Ways to reduce your Electricity BillsYour business electricity bill is made up of a number of costs. Electricity suppliers generally bill you in two ways—with fixed charges and variable charges. The variable part of your bill you are able to influence directly (for example by changing how and when you use power) and by which energy contract you choose. The fixed charge is a flat daily fee that your retailer charges you to cover costs associated with having an active electricity connection. Costs shared by all network users also affect your bill. They include network costs—the poles and wires that get electricity to your home—which make up about half of total electricity costs. Network costs have been driving up electricity prices in recent times, largely due to the need to maintain and upgrade existing aging infrastructure and also to ensure the network can meet demand at peak times. Recent market reforms are working to reduce network costs. By reducing consumption at peak times households can also contribute to a reduction in future network costs, by helping avoid the need for further network upgrades. For those requiring more detail, there’s additional information to help you understand your bill and manage your usage. You can continue to make energy savings in your household by following some of the ideas in this guide and reducing your use. How to start saving!This guide has been designed to give you the big picture as well as some of the nitty-gritty facts on energy prices and consumption so you can make better choices starting today. Follow our three steps to start saving:Get informed. Find out how much you can save, what’s behind energy price increases as well as the key home and lifestyle factors affecting your bills. Get organized. Manage your energy use by understanding your energy bill and identifying energy hot spots around the home so you know where to start. Get moving. Compare electricity and gas retailers in your area, and decide whether time-of-use pricing, off-peak hot water, and smart meters are for you. Select energy-efficient appliances and follow our checklist of no-cost energy saving actions you can take now. By using energy wisely and adopting energy-saving measures, you can save money and cut down on energy wastage at home while meeting your needs for convenience and comfort. Whether it’s washing clothes in cold water, adjusting your thermostat or turning off power at the wall—it all adds up. An average family of four could be saving hundreds of dollars a year by making just a few changes. The following simple actions could save a household of four about $825 over the course of a year. Getting rid of the second fridge, if you’ve got one, could save around $172 a year. Switching off the game console after use could save up to $193 a year. Using the clothesline once a week instead of using the dryer could save around $79 a year. Installing a water-efficient showerhead could save you up to $380 a year on energy and water. These amounts are a guide only. Exact savings will vary depending on the age of your appliances, the size of your home, the climatic zone you live in, and the energy prices you pay, including the type of energy contract you choose. If you need to upgrade a major appliance, buying an energy-efficient one is often a worthwhile investment over the life of your product. By replacing your electric storage hot water system with a solar hot water system or a heat pump water heater, you could make significant savings on your energy bill. The amount you save depends on your individual circumstances. Every household that takes action large or small is not only helping their hip pocket, but also contributing to the efforts to tackle climate change. Households produce 21 per cent of Australia’s carbon emissions. That means the average Australian household creates around 14 tonnes of greenhouse gases a year, including private transport use and the decay of household waste in landfill. Electricity prices have risen significantly over the past eight years largely due to increases in network costs. The ‘network’ is the transmission and distribution system of poles and wires that carries electricity to your home. The repair and replacement of ageing poles and wires, increased peak demand (periods placing the highest demand on the energy network—such as hot summer days), population growth, and rising standards for power reliability have all contributed to network cost increases. |