Covid sparks concerns over electricity bills

Nearly one in five Victorian households has asked an energy provider for financial help during the pandemic.

Nearly one in five Victorian households has asked an energy provider for financial help during the pandemic and about one-third of all Australian household consumers are more concerned about their ability to pay electricity bills than they were before COVID-19 hit.

A biannual survey by Energy Consumers Australia found the states hardest hit by COVID had the most households asking providers for help: 18 per cent of Victorian households and 17 per cent of NSW households.

In Queensland and Western Australia, 13 per cent and 11 per cent respectively of households surveyed asked for help.

Energy Consumers Australia chief executive Lynne Gallagher said both households and small businesses were struggling under the weight of cost of living pressures during the pandemic.

The survey found 15 per cent of Australian households had sought help, with 6 per cent saying they had received no useful assistance.

A further 10 per cent of household consumers said they expected to seek help from their retailer in the future.

“While there have been some positive economic numbers released lately, many families and small businesses are still struggling to balance the budget,” Ms Gallagher said. “About one in three small businesses have already sought help from their energy retailer but a further 18 per cent say they are expecting to do so.”

Forty-six per cent of small businesses said they were more concerned about their ability to pay electricity bills than they were before the pandemic.

More than half of the small businesses surveyed, 53 per cent, said they had contacted, or planned to, their energy retailer for help in the near future.

An earlier report from the Australian Energy Market Commission recorded a 14 per cent jump in the level of household electricity 90-day debt between March and October, climbing $15m, while average debt rocketed 17 per cent. Total debt for households on hardship programs rose by more than $9m to almost $114m over the same period.

The Australian Energy Council found 48,000 customers in Victoria were receiving assistance from their energy retailer, with 9000 having payments deferred.

Ms Gallagher said 41 per cent of consumers surveyed who reached out for help said they didn’t receive useful help from their energy retailer. “We’re looking to energy retailers to step up their game, both in terms of how they’re responding to consumer requests for bill relief, but also in promoting the help that’s available,” she said.