NSW electricity price crisis: 1.4m households struggle to pay bills

NSW electricity bills have soared 116 per cent over the past 10 years as families battle bills almost double those paid by single-person households.

Natalie Ryan, with her twin boys Angus and Oliver (green jacket) Ryan, 8, and older brother Bede Ryan, 10, rug up in Oberon — statistically the coldest town in NSW. Picture: Dylan Robinson

NSW electricity bills have soared 116 per cent over the past 10 years as families battle bills almost double those paid by single-person households.

New analysis conducted exclusively for The Saturday Telegraph by Finder can reveal the average NSW household is now being whacked with a $1690 bill in June 2017, up from just $782 in June 2007, even though household energy use has declined over the same period.

It comes as new research shows 68 per cent of NSW households have seen their bills rise over the past 12 months and one in four are cutting back on groceries just to pay their bills.

How power prices have soared in NSW.

Families are copping it the hardest with the average two-parent household with two children paying $2622 annually compared with just $1414 for a single-person home.

Separate analysis from Canstar Blue shows the average NSW bill is now among the highest in the country, with only South Australians — who are forced to get their electricity from a mix of ­renewable and traditional power sources — copping bigger prices.

Finder money expert Bessie Hassan said a recent survey found that 1.4 million Aussie households, many of them families, were already struggling to pay their energy bills.

“Families already bear the burden of higher household costs on groceries, bills and not to mention the added cost of school or daycare. The cost of energy is just one more thing adding to their financial strain,” she said.

Research from Galaxy conducted for insurance company iSelect shows comfortably middle-class NSW households are struggling to pay their bills.

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According to the survey, 93 per cent of households with combined incomes over $130,000 were worried about the cost of their upcoming electricity bill. And 46 per cent of all customers said their last energy bill was bigger than they were expecting.

Laura Crowden, iSelect spokeswoman, said it was concerning but not surprising that more and more NSW households were struggling with rising energy costs.

Natalie Ryan: “We cut back on other things like eating out so the house is warm.” Picture: Dylan Robinson

“Almost 70 per cent of NSW households surveyed believe their energy bills have increased in the last 12 months with just one in five NSW respondents saying they are able to pay their energy bills easily,” she said.

Mum Natalie Ryan, who lives in NSW’s statistically coldest town of Oberon with her three children, said soaring power bills had forced her to place her clothes dryer in the living room so it doubles as a heater.

“I’ve been cold to the bone and it’s such a horrible feeling that I want to keep my house warm,” she says. “We cut back on other things like eating out so the house is warm.”