Switch on about power bills

NEWS of power price hikes is never welcome, not at home and especially not for small business.

A few weeks ago the major electricity retailers announced the latest round of price rises — in some parts the increase will be as high as 20 per cent.

Recent media reports suggest in Victoria the wholesale price has more than tripled since 2015, and household power bills have skyrocketed by almost 120 per cent in the past decade. Impact on your business bottom line? You bet.

And as we all know, the energy debacle in Victoria has been exacerbated by the closure of the Hazelwood Power Station.

As the political debate bounces between coal and renewables, the media reports of the impact of the world’s highest electricity prices have become increasingly gloomy.

More households and small businesses struggling to pay power bills, more people reaching out to welfare agencies for help, more people and businesses being disconnected, and more businesses closing their doors because energy bills have doubled and tripled.

The situation for Australian small business has become so dire the Small Business Ombudsman Kate Carnell — the former Chief Minister of the ACT — has called for the Government to consider subsidies to help small businesses pay their power bills.

Ms Carnell told The Australian newspaper: “If we don’t fix the policy settings there will be small business closures and job losses, it’s that simple . . . Maybe we’re going to have to think about subsidies, and if we’re going to maintain small businesses and manufacturers and high-energy users in Australia, then we’ve got to ensure they’re competitive.”

According to her, the precarious position many small busi- nesses are finding themselves in thanks to energy costs is clearly a distinct disincentive to employ and invest.

“For manufacturers, the rising cost of energy has also heightened their vulnerability to foreign competition, eroding one of the few cost advantages that Australia has compared to other countries,” she said.

Take away a slither of a current competitive advantage and for too many Australian enterprises, it will be the energy straw breaking the camel’s back.

So, what can you do to tackle the increasingly difficult challenge of energy costs? A good start might be to take a detailed look at how and why your business is chewing through the energy you are racking up with an ‘energy audit’.

The Victorian Government agency Sustainability Victoria offers grants for small and medium businesses of up to $2000 towards the cost of a basic energy assessment, and up to $6000 towards the cost of a detailed assessment. The grants are available to cover half of the cost of the assessment.

And faced with energy bills that are not looking like they’re going to take a U-turn any time soon, a professional audit and some potential energy smart operational changes could mean the difference between remaining competitive or closing the doors.

There are also several things you can do yourself around your workplace — and your home.

The experts say a simple stroll around your building or workplace could help you identify some money-saving changes — such as adjusting your airconditioning thermostat (and telling staff not to fiddle with it), replacing light bulbs with energy efficient varieties, turning off lights in unoccupied rooms, checking the seal on the fridge and switching off unnecessary equipment and devices at night.

They might only seem like minor small changes and they may not knock thousands off your annual bill, but it is a start.

And even being able to put the brakes on a little on the rapid growth of your energy bills and slow down the pain slightly has to be a bonus.