July 1, the Carbon Tax and what it means for Electricity Prices
What exactly is happening with the carbon tax on July 1?
The short answer is nothing. But if the government’s plan comes off, it will be repealed by July 18 and none of us will pay any carbon tax on our electricity bills from July onwards.
Nothing will happen on July 1 because the new Senate doesn’t sit until July 7. If the new Senate repeals the carbon tax that week, any tax that retailers have paid to generators will be refunded.
If the Palmer United Party uses their balance of power to demand an amendment to the bill, as they are threatening to do, the amendment could then go back to the House of Representatives on July 14 and be passed by July 18, which would still allow for the refund of any carbon tax paid after July 1.
But as you can see, the whole situation is currently very up in the air.
If for some reason the laws aren’t passed by both houses in those two weeks from July 7-18, then we will all have to keep paying the carbon tax on our bills until they can sort it out, which could take weeks or even months.
The Big 3 retailers – Origin, Energy Australia and AGL – have given mixed messages about what they plan to do and they appear to be in “wait and see” mode – especially since Palmer is meeting the Prime Minister today.
What we do know is that it hasn’t stopped retailers rising prices come July 1, with confirmation letters arriving in the letterbox this week.
