Aurora Energy is a Tasmanian Government-owned electricity retailer in Australia.
History
Aurora was formed on 1 July 1998 under the Electricity Companies Act 1997 as part of the breaking up of the Hydro Electric Commission. It is owned by the Government of Tasmania.
The breaking up of the Hydro-Electric Commission resulted in the formation of three separate state-owned companies: Hydro Tasmania, which generates the power; Transend Networks, which transmitted it across the state; and Aurora Energy, the retail arm, which sells and distributes it to customers. This was in anticipation of Tasmania joining the National Electricity Market, which took place in May 2005.
AETV Power owned and operated the Tamar Valley Power Station in northern Tasmania using natural gas that was piped in from Victoria to generate electricity. On 1 June 2013, the power station, its customers and associated contracts were transferred to Hydro Tasmania.
As a result of the prior re-structuring, Aurora delivered a bonus to customers with an average 5% drop in electricity prices.
The non-retail sections of Aurora Energy merged with Transend Networks on 1 July 2014 to become TasNetworks. The retail arm of Aurora retained its original name and continues retailing electricity and natural gas in the state.