Energy rebates the order of the day. Here’s what’s coming your way.

Energy rebates seem to be the flavour of the month for our politicians, with QLD and Victoria getting confirmation this week of rebates coming their way. 

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk remains confident she will win enough seats to form a majority government, paving the way for $100 in promised rebates over two years.

Meanwhile, 285,000 Victorian households were promised a refund on their power bills this week worth up to $720 a customer from Premier Daniel Andrews.

While it’s reasonable to be sceptical of pre-election promises, Queenslanders are hopeful that the Premier will make good on her $50 power bill savings and power price pledge.

The Premier announced that consumers will be offered rebates of up to $300 if they purchase energy-efficient appliances including up to $50 a year for fridges and washing machines and $135 a year for airconditioners.

It follows a threat to retailers that the State could re-enter the market if they don’t help drive down power prices.

Meanwhile, the Sunday Herald Sun revealed power companies in Victoria will return at least $71 million on set-and-forget power bills under a deal negotiated by the Andrews Government.

The rebate will be paid to customers on non-discount plans and will see them applied to bills from January 1, 2018, like Queensland.

Writer Matthew Johnston spoke to the Fiftyup Club’s Kayley Harris this week and  reported that Origin Energy, which has one million Victorian customers, is lifting its power charges on their default plans by 14.4 per cent next year — a week after Energy Australia lifted its power price by 14.9 per cent. The rest will announce their price rises today.

At the federal level, we recently reported on the Prime Minister’s “National Energy Guarantee” with many criticizing how long it will take to deliver a paltry $170 a year to consumers, not due to come into effect until 2020.

It certainly doesn’t feel like massive savings are heading our way soon and that’s worth considering as we heard into the silly season.

For families who like to decorate their home on a large scale with Christmas lights, many are switching to LED’s and solar lights to continue the tradition.

Peter and Sue Boddy from Queensland told the Courier Mail they have been putting lights up for more than 20 years but Peter said “I have solar power on the roof and I don’t pay a bill all year except for Christmas time. We’re still putting on ours this year but I’m sure the power price will scare some people off.”

If you’re planning on putting large-scale lights up, Canstar has crunched the numbers on the difference between incandescent and LED lights. Read their report here

You can click here to listen to the interview with Matthew Johnston from the Herald Sun

Click here to see the new special Energy Offers for FiftyUp Club members