Staying connected – what does that mean

STAYING CONNECTED

Energy literacy training for front-line community services workers

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!

Energy-speak: A Glossary APAYG

Concessions

APAYG is Aurora Pay As You Go – a prepayment meter system of electricity supply where you pay for your electricity in advance.

You do this by paying for credit on a ‘smart card’ that is put into your meter. When your credit runs out, the meter provides a few days’ ‘emergency credit’ (this is repaid when you next charge your card). If you don’t recharge your card, you will be disconnected automatically when the emergency credit runs out.

These are discounts on electricity costs provided to eligible consumers. They are funded by the Tasmanian Government. See www.concessions.tas.gov.au for details of all electricity concessions.

The amount you pay when you use APAYG depends on the time of day you use electricity (this is called a time-of-use tariff). There are peak, off-peak and shoulder periods throughout the day. APAYG prices are not regulated.

Aurora Energy is not accepting any new APAYG customers.

Aurora Energy The only company selling electricity (retailer) to Tasmanian households. Aurora Energy also sells natural gas to households. Aurora Energy is a business owned by the Tasmanian Government.

Note: words that appear in bold print have a separate entry in this glossary.

Distribution network This is the network of poles and wires (and gas pipes) that run along the streets (or underground) and are connected to houses and other buildings. It is operated by a distributor.

Distributor An electricity or gas distributor owns the poles and wires and gas pipes that supply electricity and gas to homes and other buildings.

Distributors also own and read the meters that measure how much energy is used. They pass this information on to energy retailers who use it to make up your bill.

TasNetworks is Tasmania’s only electricity distributor and Tas Gas Networks is the Tasmanian gas distributor.

You can contact the distributor for questions about: ·· Your electricity or gas meter ·· Power lines or gas pipes to your property ·· If your gas or electricity supply stops (for example it may be due to a fault on the power lines or gas pipes).

www.tascoss.org.au | 03 6231 0755

1

Energy charge

Fixed charge

This is the charge on your bill for the electricity or gas you use. For electricity, it is charged as cents per kilowatt hour used.

This is the fixed daily cost you pay to have electricity or gas connected to your home. It is charged whether you use any energy or not.

Also called a consumption charge, variable charge or usage charge.

Also called daily supply charge or service charge.

Energy Ombudsman

Flat rate tariff

An independent body that helps consumers to solve problems they have with electricity and gas retailers and distributors. Consumers must first take their complaint to the retailer or distributor involved. If the complaint is not resolved, consumers can take the complaint to the Energy Ombudsman. The Ombudsman’s staff investigate the complaints and help to resolve them.

This is a charge for electricity use that remains the same whatever time of day you use energy.

Energy rating label A label on an appliance (electric and gas) that shows how energy efficient the appliance is. A star rating system is used – the more stars, the better the energy efficiency, and the less it will cost to run. The label helps a buyer compare the energy efficiency of different appliances of the same type, for example, two refrigerators or TVs.

Energy retailer A company that sells electricity (and/or gas) to you for use in your home or business, and bills you for the energy you use. Energy retailers buy energy from generators and then sell it to their customers. The only retailer currently selling electricity to households in Tasmania is Aurora Energy. Aurora also sells gas, along with Tas Gas Retail, to Tasmanian households. You can contact your energy retailer for questions about getting electricity or gas connected to your home and about your electricity or gas service, including bills and payments.

Feed-in tariff This is the price that householders get paid for the solar energy that their solar panels generate and feed back into the electricity network (or grid).

This is also called a single rate tariff or anytime tariff.

Gas Gas can come in bottles (this is LPG or Liquid Petroleum Gas) or natural gas can be delivered to your home or business through a network of underground gas pipelines.

Generator A company (or a system) that produces electricity. In Tasmania, Hydro Tasmania is the major electricity generator, and produces electricity through hydro generation, wind and gas-fired generation. Electricity can also be generated by households that have solar panels on their roofs.

Hardship Program This is a program run by energy retailers to help customers (households) who are having difficulty paying their electricity or gas bills. All electricity retailers must have a hardship program.

Aurora Energy’s hardship program is called YES – Your Energy Support – and is available to Aurora’s electricity and gas customers.

Tas Gas does not have a hardship program.

Hydro Tasmania ‘The Hydro’ is Tasmania’s major electricity generation company. It is owned by the Tasmanian Government. Hydro Tasmania generates electricity through its system of dams and power stations, and through its wind farms and gas-fired generators in the north of the state.

www.tascoss.org.au | 03 6231 0755

2

Kilowatt (kW) and Kilowatt hour (kWh)

Off-peak tariff

A kilowatt is a measure of electricity equal to 1,000 watts (a watt is a single unit of power).

A kilowatt hour is a measure of electricity equal to one kilowatt of electricity sustained for one hour. Your electricity usage on your bill is measured in kilowatt hours (kWh).

Examples:

·· A 1,000 watt (or 1 kilowatt) electric heater which is turned on for one hour will use one kilowatt hour (kWh) of energy. If it is turned on for 4 hours, the heater will use 4 kWh of electricity. If one kWh costs 25c then 4 kWh will cost $1 (25c x 4 = $1) ·· A 40 watt light globe left on for 25 hours also uses one kWh of electricity (40 watts x 25 hours = 1,000 watt hours or 1kWh). If one kWh costs 25c then this will cost 25c.

Life support equipment This is medical equipment needed by individuals to keep them alive. People who rely on approved life support equipment are eligible for a concession on their electricity costs. To receive a Life Support Concession you must use approved equipment and your application must be certified by a medical practitioner (see entry under Concessions).

Meter Electricity and gas meters show how much electricity or gas has been used. They are read by meter readers (who are employed by distributors) and the information is passed on to energy retailers to be used as the basis for bills.

This is a retail tariff (Tariff 61 and 62) that some Tasmanian households use for heating. It provides power to wired-in heaters (sometimes known as ‘heat banks’) overnight at a lower price than the standard ‘light and power’ tariff (Tariff 31). Also see Peak and off-peak periods.

Payment plan An arrangement agreed between a retailer and a customer to help the customer pay their electricity (or gas) bills or debt.

Peak and off-peak periods These are time periods used in time-of-use tariffs.

Peak times are when most people use electricity and there is a lot of demand on the distribution network. Distributors and retailers charge higher prices for electricity used in peak periods.

Off-peak times are when there is less demand on the network and prices are cheaper to encourage more people to use electricity at those times (including overnight and weekends).

Sometimes there is also a ‘shoulder’ period between peak and off-peak times where prices are set between peak and off-peak prices. APAYG (Aurora Pay As You Go) has ‘shoulder’ periods.

Prepayment meter This is a special electricity meter that requires you to pay for electricity before you use it.

Householders buy electricity credit on a ‘smart card’ and transfer that to their pre-payment meter.

The APAYG (Aurora Pay As You Go) system uses pre-payment meters and ‘smart cards’.

For electricity, TasNetworks (the distributor) reads your meter, passes the information on to Aurora Energy (the retailer) which sends you your bill.

Regulated retail price

Natural gas

Reliability

This is a type of gas supplied to households and businesses through a system of gas pipelines.

Natural gas is also known in Tasmania as ‘reticulated gas’ because it is delivered through a network of pipelines.

This is the price that most households in Tasmania pay for electricity through standard retail contracts (not APAYG).

Electricity (and gas) networks aim to maximise the reliability of their networks in order to provide uninterrupted supply to consumers. Reliability targets are set by regulators and the networks’ reliability is measured against the targets.

www.tascoss.org.au | 03 6231 0755

3

Renewable energy

Tas Gas Networks and Retail

Energy generated from natural and renewable sources, such as the sun, wind, water and heat from the earth (thermal energy).

Tas Gas Networks is the distributor of natural gas in Tasmania and Tas Gas Retail is a retailer of gas in Tasmania (along with Aurora Energy).

Retailer See Energy retailer.

Tasmanian Economic Regulator (TER or OTTER)

Single rate tariff A charge for the electricity (or gas) you use that remains the same whatever time of day you use energy. Also known as flat rate tariff or anytime tariff.

Solar energy Electricity generated by the sun from solar panels (also called photovoltaic / PV panels).

Solar hot water This is hot water produced by a solar water heating system usually installed on a rooftop.

The sun heats the water, but it does not create electricity that can be fed into the network.

Standing offer price In Tasmania this is the regulated retail price you pay for electricity when you are on a standard retail contract (all Tasmanian households except those with APAYG).

Standard retail contract (or standing offer contract) This is the contract through which most Tasmanian households buy their electricity (except for those on APAYG contracts). The price on standard retail contracts is the regulated retail price.

Tariff The pricing system for energy (electricity and gas).

Tariffs can differ but usually include at least 2 parts: ·· Daily supply charge (also known as fixed charge or service charge) ·· Usage charge (also known as energy charge, consumption charge or variable charge) which is based on how much energy you use as recorded on your meter.

Tariffs may be flat rate tariffs or be based on the times of day that energy is used (see Time-of-use tariffs).

An independent office within the Tasmanian Treasury that regulates aspects of Tasmania’s energy supply system, including retail prices.

TasNetworks Tasmania’s network service provider – is both an electricity distribution (distributor) and transmission company (see Transmission network). TasNetworks is owned by the Tasmanian Government.

Time-of-use tariff A type of tariff that charges consumers different prices for electricity depending on when it is used. Different time periods are often called peak and off-peak (and sometimes there is also a ‘shoulder’ period as well). In a time-of-use tariff, peak prices are more expensive than offpeak or shoulder prices. APAYG (Aurora Pay As You Go) is a time-of-use tariff.

Transmission network This is the network of very large, high voltage power lines (and sub-stations) that carry electricity from generators to the distribution network. There are also gas transmission networks made up of large pipes that take gas from gas producers to the gas distribution network.

YES – Your Energy Support This is Aurora Energy’s hardship program that provides assistance to its customers who are having difficulty paying for their electricity (or gas). The YES program employs specially trained staff who can help customers work out what they can afford to pay on a payment plan to pay off their bills and / or their debt and for ongoing usage. Energy efficiency advice can also be provided to YES Program participants through the program.

www.tascoss.org.au | 03 6231 0755

4