from the power bill rebate, it’s also wise to compare electricity plans regularly to ensure you’re on the best deal for your circumstances.
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Having a quick look at the QLD royalty rates at it appears that coal is taxed ridiculously high compared to other products – most things are either 10% or less, or else flat rate.
For coal the charge per value is:
First $100—7% of value
Next $50—12.5% of value
Next $25—15% of value
Next $50—20% of value
Next $75—30% of value
Balance—40% of value
If that’s tax on gross value, and mining companies have to pay federal taxes as well, might that be driving coal costs up, and thus the base price of power in QLD and\or other states?
As for the ‘Other Mob’ getting into power an article on polling suggests the other mob have won most polls since mid last year, and the ‘other guy’ has been better than the ‘current guy’ over the same period – but a lot don’t know, or care.
This seems to be a poorly targeted use of this money. It doesn’t encourage either more efficient energy use nor investment in solar/batteries.
In my particular case my annual power bill is likely to be $250-#300 as the result of this and I will delay a battery purchase for now to absorb this rebate in full.
I absolutely agree Craig, a VERY poor use of money when people should be being encouraged to install solar and/or batteries and to be energy efficient.
We should ask ourselves who owns the Qld electricity supply and how much are they charging the independent retailers. That $2.5m just circulates back to the Government and we the end user end up paying more. My kW cost has gone up 38% in 12 months and my solar rebate has gone down 20% in the same period..so rebates aren’t what they appear. While I appreciate the rebates I’m now paying more than 12 months ago.
If it weren’t for the Qld. govt. handout for electricity, we would get no 44 cent rebate from our solar system due to all the fees and charges by Ergon. We paid $7,500 for our system and the govt. paid $6,000 to the installer.
Ergon is currently paying around 13c/kWh FIT, up from 9c/kWh last financial year.
This rebate scheme sends totally the wrong message. Why go to the trouble and expense of installing solar/batteries or energy efficiency improvements when someone else is going to pay your power bill? It would appear to be a rather blatant bribe aimed at voters who will change their vote for a few hundred dollars. What of households that have already installed solar and/or batteries and subsequently have small (or even zero) power bills? Do they get the rebate as a credit, or do they miss out and so are effectively penalised for having done the right thing?
We still get the rebate. However, it remains in credit on your bill until you use it on a future bill. You can not cash it out. You can cash out your solar feed-in credit as we know, but the government rebate you can’t touch. So if you are really efficient and pretty much always in credit, which I am, you will never see the benefit of this rebate. But, your retailer has it paid to them by the government for nothing. So it’s sitting on there books and I’m assuming they just made Millions off of us who have heavily invested in renewable energy. I get it helps people struggling with their bills, but it doesn’t mean I’m not struggling with the cost of living. It really does not encourage people to move to renewables when it’s always paid for by the government. I just wish we had an alternative for people in my position to use this credit in another way.
Apparently the rebate can be cashed out by changing providers after it has been credited to your account. There was an article in The Australian about this a couple of days ago. Not much good to you if you are with Ergon.
Interesting, I’m having conflicting information from my power provider and other sources. I will have to find the actual writing and clarify this area. Thanks for the heads up.
Some people here need to remember that we have a housing crisis in Qld with rental prices sky-rocketing and many younger home buyers mortgaged to the max. Hopefully it will, if only for a short while, help them worry a little less. Likewise, we shouldn’t forget about the large number of people that live in units, caravans and the like. Most of this accommodation precludes people from installing solar. It may be an exercise in political pork barrelling in an election year and only a short term fix but let’s not overlook the immediate hardship others are facing today.
How does the $1000 work if I’m in credit with my power company already as I have installed solar panels?
Finn,
These rebates are anything but welcome. First, they are NOT mean tested, meaning someone on $1M a year with a lavish power bill will get a thousand bucks as well. Secondly it is unfair to owners of Solar/battery system who forked out big $$$ out of their own pocket and get nothing because they pay no bills. However, they robbed their own acoounts to be able to pay no bills. Thirdly, it does only part of a job to bill stress. There’s more to life than power bills.
Lastly, the rebate will encourage energy retailers to up their prices even more, just because they can.
So what’s so good about it? I may (may!) help Labor to retain power in the upcoming election. A smart but stupid move.