Business owner ‘shocked’ by $10k power bill after cost doubled in a year

A Sydney business owner has been left “shocked” after discovering the cost of his electricity bill has more than doubled in a year.

A Sydney business owner has been left with no choice but to consider letting staff go after he was “shocked” to learn his electricity bill doubled in a year, amid the country’s energy crisis.

Hazem Sedda, the owner of Redfern Convenience Store, “didn’t believe” his eyes when he woke up to an email on Friday morning to discover his store’s electricity bill has risen from about $4300 last August to $10,400 this August, despite a “slight difference” in power usage during that period.

“I saw the number and … I didn’t believe it. I [thought] ‘That’s crazy. I don’t want to deal with it anymore.’ I just threw my phone away,” he told news.com.au.

“[I thought] the electricity [has gone] up a little bit, but not more than double … It was a bit shocking.”

Hazem Sedda has owned Redfern Convenience Store for the past 20 years. Picture: Supplied.

The 38-year-old had spent $200,000 upgrading his store two years ago, swapping out old appliances for newer energy efficient modules, in hopes of saving money on electricity.
“We stripped all the wires of the store, we put new machines, new fridges, new airconditioning. Everything was brand new, and energy efficient. And I was expecting my power bill to be lower,” he said.
Instead, the cost has been “going up and up and up”, leaving the father-of-three to consider the difficult decision of letting go of staff members if power prices continue to rise.
“This is winter and it came at $10,000. So that means in summer, I’m going to expect $20,000 for the next quarter. So we’re looking at about $60,000 over a year for electricity,” he said.

“That’s almost the same as the wages of our employees. So now I’m thinking we’re going to have to lose one of our staff to be able to keep going, or are we going to pay from our pockets [and] work for nothing?”
The decision to let go of staff would also see the father-of-three spend more time away from his family to take up the extra load.
“It took me 20 years to have enough staff so I could have some time with my family,” he said. “If we lose staff, I have to go back and be in the business the same 18 hours a day like before. Now that I have a family, it does really worry me.”

Father-of-three Hazem Sedda renovated his Sydney store two years ago. Picture: Supplied.

Mr Sedda the $10,000 bill is a particular “waste of money” amid the current cost-of-living crisis, which has seen other expenses in his business and his personal life, including his family’s own power bill, increase.
“Look, it’s getting really hard … Everything is going up, not just the electricity,” he said. “The goods are getting more expensive. The rent, the staff, even paying the wages is more expensive than what they used to be.”
As prices continue to rise, he said it would fall on customers to absorb some of the cost.

“My only income is from the business,” he said. “So if the business hardly pays [for itself], then I will not have enough to survive myself.”

Others commented on the business owner’s struggle when Mr Sedda shared an image of the bill on Instagram last week.

“Unbelievable … my bill has more than doubled and I have done nothing different from one bill to the next,” one person commented.
“It’s the same for us, but what can we do???? How is small business going to survive?,” wrote another.

In May, the Australian Energy Regulator confirmed electricity prices would increase between 20 and 25 per cent for customers in NSW, southeast Queensland and South Australia from July, despite the federal government’s intervention in the energy market.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen and Treasurer Jim Chalmers said while the Albanese government had “shielded” Australians from the worst of the energy price hikes, any increase to bills would be “difficult” for families and businesses.

“That’s why the government acted in December to cap coal and gas prices and why we worked with states and territories to deliver up to $3bn in direct relief for the most vulnerable households and small businesses,” Mr Bowen said.
In July, the New South Wales government announced eligible small businesses using less than 100 megawatt hours of electricity per year would receive $650 towards their electricity bills from July 31.
At the time of publication, Mr Sedda had not looked into whether he was eligible for the rebate.
Regardless, the eye-watering electricity bill has come at a worrisome time for Mr Sedda, who is about to open a new business in Newtown in coming weeks.
He is now considering cost-saving options including comparing electricity companies for a better deal.
As other small businesses continue to struggle, Mr Sedda wants the government to step up and continue to cap prices.

“It doesn’t feel like electricity is part of the government’s priority,” he said. “It’s between companies that just try to take as much as they can from the people and the government is not doing anything about it.
“[The government] can’t let the companies keep going up that high. I feel sorry for us and for all the people that are getting all these bills. It’s shocking them, it’s more than what they normally expect.”