Price shock
West Australians have been slugged with electricity price increases of 46% over two years with prices predicted to increase by another 36% over the next three years. That forecast could prove optimistic, however:
And if Prime Minister Julia Gillard introduces a carbon price or an emissions trading scheme, [Treasurer Christian] Porter said those forecasts could be torn up.So it looks like candles and cooking fires might make a comeback.
"If either or both of those things happen, what you're going to have is the biggest jump in electricity prices we've ever seen," he said.
posted by Anonymous at 6:50 AM |
1 Comments:
When I had my chimney cleaned last year, my regular chimney sweep said he was flat out with people who had old-style slow-combustion wood heaters but hadn't used them in years.
Instead of using clean gas-fired power from highly-regulated low-polluting power plants to run electric heating systems, people are more and more going to resort to burning dead trees as their main source of heating over winter, especially in lower socio-economic areas.
We may see less carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, but we'll see more carbon monoxide and particulate pollution from slow combustion wood heaters, especially when people all but starve them of oxygen to keep them smouldering all night.
Our politicians, both LNP and ALP, are marching us boldly forward into the smoky, hazy, eye-watering past.
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