SOUTH Australian households can expect their electricity bill to rise by 50 per cent in five to 10 years as more power comes from renewable energy on improved networks, ElectraNet chief executive Ian Stirling says.
That would translate to a $100 electricity bill now rising to $145 between 2015 and 2020, he said.
The price rise would be further increased by annual inflation.
Mr Stirling estimates that ElectraNet, the owner and operator of South Australia's electricity transmission system, would need a $3 billion overhaul in the next 10 years to improve the network between power generators and sub-stations.
"That all has to be paid for by customers," he said.
The cost of generating and distributing electricity represents 80 per cent of electricity costs passed on to consumers; transmission and retail take up the remaining 20 per cent of an average electricity bill, he said.
The South Australian government has set the highest target in the nation of sourcing 50 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2050 which would boost prices.
Premier Mike Rann has estimated the state would source 33 per cent from renewables, mainly wind power, in the next 10 years.
"To put it in context, Australia has some of the cheapest power in the world, it ranks in the top five . . . 80 per cent of it comes from cheap coal," Mr Stirling said. ElectraNet's annual upgrade costs had doubled in the past five years driven by costs for materials, the need to increase capacity of the network and provide for more end users.
Coupled with an inevitable cost for carbon, expected to be about $20 a tonne, end users will pay more, he said.
"We had our price shock back at the start of the Rann government," he said, adding that building in a carbon price for consumers earlier would ease further price shocks in the future.
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