Welcome to our third issue of the BULB - your utilities literacy news. This bulletin provides a platform for ongoing support to graduates of the Utilities Literacy Training for Community Workers.
The BULB aims to be informative and inspiring - articles in this issue include tips for referrals to the SA Water hardship program and REES, our Spotlight article on simple and cheap ways to fight the winter chill, and Henry's story of how he got the better of poverty. And of course don't forget to enter our quiz "Utilities Pursuit" to win yourself a double pass to the movies!
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What's new in the Energy Zoo? UL forums and workshops
The new modules are well and truly under way but there is still time to register for upcoming events.
The Utilities Literacy: Consolidation workshops at Bowden and Christies Beach are being held in early May.
This workshop, tailored for graduates of the 2-day Utilities Literacy Training but open to all community workers keen to build on their skills, will focus on calculating running costs for appliances and undertaking home energy audits. We will also look at the newly published “Guide to electricity, gas and SA Water services for Community Workers”.
We would like to promote our regional workshops and forums in Port Lincoln, Berri, Port Pirie, Murray Bridge, Whyalla and Mount Gambier. If you are aware of colleagues in regional centres who may be interested, please let them know about the training by forwarding this newsletter or sending the link to these events.
 The program for the Utilities Literacy Forums at Mawson Lakes and Bedford Park is now available. We are pleased to announce a number of guest speakers who will tackle key areas including hardship, concessions, tariff reform and the Retailer Energy Efficiency Scheme. The afternoon will include a session giving community workers the opportunity to present their success stories.
Don’t miss out!
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Government Update: Direct access to SA Water's hardship team
Customer Assist is the SA Water hardship program. Community workers who contact the service provider on behalf of a client who is a SA Water account holder, should contact Customer Assist directly on (08) 7424 1650 or by emailing third party authorities to: customerassist@sawater.com.au.
To access this service it is important to remember the client must be a residential customer, ie the homeowner, and experiencing hardship issues such as outstanding arrears. The Customer Assist Team aims to respond to these enquiries within 24-48 hours.
The waters are muddied when it comes to tenants. While many tenants are responsible for water use and supply charges, they do not have a direct relationship with the service provider as they do, say, with electricity or gas. If your client is a tenant getting behind with water bills, in dispute over payment for water, or where SA Water does not have authority from the owner to discuss the account with the tenant, they should be redirected to the Residential Tenancies Tribunal.
For more information on issues relating to tenants refer to pages 45-48 of the Guide to electricity, gas and SA Water services.
Customer Assist: (08) 7424 1650
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Consumer Update: Some tips for REES referrals
In the last edition we spoke about this initiative which provides free or subsidised energy efficient appliances and activities to all consumers and offers home energy audits to low-income earners.
The scheme lists quite a number of retro-fit activities, even including hot-water system replacements and ceiling insulation.
To know what activities are currently being undertaken and by who, our best advice is to contact the Energy Advisory Service (EAS) on 8204 1888. For example, if you have a client who would like to changeover an old hot water system for a more efficient model, the EAS will help guide you to the contractor/s currently undertaking this activity.
Regional visits
If you work in regional South Australia, it may not be so easy to access these services at the drop of a hat. Contractors plan trips to regional centres when they have set up a sufficient number of home visits. Again, the EAS is the best contact to find the REES contractor/s who are providing the activity needed and then call the energy retailer contractor to find out when they are next planning to visit your location.
Energy Advisory Service: 8204 1888
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Renewables Update: End of the 16 cents feed-in tariff
 Some households with solar PV systems will need to prepare for the end of their distributor feed-in tariff (D-FiT) later this year. Households that are currently paid 16 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) of exported electricity will no longer receive this payment after 30 September 2016.
These households will still receive a retailer feed-in tariff (R-FiT) amount, which is currently at least 6.8 cents per kWh of exported electricity. Some retailers pay more than the minimum amount, and householders may wish to shop around for a retailer paying 7 cents, 8 cents, 10 cents or more per kWh.
Affected households can also make sure that they are using as much as possible of the electricity that is being generated by their solar panels, by running their most energy-hungry appliances mainly while the sun is shining.
Households that currently receive the D-FiT of 44 cents per kWh, as well as the R-FiT of at least 6.8 cents per kWh, will continue to receive that amount until 30 June 2028. These households are better off if they use their appliances when the sun is not shining, to maximise their return for exported electricity.
For more information on these tariffs, see our Quick Guide to Solar feed-in Tariffs in the first issue of the BULB.
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 Spotlight: Preparing for the winter chill
The streets are a-swish with autumn leaves, the evenings are dark, and winter is coming.
Now is a great time to check doors and windows for draughts, and stop gaps with gap filler, draught stoppers and foam sealing tape. Don’t forget to consider any unused chimneys, or other openings or vents such as those for evaporative coolers. These spaces can be blocked with a piece of cardboard cut to size. Old houses may have decorative wall vents in rooms with old coal fire places – clear contact can be used to unobtrusively cover these and reduce unnecessary air flow.
Remember, however, that wherever there is a gas heater with no chimney, some ventilation is essential to allow oxygen to get in and carbon monoxide to get out.
 Electric throws
Once the draughts have been taken care of, we’ll be rolling out the space heaters. Yet one of the cheapest ways to warm up, other than putting on a jumper and moving around, is with an electric blanket or electric throw rug. These typically use about 100 watts on full heat, less if turned down with the thermostat, and often have timers for automatic switch off – whereas the fan heater can use 15 to 24 times more energy. The Green-It-Yourself blog throws some humorous praise on the electric rug.
It may sound surprising, but a reverse cycle air conditioner can be cheaper to run than a small fan heater. This information is contained in the “Winter heating guide” published by the South Australian Energy Advisory Service. An updated edition of this guide will be available soon, and copies can be ordered by contacting the Department of State Development’s Energy Advisory Service on 8204 1888, email energyadvice@sa.gov.au or visit www.sa.gov.au/energy/resources.
The Australian Government’s Your Home website has rich and detailed advice on sealing your home and heating and cooling.
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New Resources: for CALD clients
 We have received some useful resources that workers with CALD clients may be interested in accessing.
A succinct two-page information sheet on the Energy Made Easy website, understanding and comparing energy contracts, as well as what to do if salespeople contact you and how to deal with problems, is available in thirteen languages besides English. These are: Arabic, Cantonese, Dari, Persian, Hindi, Khmer, Korean, Mandarin, Punjabi, Spanish, Thai, Turkish and Vietnamese! Here is a link to the English version. Please let us know if you would like the resource in any of these languages and we can happily send it in a pdf version.
There are also three resources in Easy English:
These resources are written in simple phrases accompanied by numerous pictograms or images and therefore may be useful to talk through with clients who do not speak English as a first language. Follow the links above to access them.
The resources are produced by the AER (Australian Energy Regulator) together with the ACCC (Australian Competition & Consumer Commission).
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UL Updates
Attendees at the recent series of Utilities Literacy: Innovations workshops have learned details of the various solar feed-in tariffs, and have discussed the potential of household battery systems. Groups also talked about the Residential Demand Tariff which is proposed by SA Power Networks as a response to a new electricity rule from the Australian Energy Market Commission.
The Residential Demand Tariff has potential to substantially change the way that households manage their electricity use and energy budgets, but its final form is currently under discussion and negotiation. A handful of South Australian households are currently being charged under this kind of tariff, but plans are being made to shift all customers to the new tariff over the next 8 or 9 years.
If you are interested in attending a Utilities Literacy: Innovations workshop, watch this space – further workshops will be advertised in this bulletin.
The Utilities Literacy: Consolidation workshop is still available with upcoming dates in Bowden and Christies Beach. See What’s New in the Energy Zoo for information on current training opportunities for community workers.
Energy & Water Information Sessions for clients:
Upcoming session in Smithfield (northern metro):
Wednesday 18 May
10:00am –12:00pm at Uniting Communities, 2/2b Morialta Drive, Smithfield.
For more details contact Sabina: 8202 5980.
Upcoming session in Christies Beach (southern metro):
Wednesday 1 June
10.30am – 12.30pm at Uniting Communities, 3/107 Dyson Road, Christies Beach.
For more details contact Pam: 8202 5010.
Community organisations can also schedule UL information sessions for their client groups. To arrange a session, contact Uniting Communities at Smithfield (8202 5980) for northern Adelaide and Christies Beach (8202 5010) for southern Adelaide.
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Your success stories: Climbing out of the poverty trap
Helen Duffield, a volunteer in Emergency Assistance at Anglicare Elizabeth, attended the Utilities Literacy Training at the Bagster Road Community Centre in Salisbury. Helen’s client, who we shall identify as Henry, came to the service looking for food...
On speaking with Henry further, Helen discovered that he was struggling with quarterly electricity bills of about $500. He had a fridge, a TV, and one light globe, which he would move from socket to socket depending on where the light was most needed. Helen told us that a shortage of light globes is pretty common among her clients, especially single men who have been living in povert y for some time – they just can’t afford the upfront cost of globes for every light socket.
Helen referred Henry for an energy audit with the Residential Energy Efficiency Scheme (REES) and referred him also to the No Interest Loan Scheme (NILS). Through REES, Henry had free compact fluorescent light globes installed in all of his light fittings, and with the NILS loan he was able to replace the fridge, which was well past its ‘use-by-date’, with a new energy efficient one.
Helen doesn’t always hear what happens with emergency assistance clients, but one day Henry dropped in to let her know that his electricity bills had come right down – to the extent that he wouldn’t be needing emergency assistance to cover his food needs, as he could now afford his electricity and his food himself!
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We would like to celebrate and promote what you have done to assist members of the community to reduce hardship associated with electricity, gas and water utilities.
If you can share examples of ways you have helped, either with an individual client or group, we would love to know. Your story might inspire or encourage other community workers to try something similar.
Whether it is a couple of lines or a couple of paragraphs, whatever it takes to tell us what you did, and what difference it has made, we are keen to hear from you. Who knows, maybe your story will be published in the next edition of the BULB!
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 “Utilities Pursuit”
Your UL Quiz!
We got a flurry of answers from community workers for our quiz in the February issue of the BULB! The winners were:
- Jessica Taylor, Financial Counsellor at Anglicare Hindmarsh and Elizabeth
- Janette Stringer, NILS Officer with ac.care, Millicent
- Ruth Wallace, Financial Counsellor at Anglicare’s Magdalene Centre
- Liliana Starkey, Volunteer at Open Door, UCWB’s emergency relief service and
- Amanda Page, Financial Counsellor, Salvation Army Helpline
Congratulations to one and all, we hope everyone managed to get in a good movie!
The correct answers were:
A – Energy consumption in kW
C – ESCOSA
A – 40724
Three multiple choice questions to test your UL knowledge: the first three responses with all three correct answers receive a double pass. All the answers can be found in this edition of the BULB - Ready, Steady, Go!
1. What date will the 16c solar feed-in tariff (D-FiT) cease?
A. 30 June 2028
B. 31 December 2020
C. 30 September 2016
2. An electric throw rug uses approximately how many kW per hour?
A. 2.4
B. 0.1
C. 1
3. Which of the following statements is true:
A. Tenants cannot be SA Water customers for the house they are renting
B. Tenants generally pay for sewerage charges
C. Tenants can join the SA Water hardship program Customer Assist
Done! Send us the answers with your name and a postal address for your chance to win a double cinema pass.
The fine print: Any subscriber to the BULB can send us a response to the Quiz, however eligibility for the prize is restricted to graduates of utilities literacy training.
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The UL JukeBox
What is it about the 80s and electricity?
 From mainstream to new wave even to rockabilly, everyone was infatuated with the stuff. The Polecats were a swinging rockabilly outfit from London who had a hit with this song Make A Circuit With Me! Apparently it was used in the trailer for the Pixar film Wall-E … how apt.
Let a little bit of corniness in … and enjoy.
Adios
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The Utilities Literacy Program supports people to reduce financial hardship associated with electricity, gas and water utilities.
4 ways to manage your energy and water bills
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