EnergyAustralia offers Centrepay to customers
SOURCE: ENERGYAUSTRALIA

EnergyAustralia is now participating with Centrelink to offer ‘Centrepay’ to its customers. Customers can nominate the amount they want to have deducted from their pension (though it must be more than $10 per fortnight). Centrelink will electronically transfer this amount to EnergyAustralia, which will be credited to the customer’s energy bill. Customers have total control of their payment amounts and can change or stop the deduction at any time by telephoning Centrelink.

Benefits of Centrepay
Centrepay is convenient – customers don’t have to worry about making repayments and it removes the need to travel to pay energy bills.
Centrepay is a free and secure service.
Centrepay allows customers to pay small fortnightly instalments.
Customers still receive a quarterly bill, but with a smaller amount to pay.
Centrepay is a budgeting option that can help remove the stress of having overdue bills.

How to join: To join Centrepay, EnergyAustralia customers need to contact their local Centrelink office for a deduction form
or visit www.centrelink.gov.au. In order for Centrelink to process the deduction form and telephone request, customers must ensure the following EnergyAustralia information is included:
Centrepay Reference Number 550 588 02H
address: 570 George Street, Sydney
telephone number: 13 1535
account number: a 9-digit number shown on each energy bill
the customer’s Centrelink reference number.

Who to contact: If you have any questions regarding EnergyAustralia’s assistance program, contact Narelle Brown EnergyAssist Co-ordinator on 1300 723 492.

Rainwater tank rebate SOURCE: SYDNEY WATER
As announced in the NSW Government’s Metropolitan Water Plan, Sydney Water’s rainwater tank rebate program has been extended until 31 July 2008. By extending the rebate program, Sydney Water is continuing to encourage owners of existing homes to install a tank and create a mini-catchment area in their own backyard.

The program offers rebates of between $150 and $500 to Sydney Water customers who purchase and install an eligible rainwater tank on their existing property, plus an additional $150 for those who connect the tank to a toilet and/or washing machine. You will need to show proof of purchase as the rebate only applies to
new rainwater tanks.

The rebates are designed to provide an incentive for households who might not otherwise install a tank in their home, by offsetting some of the costs of purchasing and installing a tank. Rainwater tanks help to conserve valuable drinking water supplies and reduce stormwater run-off.

Property owners (eg new home builders) who are required by law to install a rainwater tank in order to comply with the Building Sustainability Index (BASIX) are not eligible for a rainwater tank rebate.

More information about rainwater tanks and full terms and conditions of the rebate program is available on the Sydney Water website, www.sydneywater.com.au

IPART household survey into energy use SOURCE: IPART
In December 2004, IPART (Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal) released a report, Residential Energy Use in Sydney. the Blue Mountains and Illawarra – Results from the 2003 Household Survey. The key findings and implications included:
High energy users tend to have more people in the household, more large energy-using appliances (such as clothes dryers and airconditioners), a higher household income, and they live in a house rather than a unit.
Generally, households with airconditioners use 26% more electricity.
Of those who signed a negotiated contract, 74% of electricity users and 52% of gas customers changed retailers to save money on their bills while 32% wanted a combined gas and electricity bill.
Of the 15% who had experienced financial difficulty, only half had approached their supplier.

ABS: people and the environment report
SOURCE: ABS ‘Environmental Issues: People’s Views and Practices’ Cat No 4602.0
More Australian households are practising water conservation both inside and outside the house, but less are concerned about environmental problems according to an Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) report released in November 2004.
Nationwide, 57% of Australians were concerned about environmental problems, compared with 75% in 1992.
Nationwide, 17% of households sourced water from a rainwater tank, although in South Australia 48% of households sourced water from a rainwater tank, with the figure rising to 78% outside of Adelaide. In NSW only 13% sourced water from rainwater tanks, with 5% in Sydney compared to 26% outside the city.
Cost remains the main reason why households do not buy environmentally friendly products. This reason was the most significant for single parent households.

Smith Family Emergency Help Line ceases operation SOURCE: SMITH FAMILY
The Smith Family has announced that as of 28 January 2005, the Emergency Help Line (EHL), which supported families in rural and regional areas of NSW ceased operation. Despite the $250,000 per annum the Smith Family invested in EHL, the 1800 line could not adequately service the needs of financially disadvantaged families and the organisation was unable to increase the level of funding to improve its effectiveness. The Government funding distributed by the EHL has been transferred back to the Department of Community Services. This funding will not be lost, but redistributed to other local agencies.

Cut-off: the impact of disconnection SOURCE: PIAC
According to PIAC (Public Interest Advocacy Centre), for many of the households in their recent study, being disconnected from electricity, gas or water is like a punishment for being poor. Their report, Cut-off: The Impact of Utility Disconnection, surveyed households recently disconnected or restricted from their gas, electricity or water supply due to non-payment of bills. As well as the survey, they undertook a series of indepth case studies and a focus group of community welfare organisations and non-government stakeholders.

The findings revealed that poorer households and large families suffer the majority of disconnections. Those most
at risk of disconnection include tenants, young families, the unemployed and Indigenous people. Both the ‘working poor’ and welfare dependent are susceptible to disconnection, with a third of the households surveyed experiencing more than one disconnection in the previous year.

Disturbingly, PIAC’s report suggests that households faced with disconnection will most commonly stop paying other bills and even cut back on food, to get reconnected.

To request a copy of the report phone PIAC on (02) 9299 7833 or email. For more information, contact Elissa Freeman.

Smart metering trial promises savings
SOURCE: COUNTRY ENERGY
The Minister for Energy and Utilities, Frank Sartor, recently launched an Australian-first trial of ‘smart metering’ technology which allows families to better manage their energy use and costs. Country Energy’s trial of smart metering technology will involve 200 households in Queanbeyan and Jerrabomberra, in south eastern New South Wales. The Minister said that during the trial households would use an innovative in-house display unit to receive real time information about their household energy consumption.

‘By using the in-house display to monitor their daily, weekly and monthly consumption patterns, customers will be able to manage their energy use like never before,’ Mr Sartor said. ‘For example, a customer can instantly see how much energy and money they save by adjusting the thermostat setting on their airconditioner by only one or two degrees at peak times during summer.’

Country Energy Managing Director Craig Murray said the trial would last approximately 18 months, to include two summers and one winter, when residential electricity demand is typically highest. ‘Country Energy has developed new pricing products to support the trial, including a fixed charge, peak price and critical peak price,’ Mr Murray said.
‘During the trial, customers will be able to adjust their energy usage according to the pricing information they receive. Country Energy will also be able to determine whether customers adjust their energy consumption in response to the pricing signals they receive.’

Country Energy will closely analyse the trial results before deciding if the ‘smart metering’ product will be made available
to other customers across New South Wales.

BASIX: new sustainable homes regulation
SOURCE: DEUS
The Building Sustainability Index (BASIX), implemented from 1 July 2004, requires new residential dwellings to use 40% less drinking-quality water and produce 25% less greenhouse gas emissions than average NSW homes of the same type. Homes that are designed to use water and energy efficiently, and built to complement the surrounding environment, are cheaper to live in and make more efficient use of our natural resources. BASIX applies to all new homes in Sydney now and will be introduced throughout the rest of NSW from July 2005. Visit BASIX online or phone 1300 650 908.