Regional subsidy

Queensland is a large state, with vast distances between our cities and towns. The costs involved in supplying electricity to regional and remote Queenslanders is much greater than for those in the south-east corner of the state. This is due to the high costs of transporting electricity over long distances. There are also fewer people in remote and regional Queensland to share the costs of the transmission towers and poles and wires that deliver them electricity.

The Queensland Government ensures that all Queensland electricity customers of a similar type supplied through the distribution systems of ENERGEX and Ergon Energy, no matter where they live, pay a similar price for their electricity. It does this by subsidising the additional costs involved in supplying electricity to regional Queenslanders through Queensland Government payments to Ergon Energy. This subsidy is called the Community Service Obligation payment. This means that customers in Roma only pay the same rate for their electricity as customers in Brisbane, not the true cost of supplying electricity to their homes.