The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) monitors and reports on wholesale electricity markets. As part of this role, we report on events that result in wholesale electricity spot prices exceeding $5000 per megawatt hour.
Most customers are not directly exposed to wholesale electricity prices. Energy retailers are the main purchasers in the wholesale electricity market. Retailers bundle electricity with network services for sale to their residential, commercial and industrial customers. Generators and retailers can manage their exposure to price variations in the wholesale market by entering hedge contracts that lock in firm prices for the electricity they intend to produce or buy.
On Monday 30 December 2019, the spot price in Victoria reached $6442/MWh for one trading interval at 3.30 pm.
On Saturday 4 January 2020, the spot price in New South Wales (NSW) was above $5000/MWh for five trading intervals from 4 pm to 6 pm. On two occasions, the spot price reached the market price cap of $14 700/MWh.
We will publish a report into these high prices within 40 business days, by 26 February 2020 for Victoria and by 2 March 2020 for NSW.
You can subscribe to receive notifications of these reports; under Type select Performance report.