Victorians will be paying more (yet again) for gas and electricity from January 1, 2014 – and that might be just an initial sour taste of things to come for all Australian households and businesses.
According to a recent Herald Sun article, estimated combined annual gas and electricity annual bills would climb $80 to $130 for “dual-fuel” homes in Victoria from January 1 and all-electric houses face an average rise of $30 to $80. Businesses will also be impacted.
The reason for the rises is an increase in input costs, including the return of the usual villain – network charges.
As we mentioned previously, the scrapping of the carbon tax could be relatively quickly gobbled up by continuing ballooning network costs – and this extends beyond Victoria to all Australian states.
According to a new report from The Grattan Institute, the average power bill “will rise by $200 a year unless there is a cut to the ‘obscene’ returns earned by energy networks”, says the Courier Mail.
Commenting on the report, Grattan Institute Energy Program Director Tony Wood said, “A nasty correction is coming and the question is who will pay for it – power companies, governments or consumers again?”
While the average household uses 7 per cent less power compared to 2006, the average annual power bill has skyrocketed over the same period by more than 85 per cent from $890 to $1660 a year.
The Institute says regulators have allowed network businesses to “earn excessive profits by setting tariffs that are too high, given the low risk they face as monopolies”.
Real electricity pricing reform is needed – and needed quickly. With that by no means a certainty, households and businesses can protect themselves by going solar.
According to national solar power provider Energy Matters, a 5kW rooftop solar panel system can return electricity bill savings of up to $2,450 a year, depending on installation location.
The company offers a zero-deposit payment plan option; removing the final barrier for many regarding installing solar panels.
