OddThinking

When I was 11, my school-teacher, Mr. Jones, explained to the class how about electricity bills.

There is one meter measuring the current used for most of the house, and another meter that is used to measure the electric hot-water server. The hot-water service only runs during the night, during the off-peak, and gets charged at a cheaper rate.

He asked an odd question of the class – something like “Does that suggest any criminal behaviour to you?” I don’t think he really expected an answer. As he went on to explain that it was against the law to tamper with the meter, and to either change the clock on the meter, or to redirect power from the hot water service to the mains.

However, he did get an answer to his question. One thoughtful boy chimed in, with some indignation, “Yes! Why isn’t all of our power during the off-peak cheaper? Why only the hot-water service? They are over-charging!” Mr. Jones was somewhat taken aback by this suggestion; he went quiet for a while, pondering how he had been ripped off all these years, and hadn’t even noticed, until it was pointed out by an eleven-year old.

This story came to mind today as I heard on the news (short-term link) that the New South Wales opposition leader, John Brogden “slammed” a plan by EnergyAustralia to install new meters to provide exactly that sort of cheaper electricity during the night (and, I imagine, a significant price-rise for electricity during the day).

John Brogden and EnergyAustralia have both dropped the ball by not having any description of their plans, objections or any relevant media releases on their respective web-sites, so I can’t easily check their facts, nor come to any conclusion on their arguments.

I did, however, find a old 1998 report from the New Zealand [Ministry for Economic Development] that suggested that, back then, Australia rated in the mid-range (10th lowest from 25) of prices for residential electricity on their list of comparable western countries.