For many years my family and I lived on off grid solar power which I installed myself. It was a very positive experience.
Since we moved to a remote area of Victoria 11 years ago we have been back on the mains. Around 8 years ago I installed a grid connect system on our house and six other neighbours properties. These were the days of the Premium Feed in Tariff so we are are all still getting around 67 cents/kwH for what we put into the grid which is fantastic.
However the power we buy from the grid is I think pretty expensive and probably about to get worse. Currently we pay 35.3 c/kwH peak and 15.67 c/kwH off peak.
So now we are seriously thinking of going off the grid again.
I would be very interested to know what others are paying. I would also like to know if we are ripped off for power we buy because we are on the Premium FIT.
I recently bought a Pipit 500 device which talks to our smart meter and it is quite alarming to see your money draining away when any power hungry device is on and the sun is not shining!
Ian
Ian, this is a question with may, many answers I suspect. I also suspect that early adopters of grid-connected solar (and hence getting the high-end feed-in tarrif) are also being ripped off these days by our power companies.
They are stuck with the high feed-in rate. Ours has another 10-12 years to run. But they claw back most of it by the dramatic increase in fees, particularly the so-called suplly or access charges - i.e. the rate you get slugged per day (whether you're using power or feeding it back - or not). Ours has gone up by nearly 350% over the past 4 years to the point where until I switched suppliers a few weeks ago, was at $1.55 per day. That meant that I was losing 3 KwH pr day of my solar power to them for the privilege of being on their grid.
What I would love to know is whether this is a slug specifically aimed at off-grid solar customers on the high-end feed-in. Or is everyone getting whacked about the same.
We switched and were able to negotiate a $1/day rate, 27c/unit and 17c/night rate (without GST) for hot water and a 12% discount for paying on time. Our feed-in rate is only 54 cents though.
Our previous supplier has come back with an offer of a 22% discount for pay-on-time but this still doesn't match what AGL have agreed to.
The high feed in buy rates are gone, at least in NSW. The gravy train is over for those folks who were profiting off the rest of us, thankfully.
I would have thought that as with any early adopters of a new "thing" that we paid a LOT more per KW of system than it costs now. We prepared the way for others to get much cheaper systems and therefore it is reasonable that there be more compensation or assistance for those early adopters.
For those in Victoria that installed grid connect systems in recent years the Vic government has just doubled the FIT from around 5 cents to around 11 cents.
Without all those who have installed grid connect the rest of you would now be stuffed!
Ian
Gday Peter
1/3 of my bill is now "daily supply charges" as well, as that is how they get a guaranteed return.
For my last bill i paid ( ex GST ) 25.05c/kWh peak, 16.74c/kWh off peak and 110.47c/day supply, but i believe the rates were jacked up quite a bit since then.
Andrew
ed, just checked and VIC rates go up in Dec but dont know by how much.
Most others went up Jul 1
At this stage I am planning on building at house in Heathcote later on this year, I have a mains power pole at my front gate but I doubt I'll connect and just go off-grid from the get go. What it'll cost getting that setup I recon I'll save in 5 years the way the prices are going in Vic and around Australia.
Charges on my most recent bill are:-
Peak $0.5033
Shoulder $0.1969
Off-peak $0.1107
Supply Charge $0.8766/day
These charges will increase from July 1st
I have rooftop solar and a net feed-in tariff of $0.06/Kwh and we try to time most of our usage to between 6.00am and 2.00pm, which is the shoulder charge period and of course the period of maximum solar generation. 2.00pm to 8.00pm is the peak charge period, and we minimise usage at this time.
My recent Power Bill was $42.00 for the 3 month period.
But I have Solar Power feeding into the grid and buying it back at .52cents
I have a Solar Hot Water System installed ... and only during winter I might turn the ' booster switch ' on for an hour or so .. but very rarely.
Unless it's needed, I turn everything off at the wall .... to try and beat them at their own game... even ' hand washing ' a few items instead of using the washing machine.
I feel for the folks who are getting ' slammed ' with such outrageous bills who don't have SP.
With the on going price increases I'm convinced they want to keep people ' poor ' and the forceful closure of business who's power bills are sky rocketing.
I recently heard on Radio and National Television that 66,000 customers Australia wide has their power disconnected because they cannot afford to pay their bills.
I'm beginning to think there is a deliberate ' agenda ' behind all of this.
Col...
Last edited by FlashDrive; 26-07-2017 at 10:37 AM.
From 3 July Energy Australia (NSW) charges are:
Peak 59c
Shoulder 27c
Off Peak 16c
Electricity supply charge $1.20
BTW:
The electricity supply charge is not a rip off for the Energy Supplier. This amount is what is paid to Trans Grid for poles and wires and maintenance.
Seems fair to me.
Our 60c Gross Feed-in tariff ended 31 December last year. Now 6c.
We got solar in 2010, and with the big feed in tariff, paid for itself within 4 years.
Recently increased system and changed from gross to net.
Have real time monitoring, now a matter of juggling usage to when power is free from roof.
Last edited by Allan_L; 22-07-2017 at 05:14 PM.
Reason: image added on request
The high feed in buy rates are gone, at least in NSW. The gravy train is over for those folks who were profiting off the rest of us, thankfully.
I see you've bought into this bogus argument as well. I don't expect you'll read this because it contradicts your nice comfortable theory. But here it is in case.
The high cost of electricity is the result of power companies building network facilities that are vastly in excess of what is needed for reliable and sustained supply. They are able then to set their charges based on the guaranteed return on the valuation of their network assets. As a result, the Australian electricity industry distribution grid is valued at the present at US$75 billion whereas the grid for the whole of the United States is barely more - at US$100 billion. The reason is power companies are rorting the system and we are paying the price.
Don't get suckered into demonizing solar feed-in users who have already paid far more to install their systems than you will pay in 15-20 years of normal power bills.
The high cost of electricity is the result of power companies building network facilities that are vastly in excess of what is needed for reliable and sustained supply. They are able then to set their charges based on the guaranteed return on the valuation of their network assets. As a result, the Australian electricity industry distribution grid is valued at the present at US$75 billion whereas the grid for the whole of the United States is barely more - at US$100 billion. The reason is power companies are rorting the system and we are paying the price.
Peter
Exactly correct. The lies that are told about renewable energy generally by some in government and other vested interests are a disgrace.
I didn't include my daily charge in my opening post so....
$1.144 per day
$0.35 per kwh peak
$0.1567 per kwh off peak (11pm to 7am week days plus all weekend)
$0.671 per kwh FIT (Unfortunately I have only a 1.1KW solar system which probably cost as much as a 3 or 4KW system would now)
I am in the Ausnet part of Eastern Victoria (the poles and wires people)
When Kennet privatised the Victorian system it became three tiered. The customer has to deal with a retailer that does absolutely nothing other than get your usage from the distributor and send you a bill. And that is where the competition is supposed to be!!! Absolutely mad.
Ian
Daily supply charge: 98 cents
Solar Feed in: 6 cents
Origin 2 year Rate Freeze plan.
I'm happy with our electricity charges but the gas bill has jumped a lot recently. We'll be making more use of the reverse cycle air conditioner in off peak times rather than the gas central heating. It's been a particularly cold winter this year with a lot of frosts.
The customer has to deal with a retailer that does absolutely nothing other than get your usage from the distributor and send you a bill.
So true
In the past, when the Govt owned and ran the lot, the "system" was managed mainly by engineers whos aim was to keep it running and the profits went back into the system.
Now we have generators selling via the AEMO fishmarket, who sell to distributors who sell to retailers who sell to us.
It would be interesting to compare the management costs when it was Govt run compared to the costs of all the duplicated boards, CEOs, shareholders etc that now feed off the system for no net benefit.
( And a lot of that money goes overseas now )
Andrew
My distributor is United Energy but the retailer is AGL.
So true
In the past, when the Govt owned and ran the lot, the "system" was managed mainly by engineers whos aim was to keep it running and the profits went back into the system.
Andrew
That is correct .... the good ole days when people could easily pay for their power bill.
Hi Andrew,
I could not agree more. I believe the Victorian power "system" is a perfect example of where the privatisation zealots have created an inefficient nightmare. I simply don't believe this has led to any benefit to the Victorian public whatsoever, in fact quite the opposite. As you say, it has benefited overseas companies AND governments....my distributor Ausnet Services is owned by the Singapore Government.
I believe that essential services like power are a natural monopoly which should not be in the hands of private industry.
Ian
Ausnet customer service is poor too. I asked about getting a shield fitted to a streetlight and they just said no. Fortunately I found a friendly local council guy who is trying to get a shield fitted for me. (the new LED's are too bright and keep us awake).
A profitable way to benefit from solar energy is to heat your water by solar and introduce solar house heating.
You may , and still will need electricity on overcast days however the way to view these things is reduction as opposed to elimination.
Fit timers to things that are on all the time but not used all the time.
At this place , which is not on the grid,everything is turned off at bedtime so internet and fridge are not on.
I would be inclined to have the fridge on a timer if on the grid such that it won't turn on except in peak...I doubt if food will go off or even defrost..
The folk who advocate privatization never were interested in what is best for folk they were only interested in taking a turnover percentage...
Remember the big real estate sell offs by all parts of government..and of course the advocates of privatization could show why it was smart to rent rather than own...heck if you want to prove something is great financially doddle with.a spread sheet until it suits the outcome you are pushing for..
Think about this...if selling off all the real estate (or electricity assetts ) was so smart and to rent rather than own who were the stupid folk who purchased government asserts...must have been dumb ... Well now rich and dumb.
Nationalise all the sold off asserts and fire the privacy consultants.
Here in country QLD we only have one supplier Govt owned Ergon so no choice, no peak or off peak just flat rates.
Hot water 19.9 cents per kwh
Main power 24.6 cents per kwh
Then there is a $18 a quarter meter charge for reading the meter and a $91 service fee for ?
But we do get 44 cents per kwh for our solar feed in (until 2028 depending on Govt. not changing this)
So credit on 2 quarters and $300 in the summer quarters by running airconds.
