Do you think a 50% renewable target will mean higher or lower electricity costs?

51% think that a 50% renewable target will mean higher electricity costs and 18% think it will mean lower costs. 11% think it will make no difference.

Of those who approve the Labor Party’s 50% renewable target 48% think it will mean higher electricity costs and 24% think it will mean lower costs – although only 13% think it will mean much higher costs.

Q. Thinking about your electricity bill over the last 12 months, do you think you electricity bill has:

51% think their electricity bill over the last 12 months has increased, 33% think it has stayed about the same and 9% think it has decreased.

There were not substantial differences by voting intention or demographics – although Labor voters (58%) were a little more likely to think it had increased.

Q. How concerned are you personally about the following economic issues? 

Economic issues of most concern were cost of electricity/gas (57% very concerned), cost of petrol (49%), cost of food and groceries (45%) and housing affordability (40%).

68% of those aged 45+ were very concerned about the cost of electricity/gas.

Women were more concerned than men about cost of food and groceries (51% vs 39% very concerned), cost of electricity/gas (62% vs 52%) and cost of petrol (56% vs 43%).

Q. As a result of the repeal of the carbon tax, do you expect your electricity bill to change in any of the following ways? 

43% expect their electricity bill to stay much the same after the repeal of the carbon tax, 33% expect it to decrease (5% a lot, 28% a little) and 16% expect it to increase.

Those most likely to think it will decrease were Liberal/National voters (46%), aged 55+ (42%) and incomes over $1,600pw (38%).

Q. Over the last few years, have your gas and/or electricity costs increased, decreased or stayed much the same?

86% say their power costs have increased over the last few years including 45% who say their costs have increased a lot.

Those most likely to say their power costs have increased a lot were aged 45-54 (59%) and Liberal/National voters (50%).

There were no substantial differences across income groups.

88% of those with air conditioning or evaporative cooling said their power costs had increased including 47% who said they have increased a lot.

In comparison, 79% of those without air conditioning or evaporative cooling said their power costs had increased including 40% who said they have increased a lot.

The PM is going to be chatting live on-line today at News.com, focused on the question of rising power prices. This should be a pretty straightforward issue, with facts guiding the discussion. But, The Empty Suit, Leader of the Coalition, is trying to muddle the issue…and who can blame him? He’s rolled the dice trying to scare the entire nation about the carbon tax — which is proving to be a non-event.

Yes, prices of electricity are going up. But, it’s pretty clear this has virtually nothing to do with the carbon tax.

Here is a pretty simple explanation from the PM, as a curtain-raiser to her on-line talk:

First, the states who own electricity network businesses are doing well out of it.

Take New South Wales: separate to carbon pricing, there’s been a 70 per cent increase in prices over four years. And there’s been a 60 per cent increase in the dividends that the NSW Government gets.

Second, meeting peak power costs too much. One quarter of your electricity bill, more than $500 a year for a typical family, is spent to meet the costs of peak events that last for less than two days each year in total. It’s like building a ten-lane freeway, but with two lanes that are only used or needed for one long weekend.

Third, customers need more choice. The states should sign up to the National Energy Customer Framework, with strong protections when people can’t pay their electricity bills and extra information to help customers get the best energy deal.

And finally, I am pushing for the whole electricity system to operate more efficiently and more effectively. I’d rather do this with the states. We’ll only use the big stick of stronger powers for the Energy Regulator and the ACCC if we have to.

In other words, it’s the electricity generating companies who are trying to sock us with costs for building up new capacity. In Queensland and Victoria, the power companies have not invested in new capacity since 1998 — and, as the PM points out, they now need to do so largely to absorb peak power needs for just a few days a year. That has zero to do with the carbon tax. None. Nada.

The Empty Suit, though, is in a real box. He has staked a huge part of his campaign on the “sky is falling” results from the carbon tax. So, when you listen to what he says now, pay very little attention because it’s not based on the real facts on the reason for the rise in electricity prices.

— Jonathan Tasini
@jonathantasini

Q. Thinking about the proposed carbon tax, do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

79% agree that a carbon tax will substantially increase the cost of electricity but 78% agree that the cost of electricity will increase substantially even without a carbon tax.

Respondents were evenly divided over whether a carbon tax is an effective way to force large polluting companies to reduce their carbon pollution (42% agreer/43% disagree) and whether a carbon tax will increase investment in renewable energy (41% agree/38% disagree).

Males (84%) were more likely than females (74%) to agree or strongly agree that ‘a carbon tax will substantially increase the costs of electricity.’

Females (53%) were more likely than males (41%) to agree or strongly agree that ‘a carbon tax is an effective way to force large polluting companies to reduce their carbon pollution.’

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