Several potential impacts and opportunities were identified as potentially resultant of the 2021 tariff reforms.
- Moving to diesel: The pricing of electricity has the potential to cause negative environmental outcomes. Several participants assessed the cost and benefits of moving more of their pumping operations to diesel (or knew others who were). Given rising demand and supply charges, diesel was for some a cheaper alternative and was seen by some as more reliable, unaffected by blackouts or power quality issues, particularly for those farmers coming off drought assistance where supply charges would be reinstated.
- Better lifestyle with Tariff 20: Typically those farmers who had been on the (now obsolete) irrigation time-of-use tariffs had moved to Tariff 20 (flat rate anytime). The lack of incentive to water at night caused self-reported water efficiency penalties due to greater evaporation when watering during the day, but five farmers reported positive lifestyle benefits from not having to work at night checking lines or paying others overtime to do so. Tariff 20 also benefited farms that had increased intensivity and now required watering both day and night.
- Cost savings with Tariff 34: Tariff 34 is a new controlled load tariff that does not require loads hard-wired in. Tariff 34 provides substantial per kWh savings relative to Tariff 20, but guarantees only 18 hours of electricity per day, where the network can switch off power to controlled load meters for periods of time each day. Automation (whether smart or otherwise) was central to the success of three farmers saving money on certain pumps with Tariff 34. Two used smart technology to restart pumps following a supply interruption and one used a pump timer to manually start the pump each hour, making no difference if it was already running, but restarting it if the power had been cut.
Here we share some examples of impacts and barriers to farmers making the most of the July 2021 tariff reforms and responses to these issues from Ergon Energy and QFF. For more information, see the RESOURCES section below.
SCENARIOS
Worse off without Tariff 62/65
Chelsea grows avocados and is one of several farmers we spoke to who lamented the loss of Tariff 65. She used to make the most of Tariff 65 and irrigate at night, but without the substantial incentive to irrigate at night, she now irrigates during the day, to try to reduce the cost of irrigation with her solar PV system, but estimates there is a greater evaporation loss. Because she fertilises through irrigation, there may be a loss of fertiliser too at a time when fertiliser costs have doubled. Irrigating at night on Tariff 20 is a lot more expensive than it was under Tariff 65. In this case, saving electricity costs can equate to wasting water.
What would you recommend for farmers in this position?
- HERE Ergon Energy explains how night rates compare to current tariffs and why the pricing is different
- See a comparison of old farming tariffs to new tariff options HERE
- See Ergon’s insights into timings and comparison between Time of Use (ToU) and controlled load tariffs HERE
Am I better off switching to diesel?
Max grows cotton in SW Queensland. He runs high-volume pumps for short durations (roughly 3-14 days per year) when water is available. Because many other farmers in the area do the same thing when the river is flowing high, he has experienced low voltage issues. Anecdotally he believes that from the cost of electricity and the lack of suitable tariffs for high volume short duration river irrigators, several farmers in the area are switching back to diesel. Max doesn’t particularly want to switch to diesel, due to (1) his environmental ethic, (2) his smart tech allows him to start motors remotely, which isn’t possible with diesel, and (3) because he invested in a powerline upgrade recently. But he feels he is being priced out of electricity, particularly once the drought declaration is lifted, meaning he will start paying the daily supply charges for pumps that sit idle for much of the year.
Should Max go back to diesel?
- HERE Andrew from QFF shares thoughts and considerations about electricity vs. diesel for water pumping
- Learn HERE how demand is measured for flood irrigators on large and small customer tariffs and how to handle it
“Forgotten” flood irrigators
Several farmers employing flood irrigation felt disadvantaged by electricity tariffs. For these farmers water may be available for a very short time, resulting in large capacity pumps running continuously for 3-6 days, but sometimes only used on one or two occasions in a whole year. The high peak drawn on start-up means farmers cop high kW rates on demand tariffs, but controlled use tariffs are not viable, because you may be turned off without notice when you need to pump continuously. Solar often isn’t a viable option, because the electricity profile is made up of short but substantial peaks of use, followed by very little use at other times and the small feed-in rate (if exporting is possible) means you’re not making money if you’re not self-consuming your solar. Finally, you’re paying (sometimes) a high daily supply charge, when the meter may only be used on three days each year.
Are flood irrigators really “forgotten” in the current tariff suite? What would be your advice to them?
- Learn HERE how demand is measured for flood irrigators on large and small customer tariffs and how to handle it
- CLICK for additional advice from QFF for flood irrigators
- See Ergon’s insights into timings and comparison between Time of Use (ToU) and controlled load tariffs HERE
Making the most of Tariff 34
Nicole bought an established farm about 12 months ago, and when they took over they had to choose new tariffs for 12 NMIs. They asked the previous owner (who still lives locally) for suggestions on which tariffs to choose for the farm, and they said not to take the controlled load tariff Ergon offered because they might suddenly lose power without knowing it. The mystery of how the tariff works and uncertainty about these time periods led her to choose tariff 20, regardless of how much cheaper it could be and how well 34 would have suited her operations.
David is religious about his use of pumps during the off-peak period on tariff 62A, but he knows he needs to choose a different tariff very soon when the transitional tariffs are also retired. A very short time on tariff 20 told him that it would be much more expensive on this tariff, with no benefits. He quickly changed back to 62A while he could. Tariff 34 has benefits over 62 for the way he operates, and he’s ready to pay to change his NMI for it. The main issues are that no local farmers have had electricians want to install and apply for the tariff with Ergon, and he doesn’t know anyone to ask about how they handle the shutoff periods. He thinks he can find an electrician to make the change eventually, but he has no idea about how the supply disconnections work, and the timeframes and notifications Ergon gives for these.
What is the notification procedure for controlled load shutoffs? Where can someone find out about the history and predictions of shutoffs in their area? What is the best way for David to go about changing to 34?
- In this VIDEO Ergon Energy provides information about shutoff notifications, the history of tariff 34, and recommendations if you need an installer
- HERE you can see some options for restarting pumps on tariff 34
- See Ergon’s insights into timings and comparison between Time of Use (ToU) and controlled load tariffs HERE