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Thursday, May 11, 2006 Ph: (08) 8671 2683
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Electricity Outrage! By Stuart Deed
However, the response from Ms Breuer has not been encouraging to residents who hoped to see direct government intervention in the matter. “I am very concerned about the situation and I want the community of Roxby Downs to know that I’m following the situation closely - but at this stage there seems to be no explanation, other than that people have actually used the power, as the council has said,” Ms Breuer explained. A perceived lack of action from Ms Breuer forced other locals to contact Martin Hamilton-Smith, Liberal spokesman for energy. “Residents say they ‘are not receiving any satisfaction or understanding’ in regard to their complaints which have also been directed to the local member for the region Ms Lyn Breuer MP,” said Mr Hamilton-Smith. Roxby Downs Council Administrator Bill Boehm said the power consumption for the March quarter was the highest on record – some 20 per cent higher than the previous summer. Water consumption also reached record levels. “Both bills rising the way they have in some cases has caused understandable angst in the community. Initially the council was perplexed as well – then we began to investigate what the possible causes could be,” he said. Mr Boehm suggested one possible explanation for the enlarged bills was the unequal measuring of the ‘quarter’, which meant some ‘quarters’ were over 100 days in length, while others were below 80. For the first time this year, council employed contractors to read the meters, a task which takes three weeks and has to be done at the start and end of the quarter. Some residents had their meters read at the very start of the period – just prior to Christmas – and at the very end of March. A more in-depth explanation of the increase in power bills has been provided as a fact sheet within this edition of The Monitor. The fact sheet addresses several rumours which have been circulating the town with regard to high or low voltage affecting power usage. “The council obviously doesn’t know what people’s individual habits are with regard to electricity, but we do know the power recorded as going through the meters is correct and is reflected in higher power costs,” said Mr Boehm.
A wave of anger has swept through Roxby Downs since the release of the latest power and water bills, with many residents complaining that their bills are excessively high. Some residents told The Monitor their power bills have more than tripled compared to the same period last year, while many more have said their bills have doubled. A meeting was held in Richardson Place on Friday May 5, where a number of locals gathered to voice their concerns and compare individual bills. One resident and business owner who attended the meeting was Vicki Mason. “It’s a load of crap – how can a bill jump from $300 last year to $600 this year when I wasn’t even here? It’s just horrendous,” Mrs Mason said. Roxby Downs resident Graeme Bennie said he was “stunned” when he received his power bill, especially when he contacted the council and was given the explanation that it was “a hot summer”. “My electricity habits have not changed whatsoever and all of a sudden our usage has jumped from 2500 units in last year’s first quarter, to 3900 units this year. What do we do now? Because at the moment we’ve approached the council and all they have said until now is that it was a hot summer,” said Mr Bennie. The council response prompted Mr Bennie, his friends and neighbours to research temperature patterns for the last decade. “We’ve done some research into the Bureau of Meteorology’s figures for the past ten years – it hasn’t been any hotter this year than previously,” he said. Another resident, Fay Fernandez, also said she was “shocked” when she got her electricity bill. “I know my family has a pool and we run reverse cycle air-conditioning, but for our bill to go up by nearly $500 compared with last year is a bit ridiculous,” said Mrs Fernandez. “Our water bill also went up by $170 from last quarter and we’re not doing anything different from last year. Our water bill has never been this much before,” she said. Mrs Fernandez said she, like many other residents, had written an email to the Member for Giles, Lyn Breuer, and the shadow minister for energy, Martin Hamilton-Smith “to let them know I’m not happy”.
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THE MONITOR - Your Community Newspaper
ABOVE...Disgruntled Roxby residents He said there were several options unhappy residents could consider. “We are more than happy for customers to come into the council offices and we will go through an individual check of their figures, which might well include checking their power meters,” said Mr Boehm.
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