'Not too late' for public control of power assets
The former chief of the state’s electricity trust it is not too late to return South Australia’s private electricity assets back to public control.
Bruce Dinham claims customers have been ripped off by greedy power companies for years, but says there may be a way out.
He said his bill has increase 50 per cent in three years, and the promised competition from privatisation has evolved into a greedy profit grab.
“The whole system is designed to rip consumers off,” Mr Dinham said.
“It doesn’t keep prices down - it’s there to push prices up.”
Western Australia is considering moving back to public power ownership after similar hefty costs of privatisation.
Mr Dinham said it is not too late for South Australia to do the same.
“It’s not too late to do anything, depending if you really want to do it,” he told 7News.
The national energy watchdog was in Adelaide today for a hardship and affordability conference.
“Certainly, prices in South Australia are quite high,” he said.
And his best advice for customers was simple.
“Shop around – people can make savings by looking round at the offers from the various retailers,” Australian Energy Regulator Andrew Reeves said.
Major welfare agency South Australia Council of Social Service (SACOSS) is demanding that financially stressed consumers should receive discounts during these profit-hungry times.
“We think retailers have to play a bigger role and we think they have a responsibility to,” Ross Womersley from SACOSS said.
