By JONATHON HOWARD
POWER bills landing in Noosa letterboxes this week are knocking some residents off their feet with complaints over “excessive” charges to fixed-rate supply.
Eumundi resident Chris Andrews wrote to Noosa Today to flag the issue after he received a whopping 71 per cent compounded increase.
“I’ve just received my AGL electricity bill and while the usage-charge component has only gone up by five per cent to 28 cents per kWh, the fixed-rate supply charge component has increased by a massive 66 per cent,” he said.
“Not only has this increased charge added a big increase of $120 per year to AGL’s customers’ bills, but the change in balance between the fixed and use-related components of the bill encourages people to increase their electricity use.”
Mr Andrews said his household was a conservative electricity user at 13kWh per day, but his electricity bill has gone up 13 per cent due to the charge increase.
“However, a profligate household that uses twice as much as we do, 26 kWh per day, will only see a nine per cent increase in their electricity bill,” he said.
He said the new pricing regime makes it relatively cheaper to use more electricity than less.
“If my household was to increase its electricity consumption by 20 per cent our electricity bill would only go up by 16 per cent, giving us better value if we use more,” he said.
“You can expect to see the fixed-rate supply charge component become proportionately even larger in the future, encouraging even more electricity use.”
“Not only does this new pricing regime encourage more electricity use (you’re paying for it, so you may as well use it) but it discourages energy conservation efforts, reduces the effectiveness of energy saving appliances, and reduces the advantage of using alternative low-pollution sources of energy.”
Noosa Today is seeking clarification from the Queensland Energy Minister Mark McArdle over charges and Mr Andrews’ concerns. Look out for his response in next week’s Thursday edition.
HAVE YOUR SAY: Were you knocked over by excessive power bill charges this week? Email your thoughts to: newsdesk@noosatoday.net.au
