nergex documents reveal that the company last year planned to “recover” $469.8 million in “under-recovered revenue” over the next two years, with the amount to be tagged on to future prices.
The figure reflects the shortfall in actual revenue compared with what the Australian Energy Regulator allows the energy distributor to recover, with a new revenue cap set every five years.
It means householders pay for power they do not actually use, with the energy distributors able to reap revenue based on forecast demand rather than actual demand.
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Solar energy growth has been a key factor, with a May 2013 Energex presentation showing solar energy production growth rose by eight times that of 2009.Demand for energy was flat over the same period.
The newspaper also revealed allegations by Energex whistleblower Cally Wilson that Energex had examined ways to artificially increase revenues – and power prices.
Ms Wilson, a treasury analyst with seven years’ experience, said she was forced to manipulate data to reach targeted weighted average cost of capital (WACC) – a key factor in setting revenues and therefore household electricity bills.
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