Energy shock for low-income families
People living alone and those raising children alone will be hardest hit as electricity prices increase from July 1 according to ANGLICARE Sydney.
The church-run community organisation has warned the NSW State Government that measures designed to offset the pressure on low-income households don’t go far enough.
“We know that low-income households already have trouble meeting the cost of living in Sydney,” says Peter Kell, ANGLICARE Sydney’s CEO.
“Rising rents have contributed to rising housing instability. Now these households are facing a further hit - leaving less in the budget for food, petrol, schooling and health care.”
From July 1, the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) have approved retail electricity price increases ranging from seven to 13 percent for average households which will see typical residential customers pay an extra $86 to $191 a year.
Over the three year period to June 2013 price increases will accumulate to a range between 20 and 42 percent[1].
“ANGLICARE Sydney is concerned the NSW Government’s energy rebate increase of $15 per annum[2] won’t be enough to protect households on the margins,” said Mr Kell.
“Nor has it taken into account the inflationary impact of energy price increases on other items such as food and the purchase of local goods and services.”
In 2008/09 ANGLICARE Sydney provided over $2 million in emergency relief to 16,977 households in Sydney, the Southern Highlands and the Illawarra.
This assistance included $609,539 in Energy Accounts Assistance Scheme (EAPA) payments: i.e. government funds allocated for one-off payments to help meet utility costs.
“EAPA provides a safety net in case of emergency but we are seeing families and individuals who exhibit deeper levels of chronic financial and social exclusion,” said Mr Kell.
“They come to us with a range of competing needs - for warm clothes, medication, help purchasing food or the need to replace an essential item such as a heater.
“It would be a tragedy if more households are forced into such a situation through the roll-on effects of escalating energy price increases.
“We are calling on the NSW Treasury to financially model these impacts as a matter of urgency,” said Mr Kell.
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