Aussie small business owner cops $24k power hike
A small-business owner has been labelled a “canary in the coalmine” for fresh energy price pain after he shared his story.
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An Australian small business owner says he will have to cop a $24,000 power bill rise as he warns other shop owners to expect huge hikes.
Neville Jolliffe, who runs two Foodworks supermarkets in Wagga Wagga, told 2GB on Monday “every small business” should be bracing for financial pain.
Mr Jolliffe said his energy bills came in at about $10,000 per month but his current contract was ending this year.
He tasked a broker with tendering the next deal and the best offer he received amounted to a $2000 per month increase, he said.
“We have solar on our roof so there’s no more savings we can make there, we have some cool rooms and things out the back that we no longer use – we turned them off,” Mr Jolliffe said.
“So we’ve tried everything we can on-site that we can do to try and reduce that price.”
Energy prices and policy have been one of the key campaign points for the Albanese government and the Opposition ahead of next month’s election, which is being largely fought on cost-of-living policies.
The Australian Energy Regulator announced in March the draft prices for the 2025-2026 financial year, which could see the default prices rise by up to $200 for the average household on a single rate plan.
People in NSW (8.9 per cent), southeast Queensland (5.8 per cent) and South Australia (5.1 per cent) would be most affected. It follows significant rises of 40 per cent over two years.
The federal government has announced it would extend its energy relief rebate scheme until the end of 2025, covering $150 per household.
About one million small businesses were also eligible for a rebate, according to the government.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers recently conceded the government had not meet its 2022 election promise of cutting power bills by $275, but argues the rebates have helped quell inflation.
Peter Dutton has described the subsidies as a “Ponzi scheme” but the Opposition has said it would support the $1.8 billion extension.
Mr Jolliffe told host Mark Levy he would not pass on increased costs to customers who “know their price” adding wages were “probably the only thing we can really play with”.
“That’s getting scarier and scarier as well,” he said. “The electricity cost is our most expensive cost.
“We’ve got wages going up July 1st … the Fair Work Commission’s given another 2.5 per cent.
“So we’ve got to tighten out belt somewhere.”
Donations to local community groups and sporting clubs might also need to be “trimmed”, he said.
Mr Jolliffe said smaller businesses in the grocery sector were already up against it competing with the big supermarkets before having to deal with power prices.
He said it was a “a dog eat dog sort of industry”.
“It’s a good industry, I’ve been in it for 16 years – I love it – but it’s certainly getting harder and harder.”
Asked if he and his family members might need to work more hours to reduce wage costs, Mr Jolliffe said: “I don’t want to work anymore hours … but we might have to”.
“If that means I have to work a Sunday shift to stop the penalty rate, if I have to work the close date … we do it,” he said.
“But after 16 years you’d like to think that things are under control, things are getting easier, but the goalposts continually move and that just makes it a challenge every year.”
Mr Levy said his guest may be the “canary in the coalmine” for upcoming energy pain, with Mr Jolliffe saying “every small business” should be prepared.
Originally published as Aussie small business owner cops $24k power hike
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