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Australia’s big energy retailers are fattening their consumer margins

RenewEconomy - Tue, 2016-07-19 08:47
Electricity retailers make their biggest margins in South Australia, the state at the centre of controversy over energy prices. And retail margins in many states have jumped 50 per cent.
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It’s not easy being green, especially when affordable help is so hard to find

The Conversation - Tue, 2016-07-19 06:05

The transition to a clean energy future is upon us, as shown by the huge uptake of solar panels and by the Turnbull government’s decision to set up a A$1 billion Clean Energy Innovation Fund. But what about those people who are at risk of being left behind?

Our survey of lower-income households shows that information about low-carbon living is often difficult to access, and that assistance is sometimes misdirected.

As a result, transitioning to low-carbon living is much harder for these households than it should be.

Listening to the people

Between December 2015 and June 2016, we held 23 focus group discussions with 164 lower-income households across eight metropolitan and regional centres in New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory. Our aim was to try to understand the challenges these households face in transitioning to low-carbon living. This was part of a wider study, funded by the Cooperative Research Centre for Low Carbon Living, on finding ways to help poorer households reduce their carbon impact.

Almost everyone we spoke with supported the idea of low-carbon living. However, the ability to afford whiz-bang green technology – from expensive solar panels and battery systems right down to LED lightbulbs – is a big issue for these households.

Significant increases in energy costs since the late 2000s have added to this problem. In some states, bills have more than doubled in just the past six years.

While money is a key problem, it’s not the whole story, and there are ways to help. We have found a range of factors, besides affordability, that limit lower-income households’ ability to transition to low-carbon living.

Finding reliable information

Not everyone is looking for a hand-out; many just want to know how they can help themselves become more energy-efficient.

A major barrier that cropped up time and again in our survey is accessing the “right” information. Many people get good tips about assistance programs through friends and family, or via charities like the Salvation Army (one of our in-kind project partners).

But outside these avenues, information is often only available online, and many of our participants said that they either can’t afford internet access at home or, more importantly, don’t know what to search for.

What little information trickles through is often hard to understand. The Tasmanian government, for instance, offers a range of concessions on power and heating bills for older people or those who need to run medical equipment at home. But the benefits are expressed in cents per day (the current electricity concession, for instance, is 132.557¢ per day), which can make them unnecessarily hard for customers to calculate. Eligibility criteria are also often complicated.

With access to government services increasingly being moved online, the process can become a confusing rigmarole for many people, while others may miss out entirely.

Misdirected assistance

Most of the assistance programs available to lower-income households, such as Centrelink Utilities Allowances, are aimed squarely at providing financial relief.

States and territories also have their own rebate schemes to offer relief from rising energy costs. In NSW, for example, EAPA vouchers are designed to provide emergency and crisis relief.

But with lower-income households less likely to own their homes, they are often precluded from accessing programs to encourage green energy, such as solar panel rebates. This is a classic split incentive – the owner buys the panels (and gets the rebate) but the tenant gets the benefit (lower bills), making the owner less likely to invest.

This leads to the question of why rebates are not offered for using green energy, as well as for installing it.

“Green” criteria already exist in some other assistance programs. For example, the No Interest Loan Scheme, which helps lower-income households buy products such as whitegoods, now requires appliance to meet certain energy-efficiency standards.

The same principle could easily be used to help lower-income renters access electricity from cleaner energy sources.

Giving poorer households free home energy assessments is a good start, but they are focused purely on cutting energy consumption.

Removing hurdles

The compounding impacts of energy bill increases mean that many lower-income households are doing it pretty tough. Forgoing comfort in not turning on the heater or air-conditioner is one thing, but skipping meals or medication (as many of our survey respondents do) can have significant impacts on health and well-being.

Unfortunately, lower-income households have been going without life’s essentials for far too long. Setting up assistance programs is a good start, but we need to make sure that those who need help are getting it.

Here are our five suggestions for making it happen:

  1. Get the info out there. It’s important that people get the right information when they need it. Putting information online is great but it cannot be the only way – consideration must be given to those without internet access or who are less computer-literate.

  2. Keep it simple. Information needs to be straightforward and clear. If it’s stuffed with jargon and confusing numbers, it can become self-defeating.

  3. Support the support organisations. Charities like the Salvation Army and the St Vincent de Paul Society serve important roles within our community, but they too need our continued help, especially when funding is not keeping up with needs.

  4. Get value for the public’s money. A billion-dollar public fund may sound like a big deal, but this is small fry compared to Australia’s A$878 billion annual domestic consumption expenditure. Nonetheless, it is a good start in heading towards the right direction. We just need to make sure it helps those who need it most.

  5. Overcome personal pride. Asking for help is never easy, and that’s why so many lower-income families go without. Making sure that incentive programs reach the right people, in the right way, can dramatically improve their willingness to use them. Hopefully, in the long run, fewer families will need to go without.

The Conversation

Edgar Liu receives funding from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Cooperative Research Centre for Low Carbon Living, New South Wales' Department of Family and Community Services, PAYCE Communities, SGCH Ltd, South Australia's Department for Communities and Social Inclusion, and Strata Community Australia (NSW chapter).

Bruce Judd receives funding from the Cooperative Research Centre for Low Carbon Living, the Australian Research Council, and the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute.

Categories: Around The Web

Storage device writes information atom-by-atom

BBC - Tue, 2016-07-19 03:17
The quest for storage devices that pack ever more information into a small space has reached a new limit, with memory that writes information atom-by-atom.
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Could these cyborg beetles save lives?

BBC - Tue, 2016-07-19 02:25
Scientists in Singapore have created cyborg beetles that they believe could help save lives.
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Concerns mount over Andrea Leadsom's suitability for environment role

The Guardian - Tue, 2016-07-19 01:34

Senior environmental and agricultural figures cite lack of top-level experience, track record and policy approach as fears

Andrea Leadsom’s appointment as environment secretary has raised significant concerns among senior environmental and agricultural figures over her suitability for the role.

Leadsom’s lack of top-level political experience, absence of track record in farming or environmental areas and ideological approach to policy are all cited as fears. However, her junior ministers are viewed more favourably in terms of tackling the enormous challenges faced by her department.

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Ancient barley DNA gives insight into crop development

BBC - Tue, 2016-07-19 01:17
An international group of scientists have analysed the DNA of 6,000 year old barley, showing that it is remarkably similar to modern day varieties.
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Farming and forestry can deliver food security, says UN

BBC - Tue, 2016-07-19 00:24
Improving co-operation between nations' farming and forestry sectors will help reduce deforestation and improve food security, a UN report suggests.
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Danielle Clode

ABC Environment - Tue, 2016-07-19 00:05
A pod of killer whales lived and hunted with local whalers around Twofold Bay, New South Wales.
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Iraq marshlands named Unesco World Heritage Site

BBC - Mon, 2016-07-18 22:20
The United Nations cultural agency Unesco names Iraq's southern marshes - once decimated by Saddam Hussein - a World Heritage Site.
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Ban diesel cars in London, thinktank urges

The Guardian - Mon, 2016-07-18 22:19

IPPR analysis says capital will eventually need to phase out diesel cars and buses in order to meet EU air pollution targets

Diesel vehicles must be banned from London if the UK is to meet its air pollution targets, a thinktank warned on Monday.

Cars, vans and buses using diesel fuel are the leading cause of air pollution in the capital, and although steps are being taken to discourage their use, through the congestion charge and clean air zones, this will not be enough to clear the air, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) found in a new report.

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New Zealand: Earth’s Mythical Islands - in pictures

The Guardian - Mon, 2016-07-18 21:30

From parrots in the snow and penguins waddling through the forest to dinosaur-like reptiles, a new three-part part series from the BBC’s Natural History Unit, narrated by actor Sam Neill, showcases the island chain’s rich and intriguing wildlife that has resulted from 80 million years of isolation.

• Episode one airs on Tuesday 19 July at 9pm on BBC Two.

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DNA sequencer sent to space station

BBC - Mon, 2016-07-18 21:24
Nasa has sent a DNA sequencer to the International Space Station in an effort to help astronauts monitor their own health.
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Iraqi marshlands named as Unesco world heritage site

The Guardian - Mon, 2016-07-18 20:31

Area made up of four archaeological sites and three wetland marshes in southern Iraq was once ravaged by Saddam Hussein

Unesco has named Iraqi marshlands once ravaged by dictator Saddam Hussein as a world heritage site, a bright spot for a country where jihadists have repeatedly sought to wipe out history.

The area named “is made up of seven sites: three archaeological sites and four wetland marsh areas in southern Iraq,” Unesco said.

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Déjà vu: as with tobacco, the climate wars are going to court | Dana Nuccitelli

The Guardian - Mon, 2016-07-18 20:00

The fossil fuel industry copied Big Tobacco’s racketeering playbook. They’re following the same path to court, where tobacco lost

Investigative journalism has uncovered a “web of denial” in which polluting industries pay “independent” groups to disseminate misinformation to the public and policymakers. The same groups and tactics were employed first by the tobacco industry, then fossil fuel companies. Big Tobacco has been to court and lost; now it’s Big Oil’s turn. Political leaders are choosing sides in this war.

Research by Inside Climate News revealed that Exxon did top notch climate science research in the late 1970s and early 1980s, which revealed the dangers its products posed via climate change. Soon thereafter, Exxon launched misinformation campaigns by funding “think tanks” and front groups to manufacture doubt about climate science and the expert consensus on human-caused global warming.

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Amazon could face intense wildfire season this year, Nasa warns

The Guardian - Mon, 2016-07-18 19:19

The Amazon is the driest it has been at the start of the dry season since 2002 — and that probably means the rainforest is in for a particularly nasty wildfire season, reports Mongabay

Conditions created by the strong El Niño event that warmed up Pacific waters in 2015 and early 2016 altered rainfall patterns around the world. In the Amazon basin, that meant reduced rainfall during the wet season, plunging some parts of the region into severe drought.

According to NASA, the Amazon is the driest it’s been at the start of the dry season since 2002 — and that probably means the rainforest is in for a particularly nasty wildfire season, according to Doug Morton, an Earth scientist with the U.S. agency and a co-creator of the Amazon fire forecast, which uses climate observations and active fire detections by NASA satellites to predict fire season severity.

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Moonlit launch for SpaceX rocket carrying ISS supplies

BBC - Mon, 2016-07-18 18:02
A SpaceX cargo rocket is bound for the International Space Station after a successful launch from Florida.
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Hunt goes in energy-environment merger, climate denier to head resources

RenewEconomy - Mon, 2016-07-18 15:48
Turnbull names pro-nuclear Josh Frydenberg to head combined energy-environment portfolio, climate denier Matt Canavan to head resources.
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UN criticises UK and Germany for betraying Paris climate deal

The Guardian - Mon, 2016-07-18 15:01

Climate change envoy singles out both countries for subsidising the fossil fuel industry and says the UK has lost its position as a climate leader

Ban Ki-moon’s climate change envoy has accused the UK and Germany of backtracking on the spirit of the Paris climate deal by financing the fossil fuel industry through subsidies.

Mary Robinson, the former president of Ireland and UN special envoy on climate change and El Niño, said she had to speak out after Germany promised compensation for coal power and the UK provided tax breaks for oil and gas.

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Keeping track of the gannets of the Bass Rock

The Guardian - Mon, 2016-07-18 14:30

The Bass Rock, East Lothian As more offshore wind farms are built, the scientists want to know how high the birds fly before diving down to fish

Just over a mile off the coast of Scotland, within sight of the Forth Railway Bridge, is a truly wild place. The Bass Rock, 100m at its highest point, is white with guano and ringed with a halo of constantly honking seabirds. This is the largest colony of gannets on a single island on Earth, with up to 250,000 crowding into its three hectares in summer.

Scientists from Leeds University are studying their foraging habits. Crucially, as more offshore wind farms are built, they want to know how high the birds fly before diving down to fish.

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Know your NEM: Flat volumes, high prices, signs of easing by end of week

RenewEconomy - Mon, 2016-07-18 14:24
The weekly round up of the electricity market. Plus: What if both Hazelwood and Portland closed down?
Categories: Around The Web

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