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Thursday, March 11, 2010
Members Statement
I rise to ask the Minister for Energy and Resources to freeze the rollout of smart meters until there has been a full and independent cost-benefit analysis of this project. I have been receiving calls from constituents, especially those who are elderly or on fixed incomes, who are concerned about how much consumers are going to end up paying for their electricity. One Doncaster East resident has been told that one of the benefits will be that it will enable remote connection of his electricity when he moves into a new home. As he has lived at his current home for some decades, he does not believe this will be of great advantage to him.
This project is yet another sorry tale of how the Brumby government treats Victorians. The Auditor-General found that project faces a blow-out from $800 million to $2.25 billion.
It has also been beset by delays, poor functionality and poor risk management. A report prepared by the University of Melbourne found that Victorian families will be paying up to $152 this year for smart meters that have not been installed, and face electricity price increases of an extra $150 once the smart meters are installed.
The rollout should be frozen so that Victorians will not have to pay through the nose for the meters, even if they do not have them, and then pay again through massive increases in peak charges when the meters are installed.
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