Now that the bills are in I'd estimate that the power increase and Save the Murray Levy will ADD about $24/fortnight to living expenses for our household of four. While some could save a little on this increase through judicious power usage, it's not hard to see the impact for low income households. The Govt will be piddling into a cyclone of discontent if it thinks door snakes and a couple of light globes are the answer.

Gary,
Re your update I heard an exchange with Sandy Canale of AGLSA and Pat Conlon the Energy Minister along with some irate callers on ABC Radio this morning. Sandy is the bearer of more bad news on prices- ie the 5% increase on top of the 25-30%increases for small end users already, which I believe is largely due to the end of cross subsidies from big end users.

Be that as it may, Sandy has some other points to make about higher pricing in SA which can be found at the AGL website under media releases of 28th Oct 2003. Firstly he points out that SA has the greatest load variability requirements of all States. (Large idle network capacity for peak summer load has to be paid for) Secondly he is quoted as saying-"Residential customers bills are higher in SA than Vic due predominantly to the high network charges levied on all customers. These network charges account for the major component of the average electricity bill(43 per cent)." He claims SA network charges are 40-50% higher than Vic which he states is backed up by Prof Dick Blandy's 5AA Oct23 2003 statement(albeit somewhat hedgingly) that "If you treble the value of poles and wires, you're going to have some impact on the cost of electricity." For that diplomatic statement we should all read- The Olsen Govt maximised its immediate return from the sale of ETSA and bugger the long term costs to consumer.

With a gun to its head from the Keating inspired reform plan and a Labor Opposition hyper-critical on idealogical grounds, of its every move on inevitable privatisation, it had to look like it was doing a good deal. Essentially Olsen cut a good short term deal forced on him by Rann and ran from the long term consequences. The problem is that Rann has to run with the long term consequences of his short-sightedness in Opposition. Now he froths the position that AGL will raise prices 'over his dead body' (and probably the corpse of the watchdog Lew Owens)Is it any wonder with all this going on, that an intelligent bloke like Dick Blandy would diplomatically say that flogging off something for 3 times its value would have 'some impact'.

Now that all the impacts of past choices, coupled with the vagary of SA's load variability problem have been etched firmly into the voter's electicity bills, along comes AGL to remind them that of course costs move on. Sandy says- "AGL's costs would be further increased by the regulated Murraylink and a new network outage system." as well as the usual rises in running costs. Hence AGL holds out its hand to the regulator and says 'Please sir can I have some more, the porridge is getting a bit thin' Actually 5% more which it is happy to justify. The answer of course from Rann to his profligate overseer Owens is, "What the Dickens do they think they're playing at. Give them gruel the thankless urchins!"

Of course he can get away with this for only so long before he unsheaths the Sword of Damocles hanging over his head, with his self-interested baying to the masses. That sword is like the one unsheathed in California. He can't afford in the long run to shoot the AGL messenger. Is AGL overfed and cossetted or is it a normal profit enterprise. For that answer we'll have to watch its share price over the next year or so.