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NewsLast chance for consumers to have their say on electricity prices
Last chance for consumers to have their say on electricity prices

Last chance for consumers to have their say on electricity prices

Tags: Energy Information FiftyUp Club
Last updated by Chris Zinn on

Consumers have 2 more days to have their say on soaring electricity prices in NSW, before they have their “day in court” on Thursday.

The tribunal regulating competition in Australia is opening its doors to the community and asking them what they think about electricity prices.

The 127,000-member FiftyUp Club is now canvassing consumers’ views and preparing a submission on their behalf.

Over-50’s particularly feel the pinch from hefty electricity bills. More than half (52%) say they are afraid to run their heater for fear of big winter bills.

In the past ten years the only cost that has gone up more than electricity (up 116%) was tobacco (up 127%), but electricity is a basic utility.

“The FiftyUp Club will be fronting the tribunal and will submit the views of its members for consideration in setting electricity prices,” Christopher Zinn, spokesperson for the FiftyUp Club said.

“The over 50’s are hurt most by increases in utilities, like electricity and gas, and any fluctuations can impact on their standard of living.”

“We live in a country where no one should be falling through the cracks in winter or going cold because of financial strain. Unfortunately this is all too common.”

Networks NSW is fighting power price cuts of $106-$313 proposed by the Australian Energy Regulator, saying they are not in consumers’ long-term interests.

The networks argue the cuts will lead to more blackouts and will not allow for adequate bushfire mitigation in regional areas.

There are only days left for consumers to take part in the FiftyUp Club Power Price Submission. Join for free at fiftyupclub.com for more details.

Originally posted on .

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Last chance for consumers to have their say on electricity prices

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John
John from NSW commented:

In my opinion it borders on criminal the way Electricity companies and governments imagine us to be bottomless cash cows. Electricity prices have risen excessively, the general cost of living has increased dramatically, council rates are being increased way above and beyond the CPI. While, at best, wages have increased by half of the CPI. Malcolm Frazer once said, "We all need to tighten our belts." And every government we've had since has made sure we keep our belt tighter and tighter. Won't be long now before we'll be on par with Chinese peasants!!! 

Allan
Allan from NSW commented:

Increases should not have been allowed to skip so far ahead of CPI. They now need to be left unchanged for considerable period. 

WILLIAM STEWART
WILLIAM STEWART from NSW commented:

Trying to get the power companies to reduce or curb their price rises is akin to asking the oil companies to do the same ,,, not a chance in hell. Someone once said that love makes the world go around ,,, uh uh, ,,,.greed makes tha world go around. 

Rick
Rick from NSW commented:

I went Solar in 2009, for a couple of quarters, my Bill was $00.00 to $20.00. By 2013 it was back around the $270.00 -$300-00. I put on more solar and got it down to $55.00. Mid July 2015 it hit $270.00. The State and Federal Governments should be Gagged, Bagged and Shagged. 

Andrew
Andrew from NSW commented:

I cannot understand why electricity prices continue to rise the way they do when coal prices are less than 1/3 of what they were 3 years ago. So I can only assume with this in mind that coal fired power stations must be making killer profit margins and yet we have to adjust our way of living (negatively) to cater for the greed of these power companies. 

healey
healey from NSW commented:

Abolish all green renewable schemes. Wind and solar power rely on heavy tax subsidies to make them feasible and have to use coal fired power when the wind doesn't blow and the sun doesn't shine. Hence the cost of electricity from these sources is very expensive to produce and therefore inflates the overall cost of electricity to the consumer Healey K 

Barry
Barry from NSW commented:

100% increase in power costs from last quarter. Using a/c few hours on cold days to keep warm. Now using it less but cold much of the time. 

robyn
robyn from NSW commented:

Greg Hunt you were voted in by the Australian people. DO WHAT THE AUSTRALIAN PEOPLE WANT. NO WIND FARMS 

robyn
robyn from NSW commented:

Greg Hunt you were voted in by the Australian people. DO WHAT THE AUSTRALIAN PEOPLE WANT. NO WIND FARMS 

robert
robert from NSW commented:

Having read more of todays comments I have decided that I should repeat an earlier posting. I use on line billing and banking for most of my transaction and around 9 months ago I noticed that my bill from AGL had Q.L.D. in the top corner of the account.No idea how long I had missed this so I changed it to N.S.W. which is the correct state for Coffs Harbour.The next bill arrived and was around $120 less for the quarter and I had an air conditioner installed just at the beginning of the quarter. Whilst still to high for a single pensioner living in a unit my bills have been lower than the average I had come to expect over the years of us being ripped off. It would appear that rip-offs are still in the small print as always. By the way, "The Lucky Country" was written as a sarcastic vision of Australia. 

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