Australia has the most expensive energy bills
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Australia has the most expensive energy bills
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Re: Australia has the most expensive energy bills
#2I moved to Newcastle, Australia from the US (Los Angeles) about two years ago. I was shocked when I received my energy bill.
Australians in general are hesitant to use their AC or electric heaters, opting to just layer up when it's cold or try to use fans in the summer. Many (most?) households don't have clothes dryers, using clotheslines instead.
I would like to see how much energy the average Australian household consumes. I'm not sure how much consumption would go up if power got cheaper, but mine sure would... I really dislike being cold inside my own house. That said, I much prefer living in Australia to the U.S., especially while raising a family.
Re: Australia has the most expensive energy bills
#3> And basically, they stuffed that up for consumers by deciding to let the networks earn a guaranteed rate of return, based on their costs. That is, the more they spent, the more they earned.
This is an ignorant criticism. Every way of structuring utility markets has one problem or the other. If you deregulate the market, you end up with limited competition because of high barriers to entry. If you set rates to guarantee a fixed return on investment, you incentivize gold plating the network. And if you have the government set price caps, you get politicized prices that are too low and starve the utility of money needed to improve the network. Out of the alternatives, rate of return regulation is probably the least bad option.
Also, there are worse things than high prices limiting demand for coal-based electricity.
Re: Australia has the most expensive energy bills
#4I moved to Newcastle, Australia from the US (Los Angeles) about two years ago. I was shocked when I received my energy bill. Australians in general are hesitant to use their AC or electric heaters, opting to just layer up when it's cold or try to use fans in the summer. Many (most?) households don't have clothes dryers, using clotheslines instead. I would like to see how much energy the average Australian household c…
>That said, I much prefer living in Australia to the U.S., especially while raising a family.
Why is that?
Re: Australia has the most expensive energy bills
#5Sounds like an ideal market for home solar and Tesla powerwalls.
Re: Australia has the most expensive energy bills
#6There's an old joke where in Heaven the cooks are French,
the policemen are English, the mechanics are German, the lovers are Italian and the bankers are Swiss - whereas in Hell the cooks are English, the policemen are German, the mechanics are French, the lovers are Swiss and the bankers are Italian.
I'm pondering an updated version where in hell the healthcare system is American, the energy market is Australian... Anyone care to finish it off?
Re: Australia has the most expensive energy bills
#7I moved to Newcastle, Australia from the US (Los Angeles) about two years ago. I was shocked when I received my energy bill. Australians in general are hesitant to use their AC or electric heaters, opting to just layer up when it's cold or try to use fans in the summer. Many (most?) households don't have clothes dryers, using clotheslines instead. I would like to see how much energy the average Australian household c…
>That said, I much prefer living in Australia to the U.S., especially while raising a family. Why is that?
Because everyone is so much more energy efficient by virtue of high energy bills
Re: Australia has the most expensive energy bills
#8Sounds like an ideal market for home solar and Tesla powerwalls.
What I've heard from people installing solar at home is that even though you install solar and a battery, you are not allowed to disconnect from the network unless you are a rural property.
can anyone confirm this?
Re: Australia has the most expensive energy bills
#9Sounds like an ideal market for home solar and Tesla powerwalls.
sounds like that's part of the problem.
I agree that it is part of the final solution - but getting there is going to be very expensive with the current regulation.
Re: Australia has the most expensive energy bills
#10I moved to Newcastle, Australia from the US (Los Angeles) about two years ago. I was shocked when I received my energy bill. Australians in general are hesitant to use their AC or electric heaters, opting to just layer up when it's cold or try to use fans in the summer. Many (most?) households don't have clothes dryers, using clotheslines instead. I would like to see how much energy the average Australian household c…
> Australians in general are hesitant to use their AC or electric heaters
Anecdotal, but I don't think I know a single person here who is hesitant to use heating/AC - could just be down to the people I know, but I get funny looks when I tell people just to wrap up.
Something that did surprise me here is the near-complete lack of double glazing. Everywhere I've lived has been thin single-glazed windows which just let out all of the heat/cold. It's bizarre.