I was just talking to my Mum on the phone and she said she had just received her electricity bill.

Keep in mind that this is a little old lady who lives on her own, has off peak hot water, gas cooking and doesn't have an airconditioner.

She said that the bill was $432.87.  Said she nearly fainted on the spot.

My mum being who she is and never throws receipts/accounts away for two years went and retrieved the account for the same period last year.

She has actually used a tad less electricity this year for the same period and the bill last time round was $189.54

We all know that the cost of electricity has gone up in the last twelve months but I ask you, how can such an increase be justified.

Sounds a bit high Ma.   Just checked our last bill.   Used 930 kilowatt hours at $19.41 per hour, Tariff 11.    Cost $198.56 with GST.  Add service fees (what do they do for those) and the bill was $212.49 for the three months.   We have gas hot water but a power stove and air cond which was used only for a couple of days this quarter.

Might be worth a call to the power provided as to reasons why.

Ian

That's what I told her to do, get in touch with the providor.  Will be interesting to see what our bill comes in at seeing as how we haven't been home for the whole of the three month billing period.

i live on my own, but have gas for heating, maybe heating could be an issue? mine is usually around $230 ish, im on a pension too

I may have a solution- I put solar panels on my roof. Cost $2000, but is saving me up to $90 a month, and seeing that I only use about $90 a month, my bill for the last month was$2.11! Ther govt helped  with the panels, and they should pay for themselves in under 2 years.I , also, turn everything off after use. They had a comp to see who could have the biggest drop in usage on Magnetic island(there were 49 contestants), and I won!  71% drop!The $300 first prize went towards the cost of the pannels, and when I go on the road, they will be making a credit for me. I have a gas stove and solar hot water with no elec back up, which seems to help.I hope this helps you. Bill

Hi MA,
Is mum in NSW? I just got mine for the last 4 months @  just over $750 up $500 on last bill.You will find as NSW is broke every thing will go up.This state has done very little MAINTANCE to water & power.Yours  will be high when you get home as it cost more to send it down the coast

Yes Tige, Mum is a Kurrajong girl, worked in Richmond, retired to Ulladulla.

Mine better be the minimum amount payable as there is nothing using power in my house at the moment.

Good old habbit when goign away for periods of time is to get the account suspended, that goes for everything...... That way they cant charge you for anything except the connection.. Just my way of thinking anyway Hoo Roo Happy Days Grumps

Brace yourselves. A report in The Australian Monday said electricity prices are expected to DOUBLE over the next five years "as the inevitable and logical consequences of the policies that governments are implementing." This includes a move towards renewable energy sources. HOWEVER, power from wind farms will cost $100-$125 per megawatt hour, compared to $30-$40 per MWh for coal. There is one bright side: when the Greens get their way and close down all the coal-fired power stations, there won't be any power, and thus you won't get a bill! Cheers, Tony

I like the response I didn't get from Chris n Stan for the offer. I went up to the house yesterday after 8 mths away & all was in order, thank god.
I requested a final meter reading last Dec when I left & haven't had an account since, but electricity was still on, amazing, but a lot of pensioners are complaining about the huge hikes in electricity prices here in Qld, so can only hope the concessions keep pace as well.
Does your mum's bill include pensioner concession?

-- Edited by Dougie on Tuesday 31st of August 2010 09:46:11 AM

i wish i could just go solar on the house, run it like a van and not be conected to the grid at all, would be great if we could

my dad got solar panels on his roof this year, all the family thought it was a great joke, till they saw the drop on his electricity bill hardly anything..

but id love to be off the grid alltogether if i could

sometimes i think id be better off in my own motor home..

-- Edited by milo on Tuesday 31st of August 2010 01:38:46 PM

You can get off th egrid completely, the cost is wuite substantial but it is very possible, dont forget the wind generators you can now get to domestic use, combine the two and you have a fairly reliable source of energy, convert the house lighting to LED and the appliances to 12vdc and away you go....agreed an inverter for some appliances will be required but that will be a minimal amount. That is my plan in the long term, screw the system, I will also have three tanks, 2 for fresh water and one for grey water for irrigation, it may cost me but hey Ill make it back in no time flat with the savings. Nothing wrong with being a minimalist, our parents and their parents survived quite well and they had rationing of most of what we take for granted etc.. but they survived and had a good lives. Hoo Roo Happy Days Grumps

Dougie wrote:

---

I like the response I didn't get from Chris n Stan for the offer. I went up to the house yesterday after 8 mths away & all was in order, thank god.
I requested a final meter reading last Dec when I left & haven't had an account since, but electricity was still on, amazing, but a lot of pensioners are complaining about the huge hikes in electricity prices here in Qld, so can only hope the concessions keep pace as well.
Does your mum's bill include pensioner concession?

-- Edited by Dougie on Tuesday 31st of August 2010 09:46:11 AM

---

Yes it does Doug.  There's a lot to be said for your system out there, it is looking better and better after being in Brisbane today among the rat race......Geeza I miss Chinchilla

 

I don,t think you should look at water charges, its depressing. Here, they have gone to a user pays system where you pay a service charge, and then so much per kiloliter. I worked out that my water bill would quadrupal if I didn,t cut back on usage. So I bought two 300ltr rainwater tanks and am , at the moment plumbing them into my house.Its crazy as we live in the wettest part of Oz, and never have problems with supply. So much for user pays.Another rip off!

We've had user pays system for our water for about three years now.  Sure makes you remember when we were kids and only had tank water.  But it's like riding a bike once you learn to conserve water it's really not all that hard to apply the same practices now.

i miss the days as a kid , so much simpler

hi all , and our utilities were cheaper when we still owned them before privatisation , we have none of these bills to pay as on the road full time , but it will impact eventually on all of us , as caravan parks will have to hike up yjeir rates to cover the increases ...... how much does Japan pay for OUR gas again ????????? mmmmm it's certainly not a level playing field out there , but then that's another topic .... cheers Denny

Chinese are paying 5cents a litre for our LNG at last look, & we are paying up to 80cents a litre for LPG when we should all be on LNG. Something drastically wrong with the bloody system I think!!!

Hey Ma & GrumpyOne, sell up & move out here. It's free & you will live longer as well!!!

very tempting offer Doug, very tempting   

-- Edited by Ma on Thursday 2nd of September 2010 02:30:00 PM

i wonder what would happen if I disconected the water and survived on solar power and rain water . How much would my rates fall, if any, and would I still pay water rates and power charges? I would bet they would find some way to charge. Bill

Hey Doug, Mate the truck finally looks like its back on the road, so may well be doing just that in the next week or so...... Cheers Doug. Hoo Roo Happy Days Grumps

Just hear from B.I.L. my electricity bill came in the mail today $48.92.   Considering we've been away ALL of the billing period..........I know...........it's the connection fee they charge you every time but it seems an odd amount to me

A side note on the cost of fuels.... I recently had a hire car form Hertz courtesy of my insurer, being lazy and not wanting to spend half the morning looking for a fuel station I returned it to the yard half full knowing full well that they charge a premium for their guy to refill it. Now I expected about $1.60/l Keep dreaming that would be cheap at half the price, half a tank for a camry (no more than 40l)cost me over $120, I worked out that I paid about $3.00/l with at least two layers of GST and of excise... talk about profitering. HERTZ PAYS Bowser Price includes excise Bowser price plus GST THEN I BUY OF HERTZ AND PAY What they paid plust the excise they add What they paid then GST on top of that Something doesnt ring quite right but hey in a area where you are unfamiliar, need to get the car returned and have minimal time, guess who pays.

My full time caravan park lifestyle is looking more like an asset than an indulgence. I don't have real estate or furniture, but I do pay power on the meter, which is about $34.00 for 132 units. That maybe 4 weeks worth, takes it back to just over $8 a week. No rates, not taxes, not water, just electricity and park fees of $308.72 per fortnight. It's all about lifestyle. I never did believe real estate or property was an asset. But what would I know. There are better ways to invest your money, if you have any.

I am looking at it the same way. I own my house and have a small business, and with all the regos and rates, I wonder if you are better off with money in the bank , getting interest. I worked it out that if I sold everything , I would have enough to retire on, and would probably recieve about $30000 a year, which is twice the pension.As I have read its a big decision.I get to have about 3 months a year on thr road and the house, so , I suppose I don,t have it too hard.Its tempting, though. Bill