<<< 2022 – Is a battery an option?
Looks like we are all using much less electricity from the grid – more energy-efficient appliances, more careful use of available energy, and an explosion in self-generated electricity from roof-top solar.
This can only mean one thing – the profits of the electricity companies must be really hurting.
Which in turn can only mean one more thing – the electricity companies will increase their rates to keep their bottom line looking healthy for share-holders and investors.
Which is exactly what happened on the 1st July 2023. A huge increase in kWh supply rates, plus an increase in the sneaky Daily Supply Charge – which you cannot avoid by using less electricity from the grid.
The kWh supply rate from our supplier is about as low as we can get, when compared to the rates of other suppliers. To make it more complicated, some suppliers quote an ‘average’ rate, or a low kWh rate that is only available at 3:00am, while charging a much higher rate when you are most likely to be actually using the electricity.
This is OK if you can organise to use electricity at 3:00 am – but for most people their real energy needs – heating, cooking, lighting, etc – are during ‘peak’ hours when the cost of electricity is much higher.
On the 1st July our electricity supply rate increased from 23c/kWh to 33c/kWh. That is a massive 30% increase in one hit. Plus an increase in our ‘Daily Supply Charge’ from $1.21 to $1.36 per day – a 12.4% increase.
If we were to go on holidays for 3 months, and not use any electricity at all, it would still cost us $40 per month, or $120 for a quarter, just to have the grid connected to our house, without using one single watt of electricity.
As fast as we reduce our energy consumption in an effort reduce costs, the energy supply companies increase their unit charges to push our total costs back up again. We can’t escape it.
2023 was big year on our energy front – we purchased our first EV, and changed to a new electricity provider – partly because of their off-peak EV charging option.
See the following pages for our 2023 energy consumption and costs charts.