CANE growers are bracing themselves for a hike to their power bill.

Outside harvest time, irrigation costs for farmers growing sugar cane are their single biggest overhead.

A concern for growers is a determination by Australian Energy Regulator which proposes a new network tariff structure to be implemented by Ergon which will lead to higher retail prices, Canegrowers CEO Dan Galligan said, adding "but we can show that Ergon's latest proposal is based on 'evidence' that is contradicted by its own publicly available data.”

A report, commissioned by Canegrowers and completed by the Sapere Research Group, was launched in Brisbane last week. It examines two network tariff proposals put forward by Ergon:

Summer peak (energy and demand) tariffs apply hefty penalty rates to businesses using a lot of power during weekday business hours and for residential customers using a lot of power during afternoons and early evening, every day of the week. This benefits off-peak users, but is a cost to businesses and families who cannot easily change the times they use electricity.

Under inclining block tariffs, rates go up in three steps as usage increases. These do not reflect network supply costs but instead unfairly penalise above average users of electricity and reward lower than average users. Under this scenario larger families, more energy intensive businesses, including irrigators, would pay more.

"In the view of Sapere and Canegrowers, Ergon's network tariff statement breaks national electricity rules and the AER should reject it,” Mr Galligan said.

He called on Ergon to re-submit a proposal that contained fair pricing which did not put a cost burden on Queensland energy users.