Continuing to be there for Tasmanians

Aurora Energy has emphasised the importance of it being a trusted and valued Tasmanian business in today’s Government Business Scrutiny Committee hearing.

“As Tasmania’s 100 per cent owned and operated retailer, Aurora Energy has continued to support their customers and community in a time of great change and uncertainty,” Chair Mary O’Kane said.

“I am extremely proud of the ongoing resilience of our people and their unwavering commitment to provide Tasmanians with the assurance that Aurora Energy is reliable, affordable and investing in the state’s future.”

A range of national and global events over the past 18 months has placed significant upward stress on the supply chain, particularly the wholesale energy market.

With wholesale costs accounting for more than 40 per cent of the energy bill this has been a major driver for increased prices for consumers across Australia, including Aurora Energy prices that are set by the independent Tasmanian Economic Regulator and were recently confirmed as the lowest regulated electricity prices in the nation.

Despite this, CEO Nigel Clark said because they are local, Aurora Energy understands the difficulty being felt by Tassie homes and businesses and that’s why they have remained true to who they are at their core – Tasmanians supporting Tasmanians.

“Alongside State and Federal Governments, we set up new targeted bill relief that will mitigate the full price increase in 2023-24 for the vast majority of eligible residential customers and all small business customers based on average price increases, with households to receive $250 annually over two years and small businesses $650 in 2023-24,” Mr Clark said.

“We also provided $200,000 to top up the Tasmanian Government’s energy hardship fund to directly support customers experiencing financial vulnerability.”

In total, Aurora Energy provided more than $1.85M in customer and community support in 2022-23.

As the transition to renewable energy increased pace, Aurora Energy remained steadfast in its journey to empower customers to make better energy choices.

Critical to this empowerment is the continued roll-out of advanced meters across the state, which will help to facilitate the development of modern products that enable energy insights, such as aurora+.

“As at 30 September, close to 65 per cent of all Aurora Energy customers had their basic meter replaced with an advanced meter, which is in line with the State Government’s commitment that the rollout will be complete by the end of 2026,” Mr Clark said.

“Knowing the benefits of aurora+, we encouraged more customers to take advantage of this digital channel to better understand and control their energy costs. Now almost 80,000 Tasmanians are making the most of this smart technology.”