Queensland Electricity Class Action
CS Energy has successfully defended a class action filed by a law firm and backed by litigation funders, which relates to historical electricity prices.
Following an initial hearing on questions of liability heard between June and August 2024, on 4 December 2024 the Federal Court of Australia dismissed the class action, holding that CS Energy did not contravene section 46 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth).
The Applicant has indicated that it may seek to appeal this decision.
CS Energy is committed to complying with all market rules and regulations and we have dedicated substantial resources to ensuring we meet our obligations. Our bidding activity is regulated under the National Electricity Law and the National Electricity Rules by the Australian Energy Regulator.
The Queensland electricity market and customers
As a residential or small business customer, you buy your electricity through a retailer. Your retailer, the company that sends you your electricity bills, manages your energy purchases from the market, and pays the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO).
What you pay your retailer includes the costs of generating and supplying you with electricity and can include:
- network costs -– building and maintaining all the equipment and infrastructure needed to distribute electricity, such as poles, wires, and meter readers.
- wholesale costs – this is what your retailer pays for your wholesale electricity
- environmental/green schemes – contributions to compulsory state and federal government environmental/renewable schemes
- retail services – what you pay your retailer for their services, such as customer service and metering services.
What role does CS Energy play in the electricity supply chain?
CS Energy provides electricity to some of our state’s largest industries and employers. We operate in the generation and retail sections of the electricity supply chain.
We generate electricity at the power stations that we own and operate and we sell this electricity in the wholesale National Electricity Market. We are also an electricity retailer for large energy users throughout Queensland, such as mines, ports and government.
In South East Queensland we have a retail joint venture (JV) with Alinta Energy to supply electricity to residential and small commercial customers. Since entering the SEQ retail market in 2017, the JV has been recognised for helping to stimulate competition, leading to better price outcomes for consumers regardless of their retailer.
Fast facts about the market
- There are more than 600 registered participants in the National Electricity Market (NEM), including generators, transmission and distribution network service providers, and market customers, including retailers.
- The NEM started operating as a wholesale electricity market in December 1998.
- The NEM consists of about 40,000km of transmission lines and cables, supplying a population exceeding 23 million.
- Western Australia and the Northern Territory are not connected to the NEM. They have their own electricity systems.
- Approx. 181.4 terawatt hours of electricity supplied to homes and businesses a year. (Source: AEMO).
How it works
Generators offer to supply the market with an amount of electricity at a certain price for a specific time period. They can re-submit the amount at any time.
AEMO considers the offers and decides which generators will be used to produce electricity, with the cheapest generator put into operation first. This process is designed to meet everyone’s electricity demands in the most cost-efficient way.
Prices fluctuate in response to supply and demand at any point in time. It’s a dynamic, highly competitive market with more than 100 generators and retailers.
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