Aidan Curtis
POWER prices will be going up from July 1 and families in Mount Gambier / Berrin are already worried about the impact it will have.
The Australian Energy Regulator has confirmed energy customers on the default offer in South Australia will be seeing a 23.9 per cent jump in electricity prices from the start of July.
For small business owners, the jump is even higher, at 28.9 per cent.
According to Compare the Market head of energy Meredith O’Brien, that will cost South Australians on the default offer an extra $439 per year for residents and $1,310 for small businesses on average.
“While households and small businesses on a Standing Offer have been bracing for these price increases for some time, we finally know just how much more we can expect to pay for electricity from 1 July,” Ms O’Brien said.
“Unfortunately, a perfect storm of factors has led to these price increases.
“Put simply, it’s costing more than ever to generate and transmit electricity to our homes and businesses.”
At a community level, Mount Gambier/Berrin resident Michelle Lavia said any increase in power price is going to make things even more difficult.
“Electricity prices are extreme now, and with the prices every time you go to buy food products going up and with rent prices going up, money doesn’t go up,” she said.
“You try to get a job to pay for the extra costs, but then electricity goes up and you can’t get ahead.
“You can start paying off as much as you can, but you’re still going to be in a deficit forever.”
Ms Lavia said cost of living is already putting a significant strain on her mental health and she worries for the future.
“You’re trying to keep your kids going with food and school and clothes and all the rest of it, and you just can’t get ahead – you make do where you can, but you can not get ahead,” she said.
“Even people with dual incomes, they have to be finding it hard because there is quite the line up at the Food Bank now.
“There’s all walks of life in there, and they’re not only low income – there’s some nicely dressed people that go through there.”
Melaleuca Hub community coordinator Josh Lynagh said financial pressures often come up in conversation at the Hub.
“With this space being so free for people to be here and talk about things, and being that the shop itself is about saving people money and easing some of those financial pressures, the conversations come up often,” he said.
“Quite often, people are talking about not being able to afford bills or how they’re going to manage different things.
“Since Covid, and everything we’ve seen since Covid, you see the cost of living going up and those conversations are happening more and more.”
He said people use the Hub to save money, but even that might not help with bills set to go up.
“I can only imagine the pressures are going to be huge,” he said.
“It’s affecting everyday households because we all use electricity.
“It’ll probably lead to more financial stresses and people seeking assistance from services locally.”