Essential Services !

We live in a hard old commercial world and while the threat of being thrown into a debtor's prison no longer exists, drastic things still happen when we don't pay our bills.  The banks are quick to foreclose if our home mortgage falls into arrears.

There is a vast difference in how commercial firms treat delinquent customers that owe them money.  Phone service companies are quick to disconnect services but what we consider " essential services " are treated very differently.  Their providers offer many forms of relief, including extended payments to cushion reducing arrears.  Government agencies disperse emergency grants where applicants are suffering hardship - and every effort is made to avoid disconnection.

But, when all else fails, it seems that disconnection is the only option.   Where these are government supplied services, the rules that apply differently state to state.  Unpaid water bills in some states result in a partial disconnection.  The supply is reduced to the extent that there is insufficient pressure to use a washing machine or have a shower, but enough remains to gradually replenish the toilet flush or to deliver a glass of water.   Legislation ensures that the occupants must never be deprived of the life preserving availability of drinking water and toilets must be flushed at least daily as a hygiene measure.

Obviously, electricity presents a very different problem.  It is not possible to provide a partial supply and the supplier has passed from government hands into those of a commercial entity in recent years. The prospect of families with little kids being left in the dark is chilling.  In most cases they are left without the means to cook or heat food, keep supplies refrigerated or provide warmth from the cold of winter.  This is now a problem putting immense pressure on charitable agencies to whom these people appeal.

The fact that the charge for electricity has doubled in recent years threatens a huge surge of disconnections when we next suffer an economic downturn - and they happen on a very predictable cycle.   We are part of the world economy and events in other countries can cause fluctuations in the price we gain from exports or generally disrupt trade to our disadvantage.   We are at present suffering static wage levels despite high employment and an ever lowering unemployment pool.

It is reassuring to know that some rules are in place when it comes to electricity disconnection to shield people who rely on life support equipment that is powered by electricity.  Several electricity suppliers have disconnected customers despite being aware that such life preserving equipment would cease operating when the electricity supply was terminated.  It could deliver a death sentence to the person who relied on that system for life support.

Electricity suppliers in all states are obliged to give at least four full days notice of intended disconnection to allow the customer to make other arrangements.  Where these failures have occurred, the supplier has been slapped with a twenty thousand dollar fine for each failure.  That seems sufficient to make each supplier stick closely to the rules.

Unfortunately, it does nothing to bring electricity prices into affordability for average people.  A lot of people are struggling to pay their power bills and if it surges to a crescendo in an economic downturn it could be fatal for the government.   Electricity is an essential service and the government needs to do whatever is necessary to stabilize prices and bring them within reach of the average wage earner.   The survival of the government hinges on that happening.