Australia will cap coal and gas prices for a year to cut utility bills for households and businesses, said Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Reuters reported.
He said gas prices would be capped at A$12 per gigajoule (GJ) and the limit for coal would be A$125 per ton for 12 months, with the government supporting coal producers whose costs exceed that figure.
Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures, and we know that with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we have seen significant increases in global energy prices, Albanese said.
The government has also agreed to provide up to A$1.5 billion in aid to households and small businesses starting in the second quarter of 2023.
The gas price cap would apply to new wholesale gas sales by East Coast producers. According to research group EnergyQuest, at A$12, this is less than half of the average short-term gas price of A$26 per GJ in the third quarter.
