Power bill shock hits city homes
Residents zapped by cost surge
A NUMBER of Toowoomba residents are seeking answers after their electricity bills doubled in the last quarter.
Despite the relatively mild winter and a conscious effort to curb her family’s usage, Kearneys Spring resident Ashly Peterson said her bill had jumped from $660 to nearly $1300.
Other furious residents contacted The Chronicle to say there was no justification for the massive increase in their bills.
Ergon Energy said it was normal for power bills to rise during winter because of increased power usage.
A KEARNEYS Spring mother is looking for answers after her electricity bill with Ergon Energy doubled in the last quarter.
Ashly Peterson was understandably shocked when her power bill skyrocketed to $1300 - twice that of her previous bill.
She is one of a number of concerned residents in Kearneys Spring, Harristown, Centenary Heights, Darling Heights and Mount Lofty who contacted The Chronicle after their power bills spiked well beyond what they believe is typical for a winter billing period - especially one as mild as the winter just gone.
One Centenary Heights resident said her power usage went from around 1700kwH last winter to over 2600kwH this winter without using any appliances differently.
Ms Peterson said she and her partner had been scratching their heads as to what happened.
She even posted the difference in her electricity bill on social media and received “hundreds” of responses from people in similar situations.
“We know we haven’t done anything different, and we know the tariffs haven’t gone up... none of (my previous bills) have been estimated,” she said.
Ms Peterson said she called Ergon and was told energy bills were higher in winter, and that perhaps the wiring in her house was old and to get it checked.
“We asked the real estate agency if they could do that, and they said they’d been getting the same requests from all these other people.
“Why are all these people getting these really high bills all of a sudden?”
Responding to a query from The Chronicle, Ergon Energy said it “understands seasonal variations in power bills can be challenging for some customers, even though this is quite common in areas like Toowoomba where power use increases for heating in winter and cooling in summer”.
Executive general manager retail Cheryl Hopkins recommended customers whose recent bills had increased to check their power consumption for the same period last year and consider whether they had used appliances differently.
Ms Hopkins said Ergon Retail’s prices were set by the Queensland Competition Authority, had changed annually on July 1, and the main domestic tariff had lowered.
“If customers are having difficulty paying their bill, they should call us on 13 10 46 as soon as possible to discuss how we can assist,” she said.