Household bills on the rise

BY MICK ROBERTS

City residents can expect to pay more for electricity and water from next month.
Government watchdog, the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART), gave the green light to raise the typical residential customers’ bills of Energy Australia or Integral Energy by about $1.50 a week for electricity from July.
Regulated prices will rise by an average of 8.5 per cent including the effects of inflation for residential and small business customers of Energy Australia and Integral Energy.
IPART Chief Executive James Cox said price increases are needed to ensure that NSW residents and businesses continue to have access to a safe and reliable supply of electricity.
‘Retail prices need to be sufficient to recover the costs incurred in selling electricity, and the investments made in the transmission and distribution networks to increase reliability standards and meet peak demand,’ he said.
The electricity increase follows IPART’s approval to allow an increase of $126 or 17 per cent annually for households consuming the average amount of water. This amounts to an increase of $2.42 a week.
Mr Cox said that for households consuming 200kL per year, the total bill will increase by $245 (plus inflation) per year by 2012.
This increase is made up of $103 for the costs of the desalination plant; $63 for renewal of and additions to existing infrastructure to meet service standards; $60 for improving financial viability; and $19 will be directed to recycled water projects.
Commercial and Industrial customers with a 20mm meter that consume 300KL of water per year can expect an increase of $300 or around 34 per cent by 2011/12 in their combined annual water and sewerage bill.