Power bills slashed

Cuts of up to 28 per cent for thousands of Geelong households

ALMOST 9000 Geelong households will see their electricity prices slashed by up to 28 per cent under a new set of energy rebates to be introduced next year.

The new set of rebates — under a deal negotiated with power companies by the State Government — will affect 8967 Geelong customers on costly nondiscounted default electricity deals.

The rebates, funded by AGL, Origin and Energy Australia will save eligible customers between $250 and $440.

ALMOST 9000 Geelong households will see their electricity prices slashed by up to 28 per cent under a new set of energy rebates to be introduced next year.

The rebates — under a deal negotiated with power companies by the State Government — will affect 8967 Geelong customers on costly non-discounted default electricity deals.

Funded by AGL, Origin and Energy Australia, the re- bates will save non-concession holders on standing offers and those on some expired market offers between $250 and $440.

The savings for concession holders on standing offers are greater, with the rebate set to save them between $254 and $720.

While the cost-saving will be welcomed by thousands of cash-strapped residents, it comes after major energy supplier Origin Energy announced it will increase power charges for customers on their default plans by 14.4 per cent next year following Energy Australia’s announcement of a 14.9 per cent power price surge.

The rebate plan is a result of a bipartisan independent Retail Review by Terry Mulder, John Thwaites and Patricia Faulkner which found the 285,000 Victorians on default plans were paying significantly higher prices than average or what was considered reasonable for an essential service.

As a result of this finding, the big three retailers acknowledged that standing offer arrangements were costly for those customers.

Rising energy costs have been a major cause for concern for many Victorians, particularly elderly residents.

In October, Geelong Grove Retirement Village resident Kevin Govenlock, 80, told the Geelong Advertiser he had friends who were going without heating during cold winter months to save on rising costs

“There are quite a few in here who are doing it solely on the pension,” he said.

“We’ve got friends who don’t put their lights on at night and aren’t running heating . . . they’ll have the TV on but no light on.”

He said many residents were choosing to spend more time in the village’s central room to cut down on energy costs.

Member for Geelong Christine Couzens welcomed the rebate, which will be automatically deducted from eligible bills on January 1.

“This is great news for families across Geelong who will save hundreds of dollars from their energy bills,” Ms Couzens said.

A recent St Vincent de Paul Society report found the difference between default deals and the best market contracts could be several hundred dollars for average families.

Liberal Member for South Barwon Andrew Katos said the rebate would merely “put the brakes” on the electricity bill for those eligible for the rebate “without doing much to ease the squeeze”.

“Residents should not be under the illusion that they’ll be immune from the rising costs of energy,” Mr Katos said.