WHAT HOPE FOR AUSSIES AS POWER COSTS DOUBLE?

AN open letter about energy costs to Corangamite MP Sarah Henderson.

Ms Henderson, I am using the media to ask you a question as to what the Morrison Government is going to do regarding the high level of energy prices everyday Australians are suffering from.

Firstly, I happen to have gas and electricity bills that go back to 2010, so I decided to use those covering the July-September quarters to determine how my energy consumption and the costs have changed over recent years.

My charts indicate that during the eight years when Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull were prime ministers, electricity and gas prices doubled.

In 2010 I could purchase over 11,000 megajoules of gas for around $5/day. Today, I can buy only half that amount. A similar situation relates to electricity where, in 2011, I could purchase 340 kWh for $2.34/day, whereas today I can buy only 298 kWh for about twice as much (or $4.12/day).

Despite doing what we can to minimise our overall energy consumption, our most recent energy bills require us to pay approximately $250 per month for gas and electricity during this very cold weather, which we are finding very expensive.

Therefore, my question is this: WHEN is your government going to force the various foreign-owned gas and electricity companies to significantly reduce their energy rates so Australians can again afford to heat their homes and so that businesses can become competitive again?

Malcolm Turnbull talked only last month about a reduction of $550 a year per household. Such an amount would be a good start towards helping cost reduction, but are we ever likely to see such a reduction like this and, if so, WHEN, Sarah? Alan Manson, Grovedale