Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Wednesday that more needs to be done to address the growing levels of energy poverty in the country and his government would work with retailers to ensure better outcomes.
At an energy retailers meeting attended by representatives from all the major Australian players in the market, Turnbull said too many Australians are paying more for their electricity than they need to and "we are very focused on putting downward pressure on energy prices."
"It's one of the reasons we're working on long-term projects like Snowy Hydro 2.0 but that's years away," Turnbull added.
"We need action right now and with your support, we'll be able to ensure, working together, that Australians are not paying any more for electricity than they need to and that millions of Australian households will be able to save hundreds, in some cases thousands of dollars," he said.
That sentiment was echoed by the head of Energy Consumers Australia, Rosemary Sinclair, who said in a statement on Wednesday that the intervention by the prime minister will hopefully lead to positive results after "major problems" with how retailers had been dealing with Australian consumers who were struggling to make ends meet.
"The way electricity offers being structured and marketed is resulting in millions of Australian households and small businesses paying hundreds of dollars more than they need to for their energy," Sinclair said.
"Energy retailers need to demonstrate they are taking steps to deal with the complexity in this market and give consumers the information, tools and options they need to get control over rising costs."
Gas giant Santos announced on Wednesday a new deal that will see the energy provider supply more gas into the local Australian energy market, which will hopefully ease shortages that have led to price hikes.
The new deal will see the energy supplier provide gas to markets in Australia's southern states, sourced from the state of Queensland and then subsequently diverted elsewhere within Australia.
Kevin Gallagher, managing director and chief executive officer at Santos said that he was thrilled that his company would be able to do its part to address the shortages being suffered in certain local markets.
"This transaction demonstrates the ability for industry to efficiently work together and support the federal government in bringing more supply into the domestic market and help mitigate gas supply concerns," Gallagher said.
According to the terms of the deal, at least 18 petajoules of energy will be annually redirected to the southern market from January 2018.