Thread: Why Your Power Bill Still Hurts.

The two most energy hungry devices in our house were the HWS and the refrigerator. We got rid of the wonderful "frost free" fridge freezer from Fisher & Paykel and replaced it with a low energy Vestfrost fridge and a small Tuckerbox chest freezer. This saved about 3kWh/day. The instant gas HWS got upgraded to a heat pump storage heater with solar panels. It uses around 3kWh/day in winter and 1kWh/day over summer. That way our underlying usage is around 10kWh/day in winter and 6kWh/day in summer. Cost is around 31c/kWh. Cooling is mainly by evaporative but we don't need it all that much. Heating is primarily by wood heater and some reverse cycle. Cooking is by gas bottles at around $300/yr. On top of that our 1.5kW solar system covers 75% of our annual bill so we pay around $300 p.a. plus the gas. We grow most of our firewood on our block. Even the electric chainsaw is covered in the running costs. My wife's pensioner concession helps considerably with the supply charge. Junior finally left home in August and we're awaiting the smaller bills to work out how much he used on average.

Its all based on how the market is set up. The asset is valued at current replacement value, not depreciated value. So you pay for 30 year old infrastructure, which should have low value, as though it was new. Secondly, they charge you on their consumption estimates. Electricity demand has always gone up, except in the last few years. So if the short fall is $200m between estimate and actual income, they spread this cost over all bills. Use less electricity, pay more.

The whole thing about blaming the carbon tax for power rises was always rubbish as most rises were caused by infrastructure investment.
When Abbott abolished the carbon tax the power companies responded by upping the fixed service charge.
Consumers have reacted by moving to solar and installing more efficient systems, which has just reduced power company income further.
The current system is focused on propping up the power companies at the expense of consumers. State Governments need fat dividends from the power companies to prop up state government budgets. Power companies need low interest government loans to upgrade their networks. They are wedded to each other.
The emissions trading scheme had incentives for power companies to close or upgrade the dirtiest old fashioned coal power stations and replace them with more efficient alternatives, but those incentives were abolished by Abbott.
So, we now have the worst situation of consumers being screwed to prop up an outdated centralised high emissions system.
Personally, we already have solar which halved our power bill and we've just made an offer on a house which has 12 solar panels. If I can get the money together I'd like to install a battery bank and go off the grid altogether.

If your with TRU or Energy Australia ... MOVE IMMEDIATLY .... Our last power bill was $1000bux (after there "big discount" for paying on time). I looked into in and we were paying 27.9cent per kw .... the costs going up the more you use. Given we don't have town gas and heat and cool with RC A/C's ....and have an off peak storage HWS ... we use a bit.

I looked around and Momentum had very similar supply charges and was 16.8cent/kw.... I immediately changed and had the scum from Energy Australia ring me "If you stay with us we will give you a 30% discount" ..... I'm always known for being, um, "slightly blunt"... I asked did they think I was a moron? If your power charges are 40% more expensive than the competition, and the charges actually decrease the more you use ..... How will a 30% discount on the bill save me money" ...... "Yes, but we will give you a 30% discount if you stay with us ... no-one else will offer you this sort of discount" ....... sigh ....

"Are you listening to what your saying to me? People must be so stupid they fall for the dumb **** your trying to sell me.. Ok dumbarse, .... Explain to me how a 30% saving is better than something that is 40% cheaper in the first instance... You guys really are scumbags trying to sell this discount **** to people who don't realise how staggeringly expensive the power is through you guys. Even if you were cheaper there's not a snowmans chance i hell I'd stay with such a scumbag company as TRU/Energy Australia .... why the hell are you guys 40% more expensive than the competition?".

Energy Australia used to be really competitive (I was previously with TRU energy ... which were horrendously expensive scumbags ... I'm pretty sure we were initially forced into going with them). Energy Australia soon took a big chunk of TRU energys customers base. So what do TRU energy do rather than drop there prices to be competitive ?? Yeah they buy Energy Australia out and pump the prices up to match.

I wonder how long it'll take take TRU energy to realise everyone is leaving them in them in droves to Momemtum and buy them out too

seeya,
Shane L.

My last electricity bill was $270 credit (that's using the ducted aircon) with solar generation to offset the usage. The credit might be down a bit at the next bill in January - we're using about 43kWh a day at the moment trying to keep the house comfortable (it was 43 deg C yesterday).

My live data: http://pvoutput.org/intraday.jsp?id=309&sid=271

Originally Posted by DoubleChevron

If your with TRU or Energy Australia ... MOVE IMMEDIATLY .... Our last power bill was $1000bux (after there "big discount" for paying on time). I looked into in and we were paying 27.9cent per kw ....

Ok, who is cheaper and what are their tariffs?

Emma and I live in a 1946 Sandstone Bungalow.
2 large fridges, 1 of which is in the workshop, plus the Engel and Waeco running as well..
Usually have 2 ceiling fans on all day and air con ~50% of the time in the bedroom.

So many electronics running its mind boggling...

Here's our consumption:

Originally Posted by DiscoMick

........ If I can get the money together I'd like to install a battery bank and go off the grid altogether.

At the present state of battery technology you will not save money doing this. Battery costs are decreasing, but not rapidly, and you need a pretty large set if you are used to grid power.

We may get to the stage where it is economically feasible fairly soon, driven as much by increasing power costs as by decreasing battery costs. But if enough people do this expect to incur the supply charge if grid power is available, the same as happens today with water and sewerage in many if not all jurisdictions! In other words - you can't win!

John