$2 a week not worth the energy: Opinion

It's estimated the policy will reduce household bills by an average of $110 to $115 a year

Power poles and wires. Picture: Trevor Veale

AS an energy consumer, like everyone else, I hope like hell the Federal Government's national energy guarantee will save us all money.

But I doubt it.

For a start, calling it a 'guarantee' was a big mistake.

As Malcolm Turnbull should know (looking over his shoulder at Tony Abbott) nothing in life is guaranteed.

It's estimated the policy will reduce household bills by an average of $110 to $115 a year.

According to my crappy maths $115 divided by 52 weeks is around $2 per week.

I'm not Robinson Crusoe in suggesting most households would have been hoping for a bigger saving than that.

After all, behind rent or paying the mortgage, coming up with the dosh to pay your electricity bill has become the biggest cost in the household budget.

Excuse my ignorance on the subject, but it seems the government is going to basically withdraw any subsidies and allow the market to decide how they are going to deliver a reliable and guaranteed dispatchable energy.

Sure, there will regulatory watchdogs and government departments keeping an eye on the energy sector, but aren't these all the same people who got us into trouble in the first place?

No wonder the residents of the Northern Rivers are not waiting for this policy to kick in.

We have the highest take up of solar in the country and people are getting off the grid altogether.