Ferguson: energy price relief year away | Eco News

Australian consumers will have to wait for more than a year for any reduction in their energy bills resulting from the federal Labor government?s planned reforms.

Labor?s Energy Minister Martin Ferguson earlier released the government?s energy white paper, which included changes in the key area of retail price deregulation.

AAP Newsagency reports that Mr Ferguson said on Sunday that consumers would not get any relief from high energy bills, which had risen 40 per cent nationally in the past four years, until the second half of 2014.

?The impact will be in the next price set commencing on the first of July 2014,? he told Network Ten?s Meet the Press.

?It?s a huge achievement having the biggest integrated system in the world but you?ve also got to review it on a regular basis and we?re working not only on a commonwealth level but with the states to basically ensure that we?ve got a reliable system at the lowest possible cost.?

He said customers were already adjusting their energy usage to lower their power bills.

?Electricity generators are not making a lot of money at the moment because demand is down and trending down,? Mr Ferguson said.

?That?s reflecting the fact that we as consumers are working out how we can conserve energy, reduce our use of energy and conserve our costs.?

AAP says Mr Ferguson said he also thought any plans the Queensland and New South Wales state governments had to privatise their electricity markets would not be viable until the review was completed.

?Any investor will want to see what the new rules mean, how they?re applied, what it means in terms of investment and potential returns on investment,? he said.

Source: http://econews.com.au/news-to-sustain-our-world/ferguson-energy-price-relief-year-away/

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