Market Monitoring Report. SEQ retail electricity market monitoring: January to March 2018

Transcription

1 Market Monitoring Report SEQ retail electricity market monitoring: January to March 2018 April 2018

2 Contents Contents THE ROLE OF THE QCA II 1 INTRODUCTION Minister's direction notice QCA methodology 1 2 PRICE MONITORING Residential customers (tariff 11) Small business customers (tariff 20) Conclusion 7 APPENDIX A : MINISTER'S LETTER AND DIRECTION NOTICE 8 APPENDIX B : ASSUMPTIONS AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 10 Offers available in the March quarter 10 Sign-up incentives 10 Calculating bills using our published dataset 10 Highest standing offers 10 Diamond Energy standing offers 11 GLOSSARY 12 i

3 The Role of the QCA THE ROLE OF THE QCA The Queensland Competition Authority (QCA) is an independent statutory authority which promotes competition as the basis for enhancing efficiency and growth in the Queensland economy. QCA market monitoring functions The QCA's role with respect to monitoring the south east Queensland retail electricity market (the market) is set out in part 2, chapter 4 of the Electricity Act 1994 (Qld) (the Electricity Act). In accordance with section 89B of the Electricity Act, the QCA has been directed by the Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy to report on the operation of the market for the period 1 October 2017 to 30 June Contacts Enquiries regarding this report should be directed to: Attention: Contact: Mr Shannon Murphy ii

4 Introduction 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Minister's direction notice The Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy has directed the Queensland Competition Authority (QCA) to monitor prices for residential and small business electricity customers in south east Queensland (SEQ). The direction notice applies to the period from 1 October 2017 to 30 June 2018, with the QCA required to report on each three-month period. The tariffs that the QCA reports on should be equivalent to the standard tariffs regulated by the QCA in regional Queensland, which are tariff 11 (residential) and tariff 20 (small business). A copy of the notice is at Appendix A. 1.2 QCA methodology Typical customer The methodology for this report is substantially the same as the one we used to monitor prices in the SEQ retail electricity market for the financial year. That is, we present prices as a bill (GST incl.) for a median consumption level customer the 'typical SEQ customer' to provide the most meaningful comparison between individual price components. 1 As this report relates only to the 90 days between 1 January and 31 March 2018, the bills are per quarter, not for a year. Standing and market offers We present bills for standing and market offers. Standing offers are basic offers with terms and conditions that are specified by the National Energy Retail Rules (NERR). 2 Market offers contain a minimum set of terms and conditions (specified in the NERR 3 ) and can include other terms and conditions agreed between the retailer and customer. Compared to market offers, standing offers provide preferential terms and conditions to customers. 4 In our view, standing and market offers should therefore not be compared solely in terms of price differences. Energy Made Easy We obtained information on retailers' published standing and market offer prices including fixed and variable charges from Energy Made Easy. The median consumption levels we used to calculate typical quarterly bills were 1,000 kilowatt hours (kwh) for residential flat rate customers, and 1,561 kwh for small business flat rate customers. These consumption levels were derived by multiplying daily Energex consumption volumes for by 90 days. 1 For more information on our methodology, see section 2.3 and Appendix E of QCA 2017, SEQ retail electricity market monitoring: , market monitoring report, November [QCA 2017a]. 2 National Energy Retail Rules, rule 12 and schedule 1. 3 National Energy Retail Rules, rule QCA 2018, Regulated retail electricity prices for , draft determination, February, section

5 Introduction SEQ offers and notified prices After we published our report for the October to December 2017 quarter, the Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy requested we include comparisons between prices in SEQ with equivalent notified prices in regional Queensland in our reports for the remainder of Public dataset The tables and graphs in Chapter 2 are supplemented with a dataset, including fixed and variable charges for each standing and market offer, for the residential and small business flat rate tariffs for the March quarter. This dataset is available as a separate downloadable spreadsheet (on our website) for stakeholders seeking more detail. Customers could use the dataset to calculate and compare bills based on their actual quarterly consumption. The dataset also allows customers to account for seasonal changes in their demand, such as higher demand in summer months. Consumers with rooftop solar who wish to use the dataset to calculate and compare bills should also take into account solar feed-in tariffs. Instructions on using the dataset to calculate bills are at Appendix B. 2

6 Price monitoring 2 PRICE MONITORING 2.1 Residential customers (tariff 11) In the March quarter, 21 retailers had standing offers for the residential flat rate tariff published on Energy Made Easy. Of these retailers, 16 also had at least one residential flat rate market offer published on Energy Made Easy. Table 1 Bills for a typical residential flat rate customer, January to March 2018 Retailer Standing Average market Lowest market Highest market 1st Energy AGL Alinta Energy Amaysim Energy Click Energy Diamond Energy 373 n/a n/a n/a Dodo Power & Gas EnergyAustralia Energy Locals Lumo Energy 375 n/a n/a n/a Mojo Power Momentum Energy 371 n/a n/a n/a Next Business Energy Origin Energy People Energy 360 n/a n/a n/a Powerdirect Powershop QEnergy Red Energy Sanctuary Energy 396 n/a n/a n/a Simply Energy Simple average n/a The retailer did not have a residential flat rate market offer published on Energy Made Easy in the March quarter. Sources: Energy Made Easy; QCA analysis. 3

7 Price monitoring The equivalent bill for notified prices for the March quarter is $380 (GST incl.). This is calculated by: multiplying the notified fixed charge for ( cents per day, including metering charge) by 90 days, and adding the multiple of the notified usage charge for ( cents per kwh) and 1,000 kwh. 5 Figure 1 Bills for a typical residential flat rate customer, January to March 2018 $525 $500 $475 $450 $425 $400 $375 $350 $325 $300 $275 Notified price Low market offer High market offer Ave market offer Standing offer Notes: Diamond Energy, Lumo Energy, Momentum Energy, People Energy and Sanctuary Energy did not have a residential flat rate market offer published on Energy Made Easy in the March quarter. Sources: Energy Made Easy; QCA analysis QCA assessment SEQ offers Retailers' standing offer bills were generally higher than their market offer bills in the March quarter. The lowest market offer available in the market in the March quarter was AGL's Set And Forget offer ($293). The AGL offer did not have the lowest fixed daily, or variable usage, charge; the 28 per cent (direct debit) discount on usage charges and $50 sign-up incentive made it the cheapest offer. The March quarter table and graph show that for a typical residential flat rate tariff customer: The difference between the average standing offer and the average market offer was $44, with the differences across retailers ranging from $6 (Click Energy) to $103 (QEnergy). The difference between the average highest market offer and the average lowest market offer was $40, with the differences across retailers ranging from $0 (Energy Locals, Next Business Energy and Powerdirect) to $139 (Click Energy). 5 QCA 2017, Regulated retail electricity prices for , final determination, June [QCA 2017b], section 8.1 (Table 16). 4

8 Price monitoring Four retailers included sign-up incentives on at least one of their market offers in the March quarter: AGL included $25 or $50 (GST incl.) incentives on its Everyday, Savers, and Set And Forget offers. EnergyAustralia included $50 incentives on its Flexi Saver (Home) offers. We treated the incentives as including GST. 6 Origin Energy included $50 (GST incl.) incentives on its Maximiser (Online Only) and Saver (Online Only) offers for customers who switched to Origin Energy. Simply Energy included $25 (applied before GST) incentives on its Plus 15 Online, Save 10 Online and Extra 20 Online offers. SEQ offers and notified prices In the March quarter, for all retailers, except Mojo Power, at least one market offer was available that was lower than the equivalent bill for notified prices. Also, most retailers' standing offers yielded quarterly bills that were higher than the equivalent bills for notified prices. 2.2 Small business customers (tariff 20) In the March quarter, 18 retailers had small business flat rate offers published on Energy Made Easy. Of these retailers, 16 also had at least one small business flat rate market offer published on Energy Made Easy. Table 2 Bills for a typical small business flat rate customer, January to March 2018 Retailer Standing Average market Lowest market Highest market 1st Energy AGL Alinta Energy Amaysim Energy Click Energy Diamond Energy 573 n/a n/a n/a EnergyAustralia Energy Locals ERM Power Lumo Energy Momentum Energy 595 n/a n/a n/a Next Business Energy Origin Energy See QCA 2018, SEQ retail electricity market monitoring: October to December 2017, market monitoring report, January, Appendix B (sign-up incentives section). 5

9 Price monitoring Retailer Standing Average market Lowest market Highest market Powerdirect Powershop QEnergy Red Energy Simply Energy Simple average n/a The retailer did not have a small business flat rate market offer published on Energy Made Easy in the March quarter. Sources: Energy Made Easy; QCA analysis. The equivalent bill for notified prices for the March quarter is $604 (GST incl.). This is calculated by: multiplying the notified fixed charge for ( cents per day, including metering charge) by 90 days, and adding the multiple of the notified usage charge for ( cents per kwh) and 1,561 kwh. 7 Figure 2 Bills for a typical small business flat rate customer, January to March 2018 $750 $700 $650 $600 $550 $500 $450 $400 Notified price Low market offer High market offer Ave market offer Standing offer Notes: Diamond Energy and Momentum Energy did not have a small business flat rate market offer published on Energy Made Easy in the March quarter. Sources: Energy Made Easy; QCA analysis. 7 QCA 2017b, section 8.1 (Table 17). 6

10 Price monitoring QCA assessment SEQ offers Retailers' standing offer bills were generally higher than their market offer bills in the March quarter. The lowest market offer available in the market in the March quarter was QEnergy's Flexi Biz 17 Single Rate offer ($451). The QEnergy offer did not have the lowest fixed daily charge, but did have lowest variable usage charge. Further, the QEnergy offer did not include any discounts or incentives. The March quarter table and graph show that for a typical small business flat rate tariff customer: The difference between the average standing offer and the average market offer was $73, with the differences across retailers ranging from $15 (Click Energy) to $194 (QEnergy). The difference between the average highest market offer and the average lowest market offer was $33, with the differences across retailers ranging from $0 (1st Energy, Amaysim Energy, Energy Locals, Lumo Energy, Next Business Energy, Powerdirect and Red Energy) to $117 (Powershop). Two retailers included incentives on at least one of their market offers in the March quarter: Origin Energy included $50 (GST incl.) incentives on its Business esaver Off Electricity Usage Discount offers for customers who switched to Origin Energy. Simply Energy included $50 (applied before GST) incentives on its Save 10 Online offer. SEQ offers and notified prices In the March quarter, for all retailers, except Amaysim Energy and Click Energy, at least one market offer was available that was lower than the equivalent bill for notified prices. Also, most retailers' standing offers yielded quarterly bills that were higher than the equivalent bills for notified prices. 2.3 Conclusion The key points of our comparison and assessment of standing and market offer prices for the period 1 January to 31 March 2018 are below. Comparison and assessment (1) Standing offer bills were generally higher than market offer bills in the March quarter. (2) The cheapest residential flat rate market offer available in the March quarter, calculated for the typical customer, was AGL's Set And Forget offer. (3) The cheapest small business flat rate market offer available in the March quarter, calculated for the typical customer, was QEnergy's Flexi Biz 17 Single Rate offer. (4) In the March quarter, most retailers had at least one market offer available which was lower than the equivalent bill for notified prices, and most retailers' standing offers were higher than the equivalent bill for notified prices. 7

11 Appendix A: Minister's letter and direction notice APPENDIX A: MINISTER'S LETTER AND DIRECTION NOTICE 8

12 Appendix A: Minister's letter and direction notice 9

13 Appendix B: Assumptions and additional information APPENDIX B: ASSUMPTIONS AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Offers available in the March quarter Section 2 of the terms of reference in the direction notice requires the QCA to report on prices which were available in each three-month period (from 1 October 2017 to 30 June 2018). We therefore include all retailers' offers which were generally available between 1 January and 31 March This includes offers which were available on 1 January, but expired before, 31 March Sign-up incentives We attributed 90 days of value to the annual value of sign-up incentives to calculate bills. We consider that this more accurately reflects the benefit to a customer over a 12-month period. For instance, AGL stated in its offers that included the $50 sign-up incentive that customers were "eligible for only one upfront credit on an account in any 12-month period". We excluded the value of the Amazon Echo device which was included as a sign-up incentive on AGL's Savers Home Connect offer as it did not provide a direct reduction in electricity bills. AGL stated on the offer that the recommended retail price of the device was $149. Calculating bills using our published dataset The table below shows how stakeholders can calculate bills for the March quarter using the dataset published on the QCA website. Calculating a March quarter bill Fixed costs (retailer daily fixed charges x 90) + Cost of electricity imported (retailer usage charge x customer consumption level) + Membership fees 8 One-off sign-up bonuses, guaranteed and conditional discounts + GST Highest standing offers In our market monitoring report, we stated that we did not characterise the difference between the highest standing offer and the lowest market offer as a potential saving for customers in circumstances where we were aware that no customers were contracted to the highest standing offers. 9 For this report, we invited retailers with standing offers which were more than 10 per cent higher than the average standing offer to inform the QCA how many customers were contracted to their standing offers. ERM Power responded to our inquiry, and advised us that it: had three sites on its standing offer during the March quarter 8 Mojo Power is the only retailer who charged membership fees in the March quarter. For more information on Mojo Power's membership fees, see the public dataset and QCA 2017a, section QCA 2017a, sections 2.4.1, and In these sections, the differences between certain standing offers (published by Next Business Energy and ERM Power) and the lowest comparable market offers were not characterised as potential savings for customers on the basis that the QCA understood no customers were contracted to the standing offers. 10

14 Appendix B: Assumptions and additional information considered its standing offer to be a short-term, interim arrangement, generally applicable when a customer comes off-contract and is yet to enter into another market contract, or where the owner of the connection has not been established. 10 Diamond Energy standing offers In our market monitoring report for , we explained that we excluded the value of Diamond Energy's discounts on its standing offers that is, a 3 per cent pay on time discount and a 3 per cent direct debit discount. We also published a table showing Diamond Energy's annual bills, before and after conditional discounts, for its standing offers for the tariff combinations included in the report. 11 In our market monitoring report for the December quarter of , we similarly excluded the value of Diamond Energy's pay on time and direct debit discounts off its residential and small business flat rate standing offers. 12 However, it has become apparent that there is no legal impediment to retailers including conditional discounts on standing offers. Diamond Energy's lowest residential and small business flat rate offers for the December and March quarters include a: 3 per cent discount off daily supply and usage charges where full payment is made by direct debit 7 per cent discount off daily supply and usage charges where payment is made on time, and the customer agrees to receive invoices by . Therefore, we have included the two conditional discounts listed above in the calculation of Diamond Energy's March quarter bills. For completeness, Diamond Energy's residential flat rate bill (inclusive of discounts) for the December quarter was $381 (compared to $423 included in the December report); and the small business flat rate bill (inclusive of discounts) for the December quarter was $586 (compared to $651 included in the December report). Average standing offer These amendments reduce the average residential and small business flat rate standing offers for the December quarter to from $410 to $408, and from $645 to $641, respectively. In turn, the amendments reduce the difference between the average standing offer and average market offer for residential customers from $46 to $43, and for small business customers from $77 to $ ERM Power 2018, unpublished advice to the QCA, April. 11 QCA 2017a, Appendix E. 12 The QCA also excluded Diamond Energy's standing offers from the QCA's presentation of the differentials between lowest priced offers and standing offers in SEQ in the price determination (QCA 2017b, section 6.1.3). 11

15 Glossary GLOSSARY 1st Energy AGL Alinta Energy Amaysim Energy Click Energy Diamond Energy Dodo Power & Gas Electricity Act EnergyAustralia Energy Locals ERM Power excl. GST incl. kwh Lumo Energy Mojo Power n/a NERR No. Origin Energy People Energy Powerdirect Powershop QCA QEnergy Qld Red Energy Sanctuary Energy Simply Energy 1st Energy Pty Ltd AGL Sales Pty Ltd Alinta Energy Retail Sales Pty Ltd amaysim Energy Pty Ltd Click Energy Pty Ltd Diamond Energy Pty Ltd Dodo Power & Gas (M2 Energy Pty Ltd) Electricity Act 1994 (Qld) EnergyAustralia Pty Ltd Energy Locals Pty Ltd ERM Power Limited exclusive Goods and Services Tax inclusive kilowatt hours Lumo Energy (Qld) Pty Ltd Mojo Power Pty Ltd not applicable National Energy Retail Rules number Origin Energy Retail Pty Ltd People Energy Pty Ltd Powerdirect Pty Ltd Powershop Pty Ltd Queensland Competition Authority QEnergy Limited Queensland Red Energy Pty Ltd Sanctuary Energy Pty Ltd Simply Energy Pty Ltd 12