Victorians will be $1050 worse off in a report by Deloitte Access Economics commissioned by the Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet and released today .(20/9/11) The report also claimed that electricity prices will continue to rise for decades.

The figures are contained in the final Deloitte report by commissioned by the State Government to assess the impact of the Federal Government's new Carbon Tax on Victorians.

The report modeling assumptions were aligned to the modeling undertaken by the Commonwealth Treasury and cover many areas of the Carbon Tax impact, including employment and electricity costs.

The report names Melbourne, Gippsland and the Barwon Regions as the areas hardest hit with electricity prices expected to rise 23% by 2030.
The Federal Government's preliminary figures show a more modest rise of about 10% with final figures expected to be releases later this month.

Clearly, with brighter and better informed minds than you and I unable to come to a consensus on this subject, it should be taken for granted that we will suffer electricity price rises somewhere between the above stated figures.

The best solution for us as the end electricity user, is to use less electricity, this is obvious, but how?
There are certain functions that cannot be greatly changed; the pool pump has to pump a certain amount of water, so savings in that area are difficult. The kettle still has to boil water, the toaster still has to cook toast, the oven must still be set at a temperature and cook for so long.

One of the biggest changes we can do to save electricity is by changing to LED lighting and away from Halogen Lighting. This is an area where savings of 70%-80% can be achieved simply by changing a light globe. It is difficult to achieve such savings in any other area with so little effort.

LED lighting is one of the most efficient form s of lighting commonly available, if careful consideration is taken to choose the correct light colour and beam width; LED lighting is on par with the more energy hungry Halogen globes.

As with all types of lighting, quality comes at a price, it would be unwise to buy the cheapest LED globes and expect brilliance. A good start to reducing your Electricity Bill would be by choosing an LED globe from a reputable brand with an Australian warranty.