Mark Bailey
October 23, 2017
The State Government announced on Monday it will cut $50 a year from Ergon household electricity bills for the next two years.
The government will also offer an additional annual discount of $75 for Ergon regional household customers and $120 for small businesses that take up direct debit weekly, fortnightly or monthly payment options.
The discounts are part of a new $2 billion Affordable Energy Plan and will start in January 2018, with the first discounts starting to flow in the second quarter of 2018.
From January, the government will also offer rebates of up to $300 to purchase an energy efficient refrigerator, washing machine or air conditioner.
These machines can provide estimated bill savings of up to $50 a year for an energy efficient washing machine or fridge, or $135 a year for an air conditioner.
The government will also cut a further $200 per year off the bills of another 4000 regional households who participate in the expansion of the Energy Savvy program starting next year.
Energy Minister Mark Bailey said the State Government would also ensure power bills for regional homes and small business are kept below average inflation over the next two years to shield Queenslanders from “the broken national energy market”.
Mr Bailey said customers in regional Queensland could go to the Ergon website from Monday to register their interest in Ergon’s new ‘Easy Pay Reward’ direct debit scheme.
“Because we own our electricity assets, we are able to re-invest dividends to provide relief for regional Queenslanders,” Mr Bailey said.
“That’s why we can offer further rebates for businesses and families.”
Other new initiatives that regional Queenslanders can access include:
- 200 additional energy audits for agricultural customers through an expanded Energy Savers Plus program in partnership with the Queensland Farmers’ Federation, with the government providing a 50 per cent co-contribution (up to $20,000) to implement audit recommendations
- Support for jobs and industry by providing energy audits for large customers including manufacturers, with a 50 per cent co-contribution to implement recommendations (up to $250,000 per customer) which is expected to deliver savings of 10-40 per cent for large industrial customers
“These initiatives mean that as a start, regional households can save $125 off their annual bill, and can save more if they opt in to other savings measures, including purchasing energy efficient appliances”, Mr Bailey said.
“It’s also good for small business, and will assist productivity in the agricultural sector and larger industries including manufacturing”.
- Related article: QFF Praises Extra Farm Energy Audits
