Thousands Can't Pay Electric Bills

Figures released by the industry regulator yesterday showed that 10,100 homes lost power in the 12 months to July, compared to 7300 the previous financial year.

Soaring power prices are being blamed for this 38 per cent spike in disconnections, with welfare groups reporting those on fixed incomes suffering the most - including one man who had to resort to cooking his meals over a wood fire in his back-yard for six months after being disconnected.

Welfare agency Anglicare said it had reports of disconnected households commonly using candles for lighting, heating rooms with barbecues - and keeping perishables such as milk and butter in Eskies.

Retailers are being asked by the Essential Services Commission of SA to be more flexible when dealing with "consumers experiencing genuine financial hardship", because it is essential they have "continued access to energy".The number of reconnections is only about a third of the number of disconnections recorded in 2011/12, the figures show.

"While people can reduce their electricity use, they still have supply charges which they can't control," said Anglicare wellbeing manager Christine Bell.

"More needs to be done, and one example we are looking at through international research is where people can make payments fortnightly and not be hit with a big quarterly bill."

Welfare agency financial counsellor Ian Small said the rise in electricity prices - which jumped $319 on average last financial year - was to blame for the increasing number of people "we see who are suffering stress with their power bills".

"It is a really deep social concern that so many people are being cut off and having to live without electricity because it's a health hazard," Mr Small said.

Under the state Energy Retail Code, retailers must offer an instalment payment plan to householders before disconnection from supply.

Our electricity bill has risen hugely (by about one third) even though we have had PV panels put on the roof. We had no bill for over a year, thanks to them stuffing up when we notified them about the solar, and they refused to backpay for the energy that we had exported to the grid for a year. They sent us a huge $2700 bill, so we phoned and agreed with them that we would pay it off gradually (as advised by the Ombudsman), but we received a final notice so I paid it, if only so we can switch supplier.

I think that we will be joining you with the esky and the candles before much longer M2M! We aren't extravagant with electricity, just the usual lighting, fridge, freezer, some tv in the evenings etc, but at this rate we'll be living in the dark!

Do you know what makes me cross about the electric companies???? If you query your bill, they charge you to come out and check the meter, that stinks, as it puts people off complaining,when they know they will get a charge for checking the meter

And when you move into a new property they charge a connection fee,and thats for every property new build or old??

We paid $75 ,for our last move

Mind, Telstra does it as well,$299,:mad: for them to switch our home phone on at our last house, we only have mobiles now,,,lesson learnt

So wrong,,,,as if they dont make enough money

our bill jumped massively recently too, but then aren't we saving the planet paying this additional carbon tax?

Fortnightly bills instead of quarterly, wow that's advanced thinking, leading the way there. My colleague hasn't had a bill for 2.5 years, despite asking, so they need to get that right first. And I'm still getting bills for the previous tennants from over a year ago, despite telling them to stop sending them and returning all of them.

I hope it's only Aussies complaining about the bills, because if it's winging poms, they know what they can do! Besides, isn't it just best to stick our heads in the sand and say nothing?

Our electric bills in Aus were always going to take a big hike despite the carbon tax. This is because when the companies were sold off there was this honeymoon period where power rises were governed, now its a free for all and we have to watch the time of day carefully.

We have not paid a bill and are still in credit with our solar. However we do minimise our use by programming the dishwasher to come on in the night. Doing washing on the weekends, and other time delayed activities and it works. However the people who will be getting in trouble are bound to be people on low income who rent uninsulated homes etc etc, in other words its always the same people who suffer and personally I think that should be remedied, how I do not know.

With technology the way it is going its difficult for people to just switch off from it because all the banks, government departments, instrumentalitys' demand that we do our business on the phone and internet, be a good idea if they answered the phone in a decent time as well. 80 minutes my friend waited the other day she timed it, she was at work so just left it on speaker.

The past 6 weeks or so has been a cacophony of moaning at work from all and sundry regarding their power bills. The rates hiked up quite a bit and it's been a cold winter so a lot of people have got a shock when the bill landed on their doormat in August or September. I must confess I am a lot more careful with power usage than I used to be - and more than I ever was at home - which is probably the intention. The level of wastage inherent in mostly electricity based heating systems and [soapbox]poorly insulated homes[/soapbox] still grinds my gears though

Its something Ive noticed to be honest, just how wasteful people are and how much they are the same ones that moan about the electricity bill. The ones that will only use a dishwasher, the ones that constantly use the tumble dryer despite days of dry weather,and the ones that will only have reverse cycle air con, heating! Its not rocket science really just cut back, we all have too its going to be the way of the future even more so we are all going to have to get used to it. As for the ones that are cut off, I do have to wonder sometimes because a lot do seem to manage the to visit the bottleshop and have the smokes and the fast food joints too. Oh and the ones that have 3 fridges on the go plus the wine cooler :rolleyes:

I've taken our first small step and installed a solar panel. We rent so can't do much. The solar panel is on the camping trailer, but rather than all that power sitting their unused each day, I've changed the house lighting to 12v bulbs and feed it from batteries charged by the panel. The savings won't cover the costs, but as it was there anyway for the trailer, thought we might as well use it. It's a small thing, but a step in the right direction. And, as the lights at night run on battery power, the missus is worried about it going flat, so finally she's considering switching off unused lights! (paying the bill (with my money) wasn't enough shock).

Also we don't use the dishwasher or a dryer and have solar water heating (back up by gas) and gas blown air heating. I still come home every day to find the TV and PS3 on with no-one watching it, grrrr. That will be on batteries next!!

Its something Ive noticed to be honest, just how wasteful people are and how much they are the same ones that moan about the electricity bill. The ones that will only use a dishwasher, the ones that constantly use the tumble dryer despite days of dry weather,and the ones that will only have reverse cycle air con, heating! Its not rocket science really just cut back, we all have too its going to be the way of the future even more so we are all going to have to get used to it. As for the ones that are cut off, I do have to wonder sometimes because a lot do seem to manage the to visit the bottleshop and have the smokes and the fast food joints too. Oh and the ones that have 3 fridges on the go plus the wine cooler :rolleyes:

Excuse me Cath, but we only have one fridge/freezer, we don't use the tumble dryer although had to use it last month when my son forgot his karate kit was still in the wash and he was grading in an hour, no heating, using ceiling fans to cool, all low energy bulbs, but we have had guests, since November so obviously we have been a family of anything from 6 - 9. We even have special remotes on the plug sockets so when you switch things off like the TV it shuts everything off at the mains.

Our hot water is probably large part of our bill (maybe 35%) because it is electric, but at the moment we can't afford the upfront cost to have the hot water system replaced for a solar one. We are saving up though, so we should hopefully be able to get it done at some point this summer. That is if nothing else goes wrong in the meantime that we have to replace (we have had a run of things going kaput!).

this is exactly the point I was making last week on another thread, regarding hard up OAPs. No wonder people cannot afford to pay electricity when they have to pay through the nose to see a GP, get prescriptions, pay OTT prices for food etc.

this is exactly the point I was making last week on another thread, regarding hard up OAPs. No wonder people cannot afford to pay electricity when they have to pay through the nose to see a GP, get prescriptions, pay OTT prices for food etc.

They dont always have to pay to see a GP, can go to a bulk billing DR if there is one in the area. They are not paying through the nose for a prescription $5.60 is hardly a rip off! Do not have to pay OTT prices for food, half a kilo of mince is only $3! how many meals can you get for that? quite a few. I do not see many destitute old people round here, the coffee shops and pokies are full of them!

Excuse me Cath, but we only have one fridge/freezer, we don't use the tumble dryer although had to use it last month when my son forgot his karate kit was still in the wash and he was grading in an hour, no heating, using ceiling fans to cool, all low energy bulbs, but we have had guests, since November so obviously we have been a family of anything from 6 - 9. We even have special remotes on the plug sockets so when you switch things off like the TV it shuts everything off at the mains.

Aw Kate I wasnt for a minute insinuating you were one of the three fridge users my lovely. :wubclub: But Ive witnessed many over here who are.

They dont always have to pay to see a GP, can go to a bulk billing DR if there is one in the area. They are not paying through the nose for a prescription $5.60 is hardly a rip off! Do not have to pay OTT prices for food, half a kilo of mince is only $3! how many meals can you get for that? quite a few. I do not see many destitute old people round here, the coffee shops and pokies are full of them!

True, not always, its entirely dependent on whether they can find a GP who will bulk bill them or not. Some (quite a few) refuse to bulk bill anyone.

Don't you think thats rather unfair on people living off a pension?

Just because you haven't seen OAPs struggling financially doesn't mean they don't exist

True, not always, its entirely dependent on whether they can find a GP who will bulk bill them or not. Some (quite a few) refuse to bulk bill anyone.

 

Don't you think thats rather unfair on people living off a pension?

 

Just because you haven't seen OAPs struggling financially doesn't mean they don't exist

Unfortunately sometimes they just have to pay, but saying that everyone knows the system here and should have made provision for things like this when the did have money. I do feel sorry for some old people who dont have much money but also you see so many who spend what they have in the TAB and Pokies etc and have done so for years so if they want to spend it this way they cant complain when they cant afford their bills.

Unfortunately sometimes they just have to pay, but saying that everyone knows the system here and should have made provision for things like this when the did have money. I do feel sorry for some old people who dont have much money but also you see so many who spend what they have in the TAB and Pokies etc and have done so for years so if they want to spend it this way they cant complain when they cant afford their bills.

your compassion is heart warming

your compassion is heart warming

Thanks, dont just relate to old people though. So many young ones too, get themselves a house and need to have the best of everything on tick, then complain when they have no money to pay bills!

Just because you haven't seen OAPs struggling financially doesn't mean they don't exist

True, you don't see the struggling ones as they don't get out. You only see the rich ones at coffee shops.

My friend is a manager for a care company and her job is an events co-ordinator and she finds things to keep pensioners happy in sheltered housing and drop in centres, she does work with impoverished pensioners aswell so they do exhist but fortuanatly they are more the exeption than the norm here in WA anyway.

this is exactly the point I was making last week on another thread, regarding hard up OAPs. No wonder people cannot afford to pay electricity when they have to pay through the nose to see a GP, get prescriptions, pay OTT prices for food etc.

Dom it's not just the OAPs who are struggling with the ever increasing costs. Two years ago when I lived in Perth, I worked as a Financial Counsellor. My main job was assisting people through the HUGS program. The HUGS program was administered and funded by DCP. It was a hardship utility grant scheme, which is still in place today. Basically the program was put into place to assist people payin their electric or gas bill. The scheme paid a portion of the bill, so that people could keep the lights on.

I used to see on average 25 to 30 people a week, and that was just in the Midland area. Just because you don't see people struggling doesn't mean that they aren't. All the people I assisted were Australian and were people who were average joes.

Sometimes people's flippant comments on here about not seeing people struggling get to me, as I worked at the grassroots level in the community and saw everything from poverty to domestic violence. I saw an Australia that many who sit in their nice houses with their high incomes don't get to witness. I for one am glad that I saw that side of Australia and am even more grateful I wax able to assist people.

Cheers

Karen

I agree with you Karen there is a lot of hidden misery in the Aus community. Funnily enough in the car today I was listening to the ABC and they were referring to a speech Carmen Lawrence made about this a while ago. Said that disadvantage was worse here than in the UK because people who are disadvantaged are unable to get a good outcome whereas in the UK they can get a better outcome. Class system is alive and well here. Something we all should be aware of in our daily lives.

We hear it all the time with the questions, want good area, no crime, good school, all this kind of thing is excluding people, we may not notice we are doing it and I am just as guilty as anyone but we are.

But dont you think its the same as a lot of countries those that are on an average wage arent seen as the ones that need help but often are, earning too much for certain help but not earning enough to afford a lot that others do. Constantly you find ( and this was from experience when I was a divorced working Mum) that you earn too much for help with this, your working so you cant have this. I had a 2 year old and a 5 year old I couldnt get child support because my Ex refused to pay, I couldnt get any sort of benefit because I earned too much, I couldnt get help with childcare so I could continue to work because I was just over the threshold. I was actually told by the benefits agency to give up work as I would be far better off if I did. I seriously sometimes just had a few tins in the cupboard for the kids for the whole week, but I wasnt a statistic anywhere and I wasnt entitled to anything. At 27 I didnt drink, smoke and certainly didnt go out.

I agree with you Karen there is a lot of hidden misery in the Aus community. Funnily enough in the car today I was listening to the ABC and they were referring to a speech Carmen Lawrence made about this a while ago. Said that disadvantage was worse here than in the UK because people who are disadvantaged are unable to get a good outcome whereas in the UK they can get a better outcome. Class system is alive and well here. Something we all should be aware of in our daily lives.

 

We hear it all the time with the questions, want good area, no crime, good school, all this kind of thing is excluding people, we may not notice we are doing it and I am just as guilty as anyone but we are.

Not only i the class system alive and kicking but the growth in inequality is growing at a tremendous rate with far worse around the corner.I fear that the individualism side of Australian culture will further determine a land of have and have nots...with little caring for the substantial numbers living in limited circumstances.

But dont you think its the same as a lot of countries those that are on an average wage arent seen as the ones that need help but often are, earning too much for certain help but not earning enough to afford a lot that others do. Constantly you find ( and this was from experience when I was a divorced working Mum) that you earn too much for help with this, your working so you cant have this. I had a 2 year old and a 5 year old I couldnt get child support because my Ex refused to pay, I couldnt get any sort of benefit because I earned too much, I couldnt get help with childcare so I could continue to work because I was just over the threshold. I was actually told by the benefits agency to give up work as I would be far better off if I did. I seriously sometimes just had a few tins in the cupboard for the kids for the whole week, but I wasnt a statistic anywhere and I wasnt entitled to anything. At 27 I didnt drink, smoke and certainly didnt go out.

There is less help here than Europe. For example rents are regualted and the owner can not just decide to raise it by $50 as can be the case in Australia. There is less onus on tying up a lot of income paying a mortgage than here as rental protection makes the renter feel secure. The dole pays initially a large percentage of large earnings for a period of time. There is far less household debt. Australia has a very high rate. Wouldn't take too much strain on the economy to seriosly put these folk at risk.....

it's really gonna sting here in Australia, the UK still suffer and moan as energy was privatised and naturally took a shareholder pleasing price, and their homes tend to be relatively well insulated and airtight.

Australia is slowly becoming a place that for some offers little respite from the temperature outside, as this requires energy in current building stock.

the poor will have little sleep.