MP Greg Warren has slammed the Baird Government’s record on energy affordability.
His attack comes in the wake of figures from the Energy and Water Ombudsman’s (EWON’s) annual report showing an increasing number of gas disconnections and financial hardship plans.
“It’s very concerning that more and more people in Campbelltown are struggling with the cost of living, especially increases in the cost of gas and electricity,” Mr Warren said.
“The number of households having their gas service disconnected has increased by more than 50 percent.
“This means families are having a tough time keeping up with the rising cost of gas, and the Baird Government is doing nothing to assist our local families who are doing it tough.”
[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“The NSW Government has shown a complete disregard for energy affordability, as demonstrated by Mike Baird taking the independent energy regulator to court to challenge their ruling which would have lowered electricity prices in NSW,” the Campbelltown MP said.[/social_quote]
The report confirms a 54 per cent increase in the number of residential disconnections by gas providers in NSW from 4,921 in 2013/14 to 7,555 in 2014/15.
The number of gas customers on hardship payment plans also jumped from 10,944 in 2014 to 17,885 in 2015 – a 63 per cent increase in the space of one year.
The report states: “These figures indicate that those facing affordability issues have increasing need for assistance through payment plans and hardship programs. At EWON this year we referred nearly three times as many customers to their provider’s hardship team for assistance as we did in 2013/14.”
The average annual gas bill for a NSW household has jumped from $827 in 2013 to $923 in 2015, according to the Australian Energy Regulator.
