What we report on
Each year we are required to report to the NSW Minister for Energy on the performance and competitiveness of the NSW retail gas market.
The matters we are required to report on are specified in the National Energy Retail Law (NSW).
Overview of the key findings
While there are 11 retailers providing offers to customer in NSW, the NSW retail gas market remains concentrated. Most small customers in NSW are supplied by one of the 3 major retailers (AGL, Origin Energy and EnergyAustralia), who in aggregate, hold a market share of 83%.
A key challenge for retailers entering the market or expanding is securing wholesale gas and pipeline capacity at affordable prices. A number of government reforms have been implemented to help address these issues, including the Australian Government’s new Gas Market Code which came into force in July 2023. It involves a $12/GJ cap on the cost of wholesale gas, however, the ACCC has found it is not yet possible to draw conclusions about the impact of the code on prices.
Over the last 4 years, gas prices have increased by 35% for residential customers and almost 50% for business customers. In the most recent financial year, residential prices increased by 13% between June 2023 and June 2024 (an annual increase of almost $140 for a typical customer). These price increases mainly reflect rising wholesale gas costs.
We have not made recommendations in the NSW Retail Gas Market Monitoring report. However, several of the recommendations in IPART’s NSW Retail Electricity Market Monitoring Report are also relevant to the NSW retail gas market.