REMEMBER WHEN

ANOTHER hike in the price of electricity was to slug the average Gold Coast household almost $200 more a year.

Despite promising the price of electricity would fall after the privatisation of the industry, the Bligh Government once again refused to overturn a Queensland Competition Authority decision to increase prices by 13.29 per cent from July 1.

The hike was attributed to the rising cost of new infrastructure, transmission and distribution.

An average household quarterly bill of $350 would rise by $46.50 to nearly $400. Energy Minister Stephen Robertson blamed the price hike on the supposedly independent authority, describing it as ‘disappointing’.

"Our Government knows the huge impact that electricity price hikes will have on the average household," he said.

"Many people in our community are doing it tough and the price increase announced by the independent QCA will place additional strain on their weekly budget."

But despite claiming the Government had challenged the rise as being unnecessary, he was later forced to admit he would not use his veto power to overturn the decision. "The decision they have come up with is a reflection of what they believe is needed to be invested in Queensland’s electricity system to maintain the standard of service that we as consumers demand," he said.

"(Overruling it) would mean that insufficient money would be invested in our electricity system and very quickly we would return to days of blackouts and brown outs."