Government wants to pay you to switch off

[davidc4430]

Power bills: Why the Government wants to pay you to switch off this summer

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-11/power-scheme-offers-rewards-for-switching-off-in-peak-times/90...

i think this is a very bad idea.

i think that some older people who are struggling to pay power bills will take this offer up, and end up in hospital or dead.

its obviously going to be a scheme that the poorest would be most likely to go for, the unemployed, the elderly and the people on low incomes.

i doubt anyone 'well off' will switch of their airconditioners on a stinking hot day.

[davidc4430]

well in the 1960's we owned the power plants! our taxes built them.

then in the 1980/90's our elected govts told us selling our utilities would deliver cheaper power and remove the need for us to pay for the upkeep of the network.

and what do you know, it all turned out to be a crock of proverbial.

not only did we not get cheaper energy, the power plants have been run into the ground and are no longer a long term going concern.

so its back to us to build new power generating plants or hope green energy firms can build reliable ways to supply our power.

no matter which way things go i can be sure it'll be us paying the bill one way or another.

[davidc4430]

the whole pay the poor to turn off idea might just turn into another 'pink batt' story when the deaths from heat strokes begin to get newsworthy.

[zanadoo_56]

Well I don't think I will be signing up for this.

I don't have a smart phone to get SMS messages.

I don't have any air conditioning.

I will not be replacing my reliable fridge.

I don't go to the movies so vouchers are out.

It's too much to hope the Govt has any better ideas where THEY have to do something, rather than just shoving it all on the consumer.

[myoclon1cjerk]

I've got a better idea. Why not disconnect the government MP's domestic power supply until they come up with a viable 21st century energy policy.

[davidc4430]

Quick, call the PM

I have the ANSWER!

[springyzone]

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@myoclon1cjerk wrote:
I've got a better idea. Why not disconnect the government MP's domestic power supply until they come up with a viable 21st century energy policy.

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What a great idea. All politicians should have to opt in to such a system at home and it should apply to the houses of Parliament too. It would be interesting to see how long the scheme lasted then.

[davidc4430]

[davidc4430]

Govt scientists come up with NEW new plan.

Every citizen will recieve one of these-

With a copy of this -

Thus curing the countries power shortage!

added bonus you can use old battery juice on your fish-n-chips.

[lyndal1838]

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@domino-710 wrote:

Could the elderly - already experiencing difficulty paying for electricity - even afford an air conditioner.

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The problem is not how can the elderly afford to buy an aircondtioner.....many of us have had airconditioning for many years when we could actually afford to run it without too much difficulty.

As we get older and the bills go through the roof we have to be much more careful....in many cases the bills are up and the income is down.

[chameleon54]

David, Couldnt agree more with your posts on this thread. It makes me livid to know we live in a sparsly populated country with abundant supplies of cheap, bulk energy commodities and yet here in S.A. we litterally have the highest power prices in the world.

Its not much better on the national front. Governments of all colours have concentrated on dig it up and sell our resources as cheaply and quickly as they can with no thought for what is best for the Australian population.

Its all about getting the resource royalties to spend on the next election promise. The fact that so much of our natural gas has been contracted to China, that Australians no longer have access to it is a national disgrace.

As David mentions several times, the people who will suffer will be the pensioners, single income families and part time working poor.