The head of Australia's consumer watchdog insists there is nothing complicated about the carbon tax component of electricity prices.
The nine per cent impact on power prices will no longer apply once the carbon tax is abolished, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims says.
"It's really that straightforward," he told ABC radio on Friday.
Business groups have warned consumers not to expect large or immediate savings following the tax's repeal, saying energy prices had risen for other reasons.
The coalition government says abolishing the carbon tax will result in electricity costs falling by nine per cent and gas prices by seven per cent, providing the average household with an annual saving of $550.
Both sides of politics agree the carbon tax adds nine per cent to electricity bills.
Mr Sims says that makes it easy to calculate what should happen after the tax is abolished.
"There's a lot of noise and people complicating a really simple issue," he said, adding the law would basically say electricity companies will not be allowed to have a carbon component in their costs.
But Mr Sims acknowledges there are other factors, such as network costs, that affect electricity bills.
"Whether those other factors will push prices up or push prices down, nobody can really call that," he said.
The ACCC will work with electricity companies ahead of the planned July 1, 2014 repeal date to identify carbon costs in the pricing structures.
The government will introduce its repeal legislation to parliament next week.
Share
