Lower Electricity Costs – An Update
As you may be aware from a previous article, the PBC for Hope Island Resort has made some significant savings, following a comprehensive review of all electricity accounts by Energy Options Australia, in conjunction with CMS. The projected saving of just over $20,000 per annum, on a continuing basis, represents a reduction of more than 20% in the PBC’s electricity charges in earlier years, achieved through tariff changes and negotiated discount arrangements.
Hope Island is a very large Body Corporate, however all the electricity accounts individually have consumption of less than 100,000 kWh per annum. While accounts of this size must remain on regulated tariffs, tariff changes are possible and with a number of retailers now competing in the supply market, discounts of up to 10% can be negotiated.
As part of the review process, a large number of electricity accounts was identified that would benefit from a tariff change before negotiating a discount for all accounts. Incredibly, 31 of the 47 accounts for the PBC were on a commercial tariff, when a residential tariff or time of use tariff would have been less expensive and more appropriate. In total, 37 accounts were first changed to a new tariff, providing an average saving of 10% of current costs and delivering over half of the overall savings, with some of the large individual accounts achieving savings up to 27%. Following the tariff changes, discounts of between 5 and 10% were negotiated with Origin Energy.
With electricity cost having increased by 60% over the last five years, and with a further predicted increase of at least 5.83% (QCA draft decision on 12/12/10 - there is talk of pressure for a higher increase), users are well advised to give careful scrutiny to their energy purchasing arrangements. The kind of savings achieved by the PBC is possible for other Bodies Corporate. CMS has written to all RBC Chairpersons to remind them of this opportunity and to provide details about Energy Options Australia.
