THE introduction of the carbon tax will cause small businesses’ electricity bills to “skyrocket”, say the Central West Orana Region of the NSW Business Chamber.
The IPART draft determination for NSW electricity prices recommends that electricity prices increase for small businesses by $237 per annum for Integral Energy customers, $439 per annum for Energy Australia customers and $494 per annum for Country Energy customers.
“Small businesses across NSW will be in for a shock from 1 July when their energy bills will start to jump through the roof, and half of this spike will be solely because of the introduction of the carbon tax,” regional manager of the Central West Orana Region of the NSW Business Chamber Paul Cox said.
“Small business is already bearing the brunt of energy price rises to fund upgrades of the network because of the under-investment in electricity assets.
“Now they are being slugged with a carbon tax that will do nothing to reduce global carbon emissions, it will only increase the cost of running their business.
“Small business is not being compensated by the federal government for the impost of the carbon tax.
“They are being unfairly expected to absorb these unnecessarily increasing costs in running their businesses and act as if it is business as usual.”