Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Energex - take it easy in peak power periods

Well.

Energex is advertising to encourage us to use less power in peak periods so that they don't need to provide the infrastructure needed for the peak demand periods.

It has a catchy jingle, and scenes of a family arriving home after school/work, and the normal activities which take place then. Turning airconditioning up (24C), and lights off, disconnecting laptops from the power supply, one of them has just got out of the shower, then they assemble on the balcony for a barbeque.

Yeah. Whatever.

They're jacking up the price of power to try and stop people from using it, many of the people who can least afford it will be the ones who suffer, the ones who are already careful using power because of their lower income... those people who tend not to be concerned about their power bills now don't give a rats because they can afford the increases.

I can't find the advertisement, but I can find this list of handy hints.

9 comments:

Carpe Jugulum said...

Evening Kae;

As i had mentioned on a previous thread we had the power outage in sunny Bundaberg, the loss of power means the house heated up in no time flat.

Sadly myself and Pater-Jugulum had to consume the beer before it got warm. A sacrifice i'm willing to make (for the team).

Unfortunately those on a low or fixed income don't have the luxury that Mama & Pater Jugulum enjoy and to deny the poorer or disadvanted members of our society the basics my folks can enjoy (ie. AirCon etc) because of price is to disadvantage them even further.

Government - they have no idea.

kae said...

Hi Carpe
Bundy at this time of year? Ick! Exes Mum was in Bundy, too humid for me.
I'm sure most of the people in government have no idea that so many of their constituents live from pay to pay. Totally clueless.

After the KRudd/Government travelling spend orgy on Today Tonight tonight they covered Peter up a tree (it was Okay), and then the increase in power costs.

One bloke said "What are we supposed to do? Not use power at all?"

Carpe Jugulum said...

Hi Kae;

yes going from Japan to Bundy was a very baaaaaaaad idea, I think what most of these government nuffies don't get is that their policies hurt those whom they puport to help.

Upping the cost of power hurts most those who can least afford it. I earn enough that i can absorb the cost, but the average pensioner can't and that p1sses me off, how hard do these fools need to make our lives?

That was probably a rhetorical question.

Anonymous said...

Talking to my step father (who lives in Sydney) on Boxing Day, he told me that his latest electricity bill was $1,200 (and here was I thinking mine at $157 was bad), bringing the total bill for the year to $3,700. He lives alone in the house, turning things off at the wall etc, so it must be down to his daughter who lives in a separate unit on the property.

He complained to the supplier who checked the meter but, of course, it was operating just perfectly. He's going to get a lecky mate to check where the big usage is coming from.

He's 83 and still doing the odd brickie job here and there, bless him. Otherwise he'd never have enough money to pay the bills and keep himself alive by buying extravagant stuff like, you know... food.

Sandi

kae said...

Good grief, Sandi! That's a ridiculous electricity bill.

My power bills in 1999 when the ex left were about $127 a quarter. The last one was about $300, less about $24 for the ambulance levy.

It sux! I now turn most things off (I did get used to having the PC on all the time, but that saved about $40/quater when it was off completely.

I live in the country on 1.5 acres with reticulated water so I have a water pressure pump and a pump for the grey water. It's just one person here. I've just bought a new fridge this year and I think that despite that (getting rid of the old almost 20y/o one), my bills have still increased. The biggest increase has been in the last year or two. Deregulation was a major input in the increse in power bills.

Mr. Bingley said...

1,200! that's horrible.

I love how they say 'bbuy the compact flourescents' but fail to mention that your house becomes a haz-mat site if you drop one.

Anonymous said...

Sandi
You don't usually get a domestic bill of $1,200, unless you deploy high powered rotating lights over some greenery in a concealed room.

Two ways to fix it, cease operations, recommended!
Or put a pin with wire attached, through the active line before the meter, definitely not recommended.

Mark Aurel

kae said...

One gentleman interviewed on TT received an electricity bill for the September quarter 2009 of $980 odd. His normal account was about $300, or just over that.

Skeeter said...

It's not the total on the bill you should be watching, but the amount per kWh they are charging you.

For SEQ customers of Origin, that rate increased by 34% between 30 June 08 and 1st Jul 09 (14.050 to 18.843 c/kWh).

You can check the rate on the back of your bill, but be aware that Origin bills do not show GST in those rates. (GST is added into the total).

They are forecasting more big rises in rates for 2010.

Just imagine what it will be like if the carbon tax bill is passed.