Have you noticed that everyone in government seems to be “fixing power prices” but nothing ever gets fixed?
Last week, the ACCC had the hide to tell us “household energy bills have fallen by at least $130 a year”.
They are kidding.
Who? What? Where?
They couldn’t say.
Can I meet the lucky person whose bill dropped?
When 7NEWS covered this story this week, we couldn’t find one.
And before you get too excited, $130 a year equals less than 40 cents a day.
The phrase “bugger all” comes to mind.
Australians already know they pay some of the highest energy prices in the world. We get a reminder every quarter.
When was the last time you were ‘pleasantly surprised’ at your bill?
According to the NSW Government, the average yearly bill for power in Sydney is just short of $1898.
It is becoming a luxury just to turn the lights on.
Power prices will be higher this year than last and have been rising for as far back as you can find the data.
Disconnections through not paying the bill are up 17 per cent this year alone.
Yet, how many times do you hear a politician somewhere talking about cutting costs?
They all say it, but they have all been serial failures.
Most major cities in the US pay almost half the cost we do in Sydney for power.
Comparisons show Sydney homes pay 60 per cent more for gas than a family in Japan does.
Even New Zealand keeps the lights on for less.
Meanwhile Australia is one of the most energy rich countries in the world – exporting coal and gas to the world.
Our expensive power problem is mostly an own-goal – caused by stupid decisions and gutless responses to reverse them.
The blind commitment to renewables and bureaucratic attitudes to how power gets to your home are two things they could fix in a flash and cut prices.
Like many things that lack logic, government is just about always somewhere in the middle.
Jason Morrison is the News Director at 7News Sydney.
