Price manipulation by power companies is obscene, writes Lainie Anderson - Adelaide Now

Many Australians can not pay their electricity bills. Source: The Daily Telegraph

CAN you believe that in 2012, in one of the richest countries on Earth, some Australians are living without electricity, asks Lainie Anderson.

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I HEARD a lovely woman talking to Matt and Dave on 891 ABC a while back, explaining how desperate she was about the rising cost of electricity.
 

She couldn't afford to watch television anymore, only ever used one light, and fretted whenever her grandchildren came to visit because of the extra power they used.

It was sad to hear this articulate woman in such a frantic state.

This week we learnt she's by no means alone. In fact, it seems some cases are far worse.

On Thursday, the Essential Services Commission released its annual performance review of the state's energy market, revealing a 34 per cent increase in the number of household electricity customers disconnected due to non-payment.

Around half of those customers were reconnected within seven days. So what happened to the other 54 per cent, or 5000-odd households?

SA Council of Social Service executive director Ross Womersley says he's increasingly hearing from welfare agencies that families are giving up on electricity because they can't afford the rising costs.

"It's hard to understand how anyone in this day and age could survive without a service as basic and essential as electricity," Mr Womersley says.

"When you think about the health implications, the social implications it's absolutely tragic."

Can you believe that in 2012, in one of the richest countries on Earth, Australians are choosing to live without electricity?

Nearly 193,000 electricity customers receive the State Government's electricity concession of up to $165 a year. (They're generally welfare recipients, pensioners and low-income earners - if you think you might be eligible, ask your supplier.)

On July 1, Mr Womersley says the concession rose a whopping $7 per year. Compare that to the average hike in household power bills these past 12 months - somewhere in the order of $450 to $500 - and you can see why tens of thousands of customers are now on instalment plans, hardship programs or are simply staying disconnected.

So then on Friday we read expert claims in The Advertiser that electricity-generation companies are deliberately withholding supply to force up the price of wholesale power on hot days.

ACCORDING to a study carried out by the Electricity Users Association of Australia, wholesalers are manipulating the market to force up their own profits, and we're all paying as much as $300 more on our annual bills as a result.

That is obscene. These companies, which are admittedly working within the law, should have a good, hard think about their responsibilities as suppliers of essential services.

And the rest of us know where to point the finger when pensioners start keeling over due to heat stress this summer, in homes where they're too afraid to turn on the airconditioner.

Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis says he wants to "throw the book" at companies found to be manipulating the market and will put his proposal to all meeting of all energy ministers this week. Hallelujah.

Most consumers will begrudgingly accept reasonable price rises to compensate companies for replacing ageing infrastructure like poles and power lines, but it increasingly feels like we're being played for fools.

The implications could be far more wide-reaching than poor pensioners sitting under wet towels to survive the summer heat.

Harvey Norman boss Gerry Harvey this week predicted more Australian retailers will go to the wall after Christmas, pushed there by dire business conditions.

Ironically, he added that his own company's results for the year hinged on selling airconditioners throughout December. Well, if power prices keep going up, he can kiss goodbye to that.

While our federal politicians busy themselves with pathetic name calling, perhaps it's time we enlisted Gerry to power up a Go Harvey campaign against high electricity prices. Australia's electrical retailers will surely benefit in the long run.