{"id":652601,"date":"2026-06-09T08:01:30","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T06:01:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=652601"},"modified":"2026-06-09T08:33:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T06:33:55","slug":"andre-de-ruyter-is-right-australias-electricity-prices-are-far-better-than-south-africas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/energy\/652601-andre-de-ruyter-is-right-australias-electricity-prices-are-far-better-than-south-africas.html","title":{"rendered":"Andr\u00e9 de Ruyter is right: Australia’s electricity prices are far better than South Africa’s"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Analysis by MyBroadband shows that Australian households are generally much better off when it comes to electricity bills than South Africans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 2016, Australia’s wholesale electricity prices have increased by roughly 30% to 50% due to several factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main drivers have been surging and unpredictable gas prices, electricity infrastructure upgrades, and the decommissioning of coal plants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, more recently, prices have started to decline due to the rapid rollout of cheap renewable power, especially solar power. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The share of renewable power in the country’s electricity supply recently reached 50%. Plunging battery prices have also enabled a large proportion of this capacity to be made dispatchable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former Eskom CEO Andr\u00e9 de Ruyter recently highlighted <\/a>how Australia’s uptake of renewables and batteries cut wholesale electricity prices by 44% in the last quarter of 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He suggested that this approach could also reduce, and even reverse, the relentless upward trend in electricity tariffs in South Africa, rather than doubling down on extending the life of coal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

De Ruyter’s view was widely criticised on social media, with some users commenting that Australia’s electricity prices were around double South Africa’s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While that was true a few years ago, MyBroadband has found that Eskom’s above-inflation increases have pushed South Africa’s electricity prices to nearly the same level as Australia’s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the wholesale prices of Australia’s various power utilities increased by 30% to 50%, Eskom’s increased by 179%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to GlobalPetrolPrices.com, the average residential electricity price in Australia between 2023 and 2026 was US$0.257 (R4.27) per kWh. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa’s price was $0.204 (R3.38) per kWh, about 79% of Australia’s price. While substantially cheaper, it is not near the 50% level where some critics of De Ruyter’s insights suggested it was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, a comparison focused on more recent electricity tariffs showed the gap between Australian and South African tariffs narrowing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In September 2025, the residential electricity price in Australia was about AU$0.40 per kWh, or US$0.287 (R4.74), compared to $0.279 (R4.61) in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Australia’s home electricity prices dropping below South Africa’s<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Eskom’s electricity tariffs have surged in the last two decades, in part due to a substantial increase in debt linked to the construction of its two newest coal power stations.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

MyBroadband also looked at electricity tariffs in Australia in early 2026, following the wholesale declines. Flat energy tariffs ranged from around AU$0.20 (R2.33) to AU$0.34 (R3.97) across nine major territories. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The average tariff across the country’s nine provinces was around AU$0.28, working out to R3.32 at the time of publication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Eskom’s most common residential tariff plan, the per-kWh rate is R3.56, more expensive than the average. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time-of-use tariffs range from AU$0.18 (R2.10) during off-peak periods to AU$0.55 (R6.42) during peak demand times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Eskom’s most common ToU tariff, the off-peak rate is lower at R1.83, but peak tariffs during the winter are higher at R8.13 per kWh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Australia’s daily fixed electricity charges are also lower, at about R393.60 per month, compared with R535.80 for Eskom Homepower 4 and Homeflex 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Much lower cost relative to salaries<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Perth in Australia is immensely popular among South African emigrants, earning it the nickname “Perthtoria”. Editorial credit: trabantos \/ Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The tariffs themselves are just one part of the equation; it is also important to consider electricity as a living cost relative to income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Australian residents earn far more than South Africans. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the average salary in March 2026 was about AU$7,147 (R83,317) per month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Statistics South Africa’s latest Quarterly Employment Survey, the average salary paid to formal sector workers in the last quarter of 2025 was R29,490. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A household that consumes Eskom’s average 656kWh per month on Homepower 4 will spend R2,871.16 on that electricity, which makes up nearly 10% of the average salary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same amount of electricity will cost an average of R2,571.52 in Australia, working out to 3% of the average salary in that country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/th>Australia<\/th>South Africa<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
2023-2026 average electricity tariffs per kWh<\/td>R4.27<\/mark><\/td>R3.38<\/mark><\/td><\/tr>
September 2025 tariff per kWh<\/td>R4.74<\/mark><\/td>R4.61<\/mark><\/td><\/tr>
Increases over last 10 years<\/td>+30\u201350%<\/mark><\/td>+179%<\/mark><\/td><\/tr>
Average household flat tariff in 2026<\/td>R3.32<\/mark><\/td>R3.56<\/mark><\/td><\/tr>
Time-of-use tariffs<\/td>Off-peak: R2.10<\/mark>
Peak: R6.42<\/mark><\/td>		Off-peak: R1.83<\/mark>
Peak: R8.13<\/mark><\/td><\/tr>
Fixed tariffs<\/td>R393.60 <\/mark><\/td>R535.80<\/mark><\/td><\/tr>
Average monthly bill
(using Eskom’s 656kWh)<\/td>		R2,571.52<\/mark><\/td>R2,871.16<\/mark><\/td><\/tr>
Average salary<\/td>R83,317<\/mark><\/td>R29,490<\/mark><\/td><\/tr>
Average bill as a proportion of salary<\/td>3%<\/mark><\/td>10%<\/mark><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Big business much better off in South Africa<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Another noteworthy data point from GlobalPetrolPrices’ comparison was how differently South Africa and Australia treated household and business electricity users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Australia, the average electricity tariff for businesses was 5% higher than the average residential tariff. In South Africa, the average business electricity price was 49% lower than the residential rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Small businesses in Australia get some relief, paying about 18% less than big businesses. In South Africa, small businesses pay roughly 120% more than large businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Australia’s low electricity consumers also pay a higher effective rate per kWh than energy-heavy users due to fixed costs. However, the difference is far lower than in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In South Africa, these households pay 75% more than households with high electricity consumption, compared with 45% more than in Australia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Australia’s average electricity prices \u2014 Residential vs business <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

South Africa’s average electricity prices \u2014 Residential vs business <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Analysis by MyBroadband shows that Australian households are generally much better off when it comes to electricity bills than South Africans. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341042,"featured_media":652778,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27995],"tags":[101448,2798,13871,28392,59903,181,81416,57688,4922,22333],"class_list":["post-652601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","tag-andre-de-ruyter-2","tag-australia","tag-electricity2","tag-electricity-prices","tag-electricity-tariffs","tag-eskom","tag-renewable-power","tag-renewables","tag-solar-power","tag-wind-power"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652601"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341042"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=652601"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652601\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":653053,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652601\/revisions\/653053"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/652778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=652601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=652601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=652601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}