A furious Australian has reported on the skyrocketing increase in his gas bill.
Under the headline ‘Dodo Gas Price Hike – 46 percent’, a Sydney Reddit user lamented the impending sharp price hike from telecom and energy supplier Dodo.
“When I saw Dodo’s email with the price increase, I was very surprised,” the message read.
‘I will give them a hefty $5 discount because I also have an NBN subscription with them, but a 46 percent increase in the daily (gas) price is a big blow to my stomach.
‘Compared to this, the 1.4 percent increase in usage is almost human.’
In a reply to someone else who said AGL had imposed a 10 percent price increase on him, the original author urged others to criticise energy suppliers’ price increases.
“I saw another thread about AGL a few days ago that inspired me to make this,” they wrote.
‘Hopefully it will help keep up with the development and get people to start insulting their shopkeepers.’
A Reddit user was shocked to hear about a sharp increase in the prices he was having to pay for natural gas
Many of the commenters provided helpful advice.
“Just change providers. There is no reward for staying with one provider,” one person wrote.
“Even if they lower the rates, it is your responsibility to check and proactively contact them, even if they are happy to charge you more.”
Another asked, “Are you renting or owning?”
‘If the latter is the case, do what you can to ditch gas – opt for induction hobs, heat pump air conditioning and heat pump hot water, and switch to a variable schedule so your hot water supply uses cheap electricity during the day.’
However, another Reddit user said the strategy was seriously flawed.
“I looked into this,” they argued.
It costs a bomb to do all that electrification stuff!
“The payback period for any energy cost savings is several decades. And there are no government incentives or rebates to help.”
Australian consumers are being hit by higher gas prices, something the energy regulator could do this winter and next (stock image)
The energy regulator previously warned that Australia’s east coast could face severe gas shortages as extreme weather conditions could disrupt gas supplies.
Australian Energy Market Operator (AMEO) CEO Daniel Westerman said declining production in the Bass Strait was putting gas supplies for the next three winters at risk.
“Every winter there is a risk of shortages on peak days, when there are periods of very high demand for both gas for heating and gas and power generation at the same time,” he told the ABC.
‘From 2027 onwards, we will emphasise the need to invest in new sources of gas supply to overcome the expected annual shortages each year.’
Kevin Morrison, an expert in energy economics and financial analysis, told Daily Mail Australia that Australians pay twice as much for gas as Americans, despite both countries being major exporters of the energy source.
Despite Australia being a major exporter of natural gas, Australians pay twice as much for the energy source as Americans.
He said the lack of competition was the main reason why Australia exports most of its domestically produced gas.
“In the US you have big companies like Chevron and Exxon, but companies like Shell are also strongly represented,” Morrison explains.
‘In Australia, the largest producers of coal seam gas are three consortia in Queensland. Most of the gas they produce goes to sea.’
The other major gas producer for eastern Australia is the joint venture between Exxon and Woodside in the Gippsland Basin region of southeastern Victoria.
“They and the Queensland consortiums control three-quarters of the gas reserves in eastern Australia,” Morrison said.
‘If you have a handful of producers, they know what each other is doing and can prevent the market from getting too much gas.’