No Showers, Please

'AN ELECTRICITY retailer has warned that Victorians will have up to $150 added to their bills when the state moves to Smart Meters. A spokesperson of the company says retailers, burdened with millions of dollars in extra costs, have no choice but to increase prices. "The average bill is about $950 a year and it has to go up to recover all of that cost by $100 to $150".

That rise would be on top of any higher electricity charges coming from the Federal Government's carbon pollution reduction scheme.According to the Government's green paper, electricity charges would jump 16 per cent and gas prices 9 per cent under measures to tackle climate change.'

Excerpt from The Age www.theage.com.au

Not only do I now have to save water (because of a 13 year long drought in Australia), I have to save electricity too. Victorians are bombarded with tough messages on the streets, in the newspapers, on the telly to save water and electricity. Once when my parents were visiting, they asked me why all the houses along the streets are so dark and quiet. Unlike Malaysia, all lights in the house are switched on till about 11 or 12am. The streets will be so bright there's no need for street lights. Here, there is hardly any movement in the houses. That's because everyone in the family will be huddled together in one room so that only one set of lights will be switched on the house, and that consumption of gas for the heater will be minimal coz they won't need to heat up other parts of the house, only that one room. If they're lucky, all the body heat in the room will be enough to keep them warm.

And when Victorians take showers, we are encouraged to keep it to 3 mins max. No washing the car (lucky people here got no maids, what are they gonna do if they can't use water to wash the 3 cars in the house and mop the floor every day?), watering the gardens can only be done on certain days in the week, depending on what your house number is. My water bill gives me a summary of how Gaz and I have passed, or failed our water consumption target of 155 litres per day.

Sometimes I feel like I'm living in a third world country!