IRRIGATORS have brushed off suggestions from Premier Campbell Newman that a simple tariff switch could save them 30 per cent on their electricity bills.
In an ABC Radio interview earlier this month, Mr Newman said he’d asked his party members to give him the power bills of two or three major irrigators in their constituents to be analysed by a government department.
“We have found, almost universally, that these various cane growers and irrigators in horticulture and the like are paying too much,” Mr Newman said.
“Firstly we’ve found almost every single bill we’ve looked at, people are on the wrong tariff, there are other tariffs they could be on that would give them a better deal.
“But the second important point is that there is a tariff that allows you to irrigate essentially all weekend, so from 9 o’clock on a Friday night through to 7am on Monday morning and then off peak during the week.
“You can irrigate during those times and, if you choose to, if you’re capable of doing that, if that can be set up on your property, you can actually save 35 per cent on your bills.”
One organisation quick to pour cold water on the comments was the Bundaberg Regional Irrigators Group (BRIG). Manager Dale Holliss dismissed the “switch tariffs” proposal, saying crop water requirements varied throughout the year.
“Demand is minimal in winter and peaks in summer. In summer if there is little or no rainfall, crop water requirements of 60mm/week means that irrigation plant is required to operate 24/7,” he said.
“From the current available tariffs, the one that best suits consumption in the cooler months is certainly not the right tariff for summer.
“We are well aware of this and have discussed with Ergon the ability to change tariffs more than once a year.
“However, the best outcome would be to have dedicated irrigation tariffs that are aligned with the needs of agriculture. More importantly, we need instant action to bring down power costs before more growers go to the wall.”
Mr Newman’s comments came as Energy Minister Mark McArdle and Agriculture Minister John McVeigh embarked on a listening tour throughout the state last week on the heated issue of electricity prices being endured by irrigator farmers.
National Irrigators Council CEO Tom Chesson said that, although it sounded good to say “just irrigate at weekends and night-time on a cheaper tariff’, it was not that simple.
“Irrigation using the type of equipment used by most farmers – and remember that this has been selected due to it being the most efficient and cost-efficient – is not set and forget. It needs to be set up and altered at each stage of the operation,” he said.
“There also are limited opportunities for irrigators to change their electricity patterns because they are largely dictated by the needs of a particular crop and/or requirements of water pumping regulations as part of river management operations.”
The senior vice-chairman of Canegrowers Queensland, Allan Dingle, said even sustained rainfall would not impact the core issue around exorbitant power prices for irrigators.
“Rain or not makes little difference to Ergon revenues,” he said.
“If it rains the pumps won’t be turned on. If it doesn’t rain, and the power prices continue at the current or even higher prices, pumps won’t be turned on,” he said.
“But with 33pc lower electricity prices pumps – and remember that prices have soared by 107pc for growers since 2009 – pumps will be turned on sooner following a rain event that they otherwise would be.
“This means the crop – and the growers – will be less stressed.
“It is ridiculous that governments are looking at building new dams when we have dams currently full of water in established irrigation districts but no one can afford to use the water because they can’t afford the electricity.”
Canegrowers electricity committee chairman Rajinder Singh said the battle over irrigator power prices had been raging since 2010 and it was now time for the government to provide essential relief for farmers. “Getting out and talking to people is important; however, if there is no action on prices then the ministers are just wasting people’s time,” he said. “We are in danger of having dams full of water and no one able to afford to draw on them.”
