The surge in the price of compulsory network charges is taking its toll on low energy consumers, particularly those on low incomes, single households, and pensioners.
One Step Off The Grid is introducing a new segment called Bill Watch. And this week we kick it off with a bill sent in by Noel Clothier, a pensioner in a retirement village in suburban Brisbane.
The network charges now amount to 56.4 per cent of his bill, or $106 out of a total quarterly bill of $188. (Clothier’s total bill is reduced, thanks to a pensioner’s rebate).
That rebate, though, misses the point, Clothier says. He makes an effort not to consume too much electricity – he has an evacuated tube solar hot water unit and he doesn’t own an air-conditioner.
The same thing occurred in the previous quarter, when Clothier’s daily consumption was 5.6kWh (he was away on holiday for part of the last billing period) and his bill was $111 for grid access and $92 for electricity consumed.
Clothier says other retirees in his village are angry too. “Age pensioners are like bees. We are all alike. The problems of one are the problems of all. And there is a huge number of us. And it’s increasing fast.”
There has been a whole bunch of studies on the “fair value of solar”, including last week’s draft report from the Queensland Productivity Commission, which argued that the current payment (or subsidy as it calls it) is “fair”, so Clothier suggests that maybe this should be turned around.
“My remedy for the grid is this: The Commonwealth Government should nationalise it without compensation, forcing the owners to argue their case in the High Court for ‘fair value’.”
Meanwhile, Clothier is interested in getting solar and battery storage. He asks how many PV panels, plus battery storage capacity, would he need to supply his daily energy requirement? And what price would he be looking at? (He has an east/west sloping roofline.)
Also, if you have a case of bill shock worthy of our Bill Watch, particularly in other states – it could relate to high network charges, time of use tariffs, solar tariffs, or demand charges, please send them through to editor (@) reneweconomy.com.au
Giles Parkinson is founder and editor of One Step Off The Grid, and also edits and founded Renew Economy and The Driven. He has been a journalist for 35 years and is a former business and deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review.
This post was published on March 16, 2016 9:40 am
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The lower the number of kWhs of electricity you use, the higher your supply charge becomes as a percentage of the overall cost of receiving electricity from the grid. We paid on our last bill, 22.45 cents/kWh. But if you include the total cost ie plus supply charge and GST. it works out to be just under 42 cents/kWh. We also only use about 5 kWh a day on average. Our supply charge ends up being about 38% of the overall cost of receiving electricity from the grid.
The $1.16/day "network" charge is ex GST so the customer is really paying $1.28 per day (inc GST). I would prefer to characterise the "network charge" as being described in this article as the "supply charge". Retail tariffs (which is the tariff paid by the customer) is typically (in Australia) split into supply charges ($/day) and energy charges ($/kWh). Network (poles and wires) charges are part of the total retail bill, however the customer doesn't see this on their account (as the case here). Larger customers see the network charge component on their bill.
Apart from it's use of green energy, the Powershop (in NSW and Vic) builds the "network charge" into the price per kWh purchased, and Voila!, it disappears. I am happy to regular purchase it's power packs of bundled kWh, via smartphone, for between 29c and 35c, and the grid tax becomes someone else's problem.
Looking forward to seeing daily gas cgarge fees highlighted,
Does anyone know what the pared down, maintenance and necessary upgrades-only cost of running a particular grid actually is? If I may, if it is possible to just get a realistic cost by means of a realistic view of how much money it does take to maintain a good, basic, reliable service, say, for one city's grid that could be highlighted in any answer.
I'm asking if the basics of what is needed can be reflected upon here, without - if I may - views on solar only circulating in to users in your street, views on profiteering, contracts and how they were arrived at, network extensions and whether they were necessary or not.
I ask because the grid serves us all, even if one has removed oneself from it. It still powers what it takes to make a community work and nobody stands completely alone within one.
Secondly, why do people object to paying equally towards what the cost of that grid operation is, especially if it is spread equally amongst us?
In ten years, the only people I see from the utility are meter readers and the people who maintain the lines. For my sub-division, maybe 2-4 man-days a year.
this behaviour will only accelerate grid defections
If he lives in the Hunter Valley, I could get him off the grid for about $14k. But in the mean time he should contact Solar Sop for a better deal.
This guy is sitting close to my financial situation. At $500 a year, for his current electric bill, going off grid would take at least fourteen to twenty years to make a break-even currently. Really a shame that the utilities are pushing us into this corner, as in a few years going off-grid will be economically rational.