Why have my bills increased & keep increasing!?

Five main factors are increasing your bills:

Australian Energy prices to double or even triple: We are all in the same boat - rising electricity prices, not to mention general living costs are all going increasing year by year and at a higher and higher rate. The current rate is set to double or more in the next ten years in real terms. That means today's quarterly bill of $750 will be $1500 in a few years time.

Why have the energy Suppliers suddenly started raising prices so much?

Well, there are several reasons, which put together can be described as the 'perfect price storm'.

1. Population - The increasing population has hit a critical mass where current infrastucture cannot cope. This doesn't mean that the technology or resources don't exist to supply an increased population, simply that current ability to generate electricity and the method of getting it to you has reached the capacity it was built for. The only way to add capacity or increase output is to invest in new technology, power stations and cables, and of course we the customers have to pay for this investment.

2. Increase in the use of technology and devices - As more and more devices become common-place around the house and businesses, the need to 'feed' these energy-hungry beasts has grown enormously. Large-screen TV's, air conditioning, Lighting systems, computers have all increased in size and capacity over the last ten years to the point that households have almost doubled thier energy requirements.

3. Coal Price Increases - Australia currently produces most of it's electricity from cheap coal. With China & India needing to fuel thier growing economies the price of coal is predicted to increase massively.

4. Artificially low prices - State governments have been keeping prices low by subsidising the energy companies and other rebates and company benefits. This has now come to an end.

5. Mandatory Renewable Energy Targets - As the energy companies have largely ignored changing to renewable energy, the federal government has had to set mandatory renewable energy targets. The main target is that by 2020 Australia must produce 20% of it's energy from renewable sources. Whilst this is good news for the environment, the reality is that the energy companies need to invest in the new technologies to meet these targets. Again, the funding for this new technology comes from increased household bills.