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NewsEnergy Wars – coming soon to an election near you!
Energy Wars – coming soon to an election near you!

Energy Wars – coming soon to an election near you!

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Last updated by Someone on

With the QLD state election now in full swing and the VIC election a year away, it’s pretty clear what will be the #1 political issue in elections all around Australia over the coming years. 

It’s power prices. From the PM all the way down, it’s all they want to talk about on the hustings.

Here’s our summary of the very interesting ideas coming from both major parties in QLD, which could be a clue to what other states will propose in the coming months and years.

In the past year, the Federal Government has forced retailers to contact their customers about better offers; reserved gas for domestic use; and begun work on Snowy 2.0.

But the QLD Government has taken the Energy Wars to the next level in this election campaign. So far, it has:

  • Promised $100 cashback to every household over the next two years,
  • Re-entered the market by partnering with Alinta Energy to undercut other providers. (You can get the offer, and save over $500 for an average household on standing offers, at fiftyupclub.com.au)
  • Rebates of up to $300 to purchase energy efficient appliances like fridges, washing machines or air conditioners.
  • Annual discounts for regional Ergon customers of $75 for households and $120 for small businesses that take up monthly billing options.

In response, the QLD Opposition has vowed to: 

  • Slash power bills by an average of $160 a year for the next two years
  • Deliver by 2020, a saving averaging of about $300 to $460 a year
  • Abolish subsidies for renewables and support the National Energy Guarantee
  • Decrease emissions and support new technologies such as high-efficiency, low emissions coal-fired power stations and solar. 

Exorbitant increases to energy prices of around 20% in some states set the climate for a bleaker than normal winter for millions of Australians this year. 

Now with the longer days fast approaching and summer just around the corner, the energy price spike is set to prick even harder into Aussie households as we start blasting air conditioners.

As quarterly energy bills start landing into your letterbox, it’s important you don’t wait for your energy provider’s obligatory mail correspondence and start shopping around yourself NOW in search of a better deal.

Remember to get on the front foot, just like The Australian Newspaper’s Janet Albrechtsen did recently.

In her column, Ms Albrechtsen explained how she took the initiative and saved a whopping 24 per cent on her power bill by simply calling and asking her provider, AGL, for a price shake down.   

What’s more, no new contract was required or sneaky fine print to decipher - all she was required to do in order to access the significant discount was pay her bill on time.

Easy right?

We are entitled to blame energy providers and politicians for their role in price hikes but we can only blame ourselves for not being proactive and contacting our providers for a discount.

So it’s time we stopped complaining, picked up the phone or shopped around online for a better energy offer because there are real savings waiting to be had.

Take advantage of the Club’s group discounts and enjoy exclusive member’s only energy offers. Click here now and see if you could save hundreds on your power bills! 

FINAL DAY for the current special offers for FiftyUp Club members. See the offers here

OR

Click here to see Mozo’s Top On-Market Offers

Originally posted on .

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Gertraud
Gertraud from ACT commented:

Some years ago, when the drought was at its peak, the ACT government required every new home being built to have a rainwater tank with the size of the tank dependant on the number of bedrooms of the house. Another requirement introduced by the ACT government was that new houses being built on land adjoining grasslands/bush/forests, must be fitted out with a number of fire retardant items, even specific fire resistant air conditioning systems. These requirements added close to $10,000 to the building cost of my home. So I see absolutely no reason why the building codes in the states and territories could not be changed to include mandatory installation of solar panels on all new buildings, including unit blocks, villas and townhouses! As the owner of a rental property in Perth, I am currently obtaining quotes for a solar system as I firmly believe that people renting should be able to access the benefits of reduced power bills. As to the benefit I am hoping to receive from this is to gain good tenants who will be staying in my property for several years and who will be looking after it. 

Jim
Jim from VIC commented:

The Paris Agreement should be torn up. It is the no. 1 election issue - cheap & fully sustainable energy supply for Australian business & residents. The Polititians' claim renewable energy is sufficient but then quietly install generating plants to secure their energy in Parliament. Talk about being selfish & 2 faced to the general public. 

Ronald
Ronald from NSW commented:

Also we have the biggest power plant out there in space and we do not need to use fossil fuel. 

Ronald
Ronald from NSW commented:

Rather then give a cash back they should reduce the bill, that way the money you might get back will come off your bill and it would go were it should go ,so it will reduce the amount we have to pay. It is human nature when we get cash back money it will go to buy other thing and not go into the payment of the bill it was intendant for. Also the Government should be looking into putting sola panels on all pensioners to enable them to free from electricity cost and that way any extra electricity left in the grid can be used by the government to the reduce cost of of expensive plants. like they do in other countries like Israel .You need to look at the way they are doing it. 

margaret
margaret from NSW replied to Ronald:

I would be dubious that the money is directed to bill reducing as I know it would, if given directly to the consumer. Well most of us would use it for bill reducing. When I received that money towards the cost of heating over winter I put a little in my gas and the balance on electricity. As most of us have items on which money must be spent, and a limited amount of money to spend, as long as all items are covered, then when and how that money is spent is not important. That is, if I received the money and spent $30 of it on a special on meat, that would mean I could put aside the money saved by using frozen product, over the next couple of weeks to help pay the electricity bill 6 weeks later. 

John
John from QLD commented:

Out west of Queensland we have no options to us, but ergon and we only get a discount if we want to start paying monthly. I hate monthly bills. 3 monthly is fine. But why can't I get the same discount at least. I always pay on time for both my business and home. 

Joanne
Joanne from VIC replied to John:

Would it not be cheaper to bill every 3 months, than every month? I would have thought so. The reason to try & force people into monthly billing, is so when the price goes up you don't notice it so much. I prefer 3 mth. billing. Remember Land line phone bills where every 3 mths. (Going back 30 or so years) then it all got change to monthly seemed so much cheaper. Add your 3 phone bills up & see how much it is. Shock Horror 

Brian
Brian from NSW commented:

Blame ourselves !! Pleeezze !!. The only thing we can blame ourselves for is being stupid enough to vote for any party who supported privatisation of our basic, essential service. To let the "fox" ( big business multinationals ) in the " henhouse " and expect them not to extract every last morsel from us dumb chickens is delusional in the extreme !! Power, like water is an essential service, should be owned by the people, be non profit and beinvested in to the level of reliability and affordability expected by a civilized society. Instead we have let the ideologists convince the blind to sell their souls. Wake up Australia. 

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