reax Posted 2December, 2014 Report Share Posted 2December, 2014 Does anyone have anything good, bad or indifferent to say about the SA power companies. Moving in a month and need to connect the new home. So far the only thing I have found out is SA has one of the dearest electricity prices in the known world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coastr Posted 2December, 2014 Report Share Posted 2December, 2014 Replacing all your power generation with windmills tends to make it a tad expensive! I think you can only pay up and bask in the glow of 'saving the planet' with your sacrifice. Hopefully the voters in this county will eventually come to their senses and put a stop to it. I'm not holding my breath. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reax Posted 2December, 2014 Author Report Share Posted 2December, 2014 I've been working with fast jet aircraft for over 25 years. I have killed that many dinosaurs testing and troubleshooting during full power runs I have lost count. Actually, I think I have burnt more avatar in one week than I have used unleaded in my entire driving life. So I am with you Coastr. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeM Posted 2December, 2014 Report Share Posted 2December, 2014 I'm just with AGL here mate. Any disputes we've had regarding bills etc have been sorted out very quickly, not like independent operators, who I have heard take forever to get back to you and sort it out. Heard good and bad about various companies, yet we just can't be arsed changing to be honest. Yes, we are the dearest state for just about everything (government are a bunch of lying d...heads) We're looking into solar in the new year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tit Posted 2December, 2014 Report Share Posted 2December, 2014 Aren't most of increased power prices for to the costs of infrastructure? The power companies invested in a bunch of poles and wires etc and totally misestimated the future demand. Their cost modeling did not anticipate an exodus to solar and what's happening now is customers are covering the costs of those projects... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew F Posted 2December, 2014 Report Share Posted 2December, 2014 We are with Simply Energy. Pay on time and get a 15% discount. Don't think we had to lock in to a contact. We have LPG in 45kg bottles in these there hills for just north of a hundred bucks delivered, but I hear the city folk have gas in pipes (through various retailers). Think they are all much of a muchness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reax Posted 2December, 2014 Author Report Share Posted 2December, 2014 Not sure if the new place has bottles or is piped. Going to be living in Hewett, so I can officially say I live in the Barossa and not in Adelaide. .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shady Speedway Posted 2December, 2014 Report Share Posted 2December, 2014 Welcome to SA. Where switching on the kitchen light and boiling the kettle make Porsche ownership look cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coastr Posted 2December, 2014 Report Share Posted 2December, 2014 Aren't most of increased power prices for to the costs of infrastructure? The power companies invested in a bunch of poles and wires etc and totally misestimated the future demand. Their cost modeling did not anticipate an exodus to solar and what's happening now is customers are covering the costs of those projects... That's what the pollies told you. As we know about pollies, not necessarily the truth. When they sent around the little 'why your power went up' leaflet, they bundled the costs of the RET in with 'poles and wires' because...well, there was no reason. A bit like including the cost of the Porsche insurance with the house insurance because they're both at the same address. The truth is, worldwide, the rounded off percentage of wind/solar power generated, to the nearest whole number is 0%. There are a lot more solar panels around nowadays (hey, free money, why not?) but that free money has to come from somewhere - you guessed it, comes from the increased cost of power for everyone else. If only we could get subsidised Porsches by making all the other suckers pay some extra fuel tax. That'd be bonza! The real truth is that residential power is a bit less than 30% of the total market, and solar generation is probably a few percent of that (as in, replaces a few percent of the 30%). Back a few years ago it was fashionable to switch your TV off at the wall, as if a few LEDs were sucking lots of power while your Hot Water system was sitting there heating up a crapload of water. Most Solar installations are in the 1.5-4 kw range - take a look at the appliances in the house and you'll see how puny that is against consumption - I have a .6 kw blender, for example. The microwave is 1.1 kw. My air-con unit is 12 kw. So most residential solar just knocks a few percent off the residential daytime use - which isn't a great help (unless you're a retired type) because the peak of residential use happens after the sun goes down. Infrastructure in power supply has increased, as it should with increased population and power demand. But the only reason the power demand has fallen a lot in the past couple of years is because the *really* big power users have shut up shop and switched off the lights, leaving a big hole in consumption. Guys like the aluminium smelters - and soon enough the vehicle assembly plants and all the rest. They took one look at the direction of power costs in this country and said 'you know what? cheaper to lay off all these guys and close the doors'. It's very simple. Coal cost/mwh in Australia : about $30 Gas cost/mwh in Australia : about $40 Wind cost/mwh in Australia : about $60 But you can't switch off your coal plants when the wind is blowing. So you still have to keep feeding them coal. And I bet that wind figure includes the rebates and market distortion necessary to make it even economic to put them up. Wind power is a complete con. Rips up national parks and other scenic spots as well. But some have made out very well from it. But remember...1,2,3...we're saving the planet! So pay up! Shh, don't tell the Chinese. /rant - yes I'm particularly tetchy about this having seen my power bill double (and a bit) - yet my power still comes from the same power station over the same wires! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tit Posted 2December, 2014 Report Share Posted 2December, 2014 Sure. I don't know what to believe really. To be frank, my cynics assumption is that we are getting gouged like everything else in Australia. You should see what crap costs in Canberra. My sister in law comes up from manly and complains it's expensive! Food ($20 hot dog at my local pub), power, water, gas, insurance, rego ($1000pa for my mini!!!), rates, internet, mobile, entertainment etc etc. It's death by 1000 cuts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hugh Posted 2December, 2014 Report Share Posted 2December, 2014 Reax, are you ever interested in talking Porsches? Power suppliers really................? This thread is getting way off topic in a very one sided and uneducated way. I suggest we stick to talking Porsches and divert your opinions on renewables as it pains me (and probably others) to read such BS. Call up Allan Jones or Andrew Bolt if you want to have a rant about your power bills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reax Posted 2December, 2014 Author Report Share Posted 2December, 2014 It was an off topic question . If anyone has done any DISC profiling I am a solid CD, like to have all the facts and figures before I make a choice based on facts and figures. That is why my wife complains that I procrastinate too long when deciding to buy things. Basically came don to Energy Australia or AGL, although Energy Australia offered me a larger discount when i rang them on the phone to make up for the discrepancy in supply charges. 17% on the electricity bill. Thanks for the input and sorry it went off track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew F Posted 3December, 2014 Report Share Posted 3December, 2014 Hewett has natural gas. FYI. A couple of weeks ago the guy who was the head of the state power regulator was on the radio. He exposed the state government. He explained that they set it up to give the impression price setting was done by process when in fact the government was telling them what to set the prices at. Very interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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