Electricity Bill Shot up by a Whopping ~30%. Can Anything Be Done?

abargainer on 24/06/2017 - 15:37
Last edited 27/06/2017 - 11:08 by 1 other user

Today I received my electricity bill for the last month… I was shocked to see almost 30% jump in the per KWH rate in my bill.
The energy provider, in a reply to my mail asking for reason of such a hike said as per the normal industry practice, all their customers are now charged with this hike.

Isn't 30% hike way too much..specially when the economy & my salary doesn't even grow in double digits every year? Any ideas to tackle this problem?

Note: My apartment is in some electricity grid, and it seems I can't change my provider.

Edit : My Electricity provider is https://www.benergy.com.au/ and I do have a meter ID but cannot shift to another provider for some reason.

After going through the comments, it seems we are at the mercy of these companies and nothing much can be done except paying for what is asked :(. Anyways … thanks a lot for all the opinions and comments.

Home & Garden

Comments

  • scrimshaw on 24/06/2017 - 15:49
    +21

    This is a nationwide issue, not localized to just your suburb or state

    If you can't switch, your only way to reduce your cost is to lower your energy usage, and if you fall into the low income group you can apply for rebates or vouchers. See more at ASIC moneysmart page.

    • RedHab on 26/06/2017 - 08:55
      +28

      Despite being blessed with great natural resources, Australia now has the highest power prices in the world [1].

      It is a political issue to do with the way state monopolies have been passed into private hands and the way regulation around the taxing of carbon occurred. I would suggest contacting your local member to complain.[2] Nothing will happen quickly, but something might in the end. In the meantime, you can buy some LED lightbulbs and turn the heating or aircon down.

      [1] https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2017/06/straya-takes-gold-i…
      [2] http://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Guidelines_for_Co…

        • zeomega on 27/06/2017 - 00:30
          +10

          Won't they just force more green energy and as a result make the prices higher?

        • Roman Sandstorm on 27/06/2017 - 12:38
          +14

          @gutwagon: It's the greens and labor forcing all utility prices up with renewable climate change bulldust .

          Firstly, English please.

          Secondly, evidence please.

          (So what you are saying is the the federal opposition party, and a minor third party are somehow more responsible than the government, the electricity companies?)

        • Euphemistic on 27/06/2017 - 20:18
          +4

          @zeomega: heard today that ACT are targeting 100% renewable power, and they have the cheapest rates in the country.

        • Mad Max on 27/06/2017 - 20:25
          +8

          @Euphemistic:
          That's because ACT is full of politicians. With all the hot air going on around there renewable power has to be a winner 😂😂

        • The Gent on 28/06/2017 - 00:58

          @zeomega: …you are being as short-term in your thinking as the Government has been thus far…think as close as in 10-20 years time, not your next power bill because infrastructure that costs money had to be built.

          Also…it's cliche, I know, but think of the future.

        • ozhunter on 28/06/2017 - 13:38

          Rather pay double than elect them. :D

        • CookieJacker31 on 28/06/2017 - 13:58

          Step 1 improve the electricity grid to Tasmania
          Step 2 build 20 massive coal fired power plants in Tasmania
          Step 3 burn coal from Qld in Tasmania to make power, shut down mainland fossil fuel burners
          Step 4 Make Tasmania it's own country

          Tell the world you are 100% green power generation in australia

        • edgar28 on 28/06/2017 - 18:24

          @CJ31:

          buried end of life toxic solar panel and battery at other state's backyard

        • The Gent on 30/06/2017 - 18:43

          @ozhunter: Why's that?

          Edit: genuinely no troll, I'm just surprised you're so adamantly against them. Most people either love them or are ambivalent.

      • hamwhisperer on 28/06/2017 - 10:58
        +2

        Read an article recently indicating a heap of Chinese and Indian companies now own a good portion of our power production (in Victoria) too…. just wonderful - good job guys.

        Our government is SELLING US OUT.

        • cwongtech on 29/06/2017 - 02:04

          Pawning off everything.
          That's the strength of the Liberal gummint in the name of "budget repair".

      • BlueDiesel on 28/06/2017 - 13:22
        +1

        This is like the sitcom they show on Telly, I think it is called "Question time" or something like that.
        Labor accusing liberals and vice versa, the greens sitting in the middle poking their nose - actual achievement = ZERO !!

    • chillin222 on 27/06/2017 - 00:29
      +6

      Don't ever vote Liberal - the sole cause of the current energy crisis is the repeal of the carbon tax.

      • gimme on 27/06/2017 - 07:04
        +3

        Lol

        • mr_fjackson on 27/06/2017 - 09:10
          +1

          @gimme it sounds weird right. the power industry knows that they are going to get a carbon tax sooner or later, now they are waiting to see what the new tax will be like before spending any money.

      • nedski on 28/06/2017 - 09:22
        +6

        This is a large reason why we are in this mess.

        The repeal of the carbon tax removed certainty for emerging renewable energy power sources. A lot of the coal plants were going to shut down anyway because they are old and had exceeded their life span. New coal plants were not going to be built to replace them because of the global move away from coal.

        So the only power source to fill the void that could supply base load power was natural gas. But now that is also coupled with high natural gas prices due to Australia now being able to ship it offshore in large quantities for an increased global price.

        Coal is not the answer as it is a dead technology and all this clean coal and carbon capture stuff is just bunkum.

  • chumlee on 24/06/2017 - 15:53
    +21

    Tap into the street pole

  • Bourb on 24/06/2017 - 15:54
    +8

    Yes Electricity is about to become more expensive, but what to do?
    Basically cut back on the energy hungry appliances in your House/Apartment!
    In Winter heating the home is a big user of electricity! Do you really need to heat the whole House with an Electric Heater or Reverse Cycle Air Con, or will a Jacket and hot water bottle do the job?
    In Summer just cool down the room that gets the most use (TV Room?), rather than trying to cool down the whole house. Use fans in the bedrooms rather than air con.
    Invest in a Toaster Oven rather than using the big oven to heat up a pizza, etc.
    Basically look at what is chewing through the electricity, and see if there is a cheaper alternative.

    • lostn on 24/06/2017 - 17:52
      +23

      That's only a temporary solution.

      Cutting down usage will reduce bills, but when they hike prices again (and they will) you will have nothing left to cut, and will then have to face the same problems.

      Once we go more renewable and less coal, it will go up even higher. VIC closed Hazelwood plant, so elec definitely going to go up.

      Shop around if you can.

      • dufflover on 26/06/2017 - 10:14
        +2

        Not to mention like our water bill, most of that is just the daily connection/service changes. I can think of some thing we would could to do cut electricity but can't imagine it will be long until the savings just gets wiped out again.

      • drillvoice on 26/06/2017 - 16:05
        +7

        Can you explain how having more renewables will increase prices? The generation cost for renewables is zilch so they tend to bid into the national electricity market at 0c/kwh. Surely having more of this would make wholesale costs cheaper?

        You are right that the exit of coal has affected wholesale prices - this is largely because there aren't enough cheap renewables and so the price is being set by gas which is already expensive and is now even more expensive because of export competition.

        • lamchop on 26/06/2017 - 17:52
          +1

          Coal power stations work best at full load. Coal stations costs a fortune and are incredibly inefficient to run at half load and increases in renewable energy is only going to make that worse.

        • iand on 26/06/2017 - 18:02
          +3

          Generation cost may be zero but the cost to setup and maintain is huge

        • imcold on 26/06/2017 - 18:51
          +2

          Simple because on average it takes 25 workers working in a renewable job to make the energy that a single worker could produce working in a coal plant.(us labour force figures) Capital cost difference is likely similar, just be grateful it's only at 30% rise.

        • drillvoice on 27/06/2017 - 08:40

          @lamchop: so coal is getting disrupted by a technology that's cheaper and more flexible… What's the beef? Renewable energy is beating coal because it's cheaper.

          It does make sense to value the other services that coal provides (dispatchability, Inertia etc) but this could be a separate mechanism, or a requirement placed on renewables.

        • drillvoice on 27/06/2017 - 08:41

          @iand: what is your evidence for this? Renewables are the cheapest form of new build generation, including set up and maintenance. In any case, they still bid into the market at the lowest price.

        • drillvoice on 27/06/2017 - 08:43
          +1

          @imcold: generally it's considered a good thing that clean energy creates jobs, although it's true that the owners of power stations are very happy to mistreat workers wherever possible

        • iand on 27/06/2017 - 13:23
          -1

          @drillvoice:
          My evidence for what? the fact that it costs money to build and maintain a power plant only someone with no idea about economics would think it costs nothing and that he power companies are not going to factor these costs and depreciation into the prices they charge.
          as far as i can see the only person making assertions that need evidence to back them up is you so where is your evidence to show renewables bid in at lower prices than our current coal generators

        • drillvoice on 27/06/2017 - 18:25

          @iand: I'm sorry that it was unclear. I'm not saying that it costs them nothing to provide the power! But they bid it into the market at 0c.

          "In the wholesale electricity market, generators bid the quantity of electricity they are willing to supply and the price they want to receive in fve minute dispatch intervals. Generators are dispatched in price order from lowest to highest up to the level required to match demand in fve minute blocks. The most expensive generator (the ‘marginal generator’) sets a single clearing price that is paid to all generators dispatched".

          In this, renewables are at the lowest end of the price order. The "evidence" is the actual bidding data from the national electricity market!

        • alwaysblur on 27/06/2017 - 19:18
          +1

          @drillvoice: "But they bid it into the market at 0c" This is actually the problem. They push out other generators required to keep the system stable, and they are not dispatchable ie they generate when they want to generate not when the market needs it.

          Big reason the Finkel report is recommending all new renewables also have backup like pumped hydro or batteries, plus pay for transmission upgrades. But itll make the investment case for renewables difficult.

        • sareth on 27/06/2017 - 21:31

          @drillvoice:

          The beef is that solar and wind are not baseload sources of power; so they simply take money away from coal fired baseload capacity (making them more expensive to run) while nevertheless unavoidably requiring said baseload capacity in order to operate.

        • drillvoice on 30/06/2017 - 10:50

          @alwaysblur: Yeah what you say is true. The market hasn't previously valued essential security services. And I think it makes sense to put in a market signal that values system services which also trying to better align supply and demand.

          You are right about the investment case being more difficult - but Finkel also finds that renewables even with storage are still cheaper. Many new renewable sites are intending to incorporate some storage anyway.

    • whooah1979 on 25/06/2017 - 07:18

      Replace electric heaters with a combustion heater.

      • Cluster on 25/06/2017 - 23:31
        +5

        Combustion heaters are usually awfully polluting. People run them on damp wood, or in a fuel rich/oxygen poor atmosphere. The result is copious odour, unburnt hydrocarbon, and soot production. You get cheap heating but your neighbourhood bears the pollution load.

        • cwongtech on 26/06/2017 - 00:50
          +4

          Combustion heaters are usually awfully polluting. People run them on damp wood, or in a fuel rich/oxygen poor atmosphere. The result is copious odour, unburnt hydrocarbon, and soot production. You get cheap heating but your neighbourhood bears the pollution load.

          Not to mention incomplete combustion, producing carbon monoxide instead of carbon dioxide.
          This is why electricity is so important for developed countries and health.

        • abb on 26/06/2017 - 10:20
          +2

          You get cheap heating but your neighbourhood bears the pollution load.

          Maybe the government should implement a "smoke tax", rather than allowing this negative externality to go unchecked… ;)

    • EightImmortals on 25/06/2017 - 08:31
      -4

      hehe, great theory but we've already replaced all our globes with LEDS, got rid of the water bed, use a pressure cooker instead of the stove, don't use the heater/air con except in extreme temps. This global warming cult is getting ludicrous.

      • berry580 on 26/06/2017 - 08:02

        How does getting rid of the water bed help save electricity?

        • EightImmortals on 26/06/2017 - 08:40
          +3

          Water beds have a heating pad to keep the water at the right temp.

  • lollyball on 24/06/2017 - 16:02
    +14

    more population, more stress on resources (that are NOT unlimited). More demand, so greedy energy co's increase prices. And apparetly the energy companies are all owned by overseas companies. So like they give a rats arse.

    • Diji1 on 24/06/2017 - 18:10
      +2

      The government controls them. Your anger at being robbed should be directed at the government. Also the method of generation has little to do with the price.

      • Cheeper on 25/06/2017 - 09:19
        +22

        Increases have been reported to be unjustified and far outstrip the actual cost of producing and delivering the product. It is just greed from the electricity retailers.

      • dogboy on 26/06/2017 - 10:40
        +12

        Our short-sighted government sold off all of these assets for some short term gains.

    • OzzyOzbourne on 26/06/2017 - 11:45
      +7

      More of our resources sold to foreign investors.

  • eapster on 24/06/2017 - 16:55
    +92

    You can thank the government for privatising everyithing so that you get better pricing through increased competition…

    • D C on 24/06/2017 - 18:20
      +72

      Getting to choose what logo appears on top of my bill is certainly worth the small inconvenience of the price doubling in the last 10 years.

      We should privatise everything.

      • dogboy on 26/06/2017 - 10:41
        +24

        We need a new political party to come in and say that they will rebuy these state assets using the pensions of the party members who sold them off.

      • ladis on 26/06/2017 - 12:45
        +2

        😂😭

      • drillvoice on 26/06/2017 - 16:09
        +1

        The electricity grid is a total mess at the moment because each company is trying to maximise its own profit at the expense of consumers and any sort of coordinated future planning. This is not only pushing prices up, it is also causing issues with reliability. I'm not sure if it's worth it just to choose a logo at the top of the bill…

        • D C on 26/06/2017 - 18:37
          +6

          Hush you.

          Do you have any idea what goes into a logo design? Countless revisions, focus groups, multiple designs teams, months upon months of work only to find it doesn't scale well for the 'with compliments' includes, or someone overlooked the critical 'purple/brown' colour blind segment of the market.

          I mean, man, it's a lot of work and you should appreciate it.

          Define: sarcasm.

    • cwongtech on 26/06/2017 - 00:51
      +14

      All in the name of "We're fixing the budget".
      i.e. Pawning off everything thats critical in our society.

      • EightImmortals on 26/06/2017 - 08:41
        +3

        True, and what do you think they'll be selling once all the silver is gone?

        • [Deactivated] on 26/06/2017 - 09:13
          +4

          Probably the most important things like internet and electricity…

          Wait…

        • EightImmortals on 26/06/2017 - 09:47

          @tshow: I know, right but I meant what happens after they've sold ALL those things? :)

        • cwongtech on 26/06/2017 - 10:09
          +6

          They'll be selling more property to Chai-nah. We can always build more of those, its true value is formed by perception, pumped up by "you have to buy now". In return, high stamp duties.
          Collapse of property prices is something that the gummint can't allow. The NBN would have allowed people to work from home if their jobs allowed it. We can't do it now… Or in the future with the bs fttn

        • EightImmortals on 26/06/2017 - 13:51
          +3

          @cwongtech: I just heard to day that someone put a price tag on the Great Barrier Reef so I guess they can add that to the for-sale list? At about 1/8 of the price I should add.

        • Mad Max on 26/06/2017 - 14:41

          @EightImmortals:
          Politicians consider themselves an asset to the nation….
          Do you think we could sell them off???
          Not sure who would buy them though…

        • [Deactivated] on 26/06/2017 - 15:07
          +1

          @EightImmortals:more toll roads
          No admission to hospital without a wallet biopsy
          General tax increases like on
          Water
          Food
          Fuel
          Rego
          Public transport
          Low income earners tax increases
          Ect ect ect
          You know ,more of the same until critical mass

        • arcticmonkey on 26/06/2017 - 16:14
          +2

          @EightImmortals:

          After they sell and cut more of health and education, I'd expect Conservative governments like the LNP to privatise/outsource jails and the running of detention centres at the cost of billions of dollars. Oh, wait…

        • GregMonarch on 26/06/2017 - 23:27
          +2

          @maxi: Scum like George Soros already did buy them.

        • iand on 27/06/2017 - 20:46
          -1

          @arcticmonkey:
          Just to avoid confusion I would like to point out that the Manus detention centre was reopened by Labor using G4S a British company not the LNP

        • iand on 28/06/2017 - 21:13

          @iand:
          I see someone doesn't like the truth

  • Savas on 24/06/2017 - 17:15
    +60

    Charge your eneloops at work

  • Diji1 on 24/06/2017 - 18:03
    +41

    Any ideas to tackle this problem?

    Stop voting Liberal and Labour who run the country to benefit corporations and billionaires at your expense. The gummints is screwing you to make the rich richer.

    Seriously: write to your local member if they're Lab or Lib and explain that you aren't going to vote for them because of power prices and because they sold you out.

    Stop voting Liberal and Labour.

    If they promise to start fixing energy prices remember they're professional liars who should not be trusted.

    • RockyRaccoon on 24/06/2017 - 21:52
      +28

      Yep like who do we vote for - vote Greens? , no worry about power bills, there wont be any power to bill

      • havebeerbelywillsumo on 25/06/2017 - 02:25
        +4

        Know what you are saying but the only thing these lazy )()(&(*^(^ pollies understand is a kick in the ballots. Since both the majors don't give a rats about the middle income or lower individual voting Green is the only choice left…..I loath the vote informal option.

        • RockyRaccoon on 25/06/2017 - 09:12
          +10

          So a Taxi blocks the tram line. You are running late, so you get out of the tram and catch the Taxi. That solves the problem for now, but you just rewarded the behaviour that started the whole mess

        • GregMonarch on 26/06/2017 - 23:29

          Only choice left… just - LOL.

      • whooah1979 on 25/06/2017 - 07:25
        -1

        The independent candidates and one nation.

      • drillvoice on 26/06/2017 - 16:10
        +2

        The Greens are in favour of building more power, specifically from the current cheapest form of new generation - renewables, even with storage.

        • sclyde2 on 26/06/2017 - 16:55
          +3

          "current cheapest form of new generation - renewables"

          could you supply a source that supports this. my (uninformed) impression has always been that the renewable stuff cost:kw didn't compete well with more traditional generation approaches - that's setup and running costs.

        • nugstar on 26/06/2017 - 23:05
          +6

          @sclyde2: mid-scale solar is coming in at $1/W of capacity. Well below what was modelled in the recent Finkel review. New coal costs much more and has ongoing fuel costs. Setup is lower, running costs are lower. Investors used to rely on a carbon price to make large scale solar generation competitive. They don't even need that anymore.

          Here's a good starting point for further reading: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost_of_electricity_by_sourc…

          http://reneweconomy.com.au/finkel-investors-prefer-wind-sola…

          Even the generators like AGL think coal is dead due to cost.

        • The Gent on 28/06/2017 - 01:06
          +2

          @sclyde2: I mean, it's simple economics, really.

          Renewables: always exist.

          Fossil Fuels: run out.

          As things get closer to running out, they cost more and the demand for them increases,creating an unsustainable loop of ever-increasing cost until there is no more left.

          This is not just your energy bills, think paying at the pump…think of everything in the country that has to be driven or flown somewhere from overseas or across the country before it ends up in your house, how much will those prices increase if the shift isn't made to renewables before it becomes an issue?

    • Cheeper on 25/06/2017 - 09:24
      +17

      "Stop voting Liberal and Labour" (and those moron greens)
      That is the solution to many major problems but getting the population to stop and think before they vote is virtually impossible. They vote like sheep and are as dumb and gullible as can be… thus you get the same, same, same, and the politicians from those major parties know that.
      Whilst we have compulsory voting for all this will continue to happen, and that will not change because the current system suits the criminals and spin doctors that we have now.

      • buckster on 25/06/2017 - 23:18
        -1

        And if you lose compulsory voting it'll be an even bigger mess, America should be example enough

        • TimApple on 26/06/2017 - 10:30
          +1

          Yes, and thankfully we have preferential voting.

      • dogboy on 26/06/2017 - 10:44
        +2

        Totally agree. If you vote Labour or Liberal, sorry but you are a moron who is contributing to the fall of this once great country. Vote anyone but them for one term and it will give them the proverbial kick up the a55 to start listening to the australian public and pull their heads in.

    • Shame on 26/06/2017 - 11:04
      +1

      "Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard." - H.L. Mencken

      • daleyboy79 on 26/06/2017 - 11:44
        +3

        Democracy - The safest, most inefficient and worst form of government!

        • buckster on 26/06/2017 - 19:34

          A difference between representative democracy though and direct democracy

    • chillin222 on 27/06/2017 - 00:33
      +4

      This is pretty unfair to Labor. Their ETS and later carbon tax policies set down a very strong framework to encourage investment in renewables - then the Libs were elected and screwed up badly.

  • abargainer on 24/06/2017 - 18:10
    +9

    Thanks for the replies guys …30% is seriously crazy though… I dont know how that is justifiable…whether shutting down a plant or anything else.

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