Network costs bowl over alley Venue’s virus power pain

A TOWNSVILLE bowling alley owner, who closed his venue during the COVID-19 restrictions, has questioned the high electricity network charges he is being asked to pay at a time when he can least afford it.

Noel Ambler operates the Townsville Tenpin and Fun Centre in Kirwan, and is a customer of energy giant AGL, but the network fees are so-called “pass-through” costs, which in Queensland go to distribution providers like Ergon Energy, owned by the state government.

Mr Ambler received his energy bill for April when the business was closed, showing the cost of electricity used was just $200 — but that another $1800 was attributable to charges including for transmission, distribution and metering.

“As I understand it, the network costs are imposed by state-owned corporations and the government hasn’t seen fit to review any network fees for businesses that have been shut down,” Mr Ambler said.

“Don’t slug us when we don’t have income because we can’t afford it.”

A spokesman for AGL said they were committed to supporting customers facing financial difficulties.

“We are contacting this customer about his business contract and understand the difficulties faced by customers during the current pandemic,” the spokesman said.

“Network charges are set and charged by the local network operator and approved by an independent regulator. Business bills like this are made up of network costs, wholesale costs and capacity.”

The spokesman said they had introduced a COVID-19 Customer Support Program and were providing a hardship program for ongoing support.

Energy Minister Anthony Lynham said as Mr Ambler was with a private retailer, he would need to contact the retailer and ask for a reclassification, disconnection or other relief.

“We understand the cost of living pressures faced by Queenslanders and that is why we are so focused on putting further downward pressure on electricity prices,” Dr Lynham said.

“Network costs are falling, as are wholesale prices, and those savings will flow to Queenslanders on their power bills.”

Dr Lynham said the state government had provided $200 off annual household utility bills and $500 off for small businesses as part of their COVID relief package and urged customers experiencing financial hardship to contact their energy retailers.

The Australian Energy Regulator has proposed allowing electricity retailers to defer some network charges to distribution providers for six months to December 31 to support struggling customers. The Australian Energy Market Commission has yet to rule on the issue.

The AER has called on energy retailers not to disconnect customers and to support them with payment plans, after it found the number of customers on payment plans had doubled to almost 40,000 households and small businesses since December. charges for network