How the Greenie hoodlums starve industry of affordable power.So, this is what a wind powered ‘future’ looks like …
South Australians Locked in Wind Power Price Disaster: Retail Prices Jump Another 12%June 20, 2016 by stopthesethings 4 Comments
SA’s Treasurer, Tom Koutsantonis: plays deaf to economic reality.
South Australia is an economic basket case, thanks, in no small part, to its obsession with wind power.Power prices are spiralling out of control. Back in March SA’s businesses were belted with a 90% hike in their bills, that left manufacturers, miners and other power hungry businesses reeling: Wind Power Costs Crushing South Australian Businesses: Firms Hit with 90% Price Hike
Now residential customers have just been whacked by AGL, with a 12% power price hike (with a whole lot worse to come). What passes for journalism in SA pitched up the following half-baked ‘analysis’ on the causes of what portends to be a social and economic disaster (STT fills in the gaps a little later).
State’s largest energy retailer, AGL, set to hike electricity bill pricesThe AdvertiserDavid Nankervis 15 June 2016
AGL customers will be hit by a big price hike.
THE state’s largest energy retailer, AGL, will slug its customers with an average annual hike of $228 on their electricity bill.
The 12 per cent price hike applies from next month and will have a massive impact as around half the state’s householders are AGL electricity customers.
The price hike has prompted urgent calls from welfare groups for householders to shop around for cheaper deals and save hundreds of dollars a year.
SA Council of Social Services executive director Ross Womersley said he was surprised at the price hike and didn’t understand the rationale behind it.
“No doubt this decision comes at an extraordinary time with householders having just seen savings in network charges of around $140 a year,” Mr Womersley said.
State Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis, himself an AGL customer, also urged customers to shop around. He said the price rise was unjustified and “a dramatic increase for South Australian families”.
In a statement issued this morning, AGL said the price rise was “mainly driven by the cost and availability of coal and gas supply for electricity generation as well as the changing mix of generation output”.
It added that the closure of the coal fired Port Augusta power stations “has contributed to the price changes”.
Opposition energy spokesman Dan van Holst Pellekaan blamed the Government’s promotion of renewable energy for the price rise.
“Labor’s flawed electricity policy led to the closure of the Port Augusta Power Station and now the Weatherill Government is proposing to spend hundreds of millions of taxpayers dollars upgrading an interconnector so it can import coal-generated electricity from Victoria,” he said.
AGL said the average weekly electricity bill increase would be $4.40 per week but this would vary “substantially depending on a customer’s tariff type, their usage, and their existing energy plan”.
The company also warned that new fees for over-the-counter payments and the issuing of paper bills would apply from October 2016.
The Advertiser power-bill
Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis says it’s time to shop around, so let’s see what’s on offer with the other retailers … well, let’s go shopping …
AGL and Origin both set to hike electricity bill pricesThe Advertiser David Nankervis 15 June 2016
Ouch! State’s largest power retailer to increase prices
ENERGY retailer Origin will increase electricity bills by 6.5 per cent or $117 a year.
The decision comes on top of AGL’s announcement on Wednesday of a 12 per cent — or $228 a year — increase for electricity as welfare agencies warned more retailers were likely to hike their prices.
Energy Australia refused to rule out price rises when contacted by The Advertiser.
But AGL gas customers will receive good news on Thursday when the retailer announces an average $100-a-year cut to gas bills.
The price rises from the state’s two biggest energy retailers take effect from next month.
St Vincent de Paul researcher Gavin Dufty said “all the retailers will change their prices”.
“You can guarantee the other companies will follow like pigs to a trough,” he said.
Uniting Communities spokesman Mark Henley said he “had no doubt the other retailers will be increasing their prices”.
The price hikes have prompted urgent calls from welfare groups for householders to shop around for cheaper deals to save hundreds of dollars a year.
SA Council of Social Services executive director Ross Womersley said he was surprised at the price hike and “didn’t understand the rationale” behind the increases.
“No doubt these decisions come at an extraordinary time with householders having just seen savings in network charges of around $140 a year,” Mr Womersley said.
Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis, himself an AGL customer, also urged customers to shop around and potentially save hundreds of dollars on their electricity bills.
Read the rest in the LINKhttps://stopthesethings.com/2016/06/20/south-australians-locked-in-wind-power-pr...