Power price hike hurts Bunbury families

Power price hike hurts Bunbury families
THE Bunbury community has been hit hard by power price hikes and residents are calling for it to stop.

Over the past three years power prices have risen a shocking 57 per cent to raise the average power bill by $550.

As of last Friday power bills will rise another five per cent and water bills another 14 per cent.

A Bunbury resident of 17 years, Petch Folvig said the increases have made it extremely difficult to make ends meet.

“It’s like we have been short changed,” he said.

“Our utility bills continue to rise but the wages don’t increase and it means a lot of things have to be cut from the budget.”

The 21-year-old said he and his partner had cut a lot of the entertainment and social aspects of their lives, as well as the quality of food they purchased, in an effort to lower their budget.

The couple have also switched to energy saving light bulbs and cut the amount of time they left their lights on.

The amount of people applying for Hardship Utility Grants across the state has more than doubled in the last year as well as the number of people who had their power disconnected.

Mr Folvig said the increases would affect people throughout the community.

“Even a small increase at the end of the week may cost couples or families a meal,” he said.

“We find we have to manage our budget a lot more than we used to and cut down on luxury items.”

A new locally-owned business Eco Energy Smart is aiming to help the community to cut their power bills.

Owner Hayley Peak said the business had many appliances which could take at least 10 per cent off power bills.

“Hopefully people can start to get more back than what they are forking out,” she said.

The power price rises are due to the state government trying to reduce the shortfall between the actual cost of producing the electricity.