CANBERRA, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Australian power bills have risen more than 60 percent in the last decade, said a report released on Monday.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), Australia's consumer watchdog, found that there had been a 63 percent spike in retail electricity prices since 2008 following a period of stability from 1990 to 2007.
The preliminary report, which was released by Treasurer Scott Morrison, found that network costs and a lack of competition were largely responsible for the increase.
"What's clear from our report is that price increases over the past 10 years are putting Australian businesses and consumers under unacceptable pressure," Rod Sims, Chairman of the ACCC, said on Monday.
The ACCC's findings were handed down as the government prepared to announce its energy policy.
Josh Frydenberg, Australia's Energy Minister, has flagged that the government would abandon the Clean Energy Target (CET) recommended by Alan Finkel, the country's chief scientist.
Finkel's modeling found that a CET would reduce electricity prices by 10 percent over 30 years but the ACCC was not able to corroborate his finding.
"We don't judge that it will have that much of an effect on affordability," Sims said.
"He's making an argument which is a fair one to make. I'm just saying in any modelling you've got assumptions.
"The Clean Energy Target involves a subsidy which has to be paid for, which is smeared across all users, so it there's pluses and minuses."
The Opposition Australian Labor Party (ALP) has already said it would not support any policy which did not include the CET, likely making the policy dead on arrival if the government cannot garner support from minor parties.
"The Finkel review said if you can provide some certainty around a bipartisan energy mechanism that would get investment flowing and that would lower power prices and the energy minister agreed with him as recently as two months ago," Pat Conroy, Labor's climate change spokesman, told reporters on Monday.
The ACCC's full findings on the Australian energy crisis will be released in 2018.
