Forum Archive Index - May 2004

["tennyson@caverock.net.nz" <tennyson@caverock.net.nz>]

Hi Cris,

> 
> I am in Queensland (no knowledge of other States). My power is
> serviced by Energex http://www.energex.com.au which used to be Sth
> East Qld Electricity Board (SEQEB).
> 
>> Do you have a choice of suppliers?
> 
> I wish. Have just received the most horrid electricity bill. On the
> domestic front - no competitors to my knowledge. (If they're around
> I'm not aware of it.)
> 
> Admit to being totally out of touch with the commercial market so
> competition may or may not exist.
> 
>> Do you have a 'line charge' and a 'unit charge' on your power bill? 
> 
> Qld Govt introduced Community Ambulance Cover last year. In their
> wisdom they decided to add this to everyone's electricity bill @ the
> rate of 24.044c/day (eg last qtr charge for us was $23.56).
> 
> Electricity is charged according to tariffs. Domestic = meters
> attached to house, Energex reads meter to record usage in kWh.
> 
> Unit Charges:
> Business Tariffs:
> http://www.energex.com.au/for_business/asp/tariffs.asp?cmd=list&id=3
> Domestic Tariffs:
> http://www.energex.com.au/for_home/asp/tariffs.asp?cmd=list&id=1
> 
> 

Very interesting , and thank you.    In unit terms, the price you are 
paying is not too different to New Zealand.

The imposing of an ambulance levy on power users I find absolutely 
extraordinary.  You would never get away with that in New Zealand, 
despite the worthwhile cause that the ambulance service is.

Also interesting was the reduction in power price on a per unit basis if  
you use more than a certain number of units.   That sounds like a 
recipe for an unstable power supply and power cuts if you ask me.  
Still, I guess they have always done things a little differently in 
Queensland ;-).

All I can say is, based on what I read at the Energex website,  I am 
pleased Contact Energy does not to want to invest in Queensland.

If we leave out the ambulance levy, then low power users seems to get 
quite a good deal in Queensland.   Even though they have a minimum 
charge per month it is offset against the power bill.   That contrasts 
starkly to New Zealand where you pay a monthly charge of around $30 
per month but every bit of electricity you use is charged out over and 
above this figure.   I notice the business tariff in Queensland does 
have a fixed metering charge, although it is very low at only around $9 
per month. 

The monthly line charge in New Zealand is added to cover the cost of 
the meter and reading it and the consumer's share of fixed head office 
expenses.  Because NZ effectively has a free market in power and our 
fixed charges are higher, this suggests to me that Queensland power 
users are being subsidized as regards the fixed cost of their power 
bills.  Also it seems that commercial users pay slightly higher charges 
overall in Queensland, whereas any cross subsidization of domestic 
power users has ceased in New Zealand.

In summary, from an outsiders viewpoint Cris, I don't think you have 
anything to complain about with your power bill.     It is hard to see that 
how introduction of domestic competition in Queensland could work if 
your existing power player is giving subsidies to domestic users.  If I 
were an alternative supplier I would find it very hard to compete with 
what you have there already!   Still, I can see an opportunity there to 
cherry pick off big industrial power consumers in Queensland.  I might 
invest in a power company that did that.

SNOOPY


--
Message posted by Harry Tennyson
 using Pegasus Mail 4.02
I have Word 97 to read attachments
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