Natural Gas Prices in Melbourne, Victoria

[melbourne_yankee]

Here in Oz we have the ability or use to have the ability to lock in energy prices such as natural gas and electricity for a period of 12 months.

Early next year our natural gas contract is ending and I've started to look for new plans.

Geez, the prices have shot up again and we can all blame the USA and the EU for their sanctions on Russia for the price increases.  Australia is selling a huge amount of natural gas in the international markets to capture the high prices caused by the sanctions which means our domestic prices go up.

Last year I got lucky and locked in a much lower price for a year by switching to a new supplier.

I am NOT going to be lucky this year for a number of reasons:

1. Sanctions on Russia have pushed prices way up.

2. Inflation is running just under 7% a year here.

3. The company I am with no longer offers one year fixed rate contracts and only offers variable pricing.  That means they can change the price anytime they want by giving you notice.

Not only are the prices of natural gas up, but the supply charge per day has also skyrocketed.  That charge has more than doubled in the past ten years.

So how much are the new prices?

 

The current supplier I am with has variable prices that are currently 36% higher than what I am currently paying for natural gas.  The supply charge is only up 22%.

But that is still better than the previous supplier I was with.  Their prices are 23% higher than the currently offered plan by my supplier, but their supply charges per day are 15% cheaper and this is a 12 month fixed contract.

 

So how much are those prices inn US dollars and per 1000 cubic feet?

The cheaper plan starts at US$17 per thousand cubic feet of natural gas.  Yes, you read that right..............US$17 per thousand cubic feet of gas. The other supplier starts at US$21 per thousand cubic feet of natural gas.

 

And to give you a idea of how much more than is than in the USA, the current futures price for natural gas in the USA is around US$6 per thousand cubic feet of gas.  of course, there are mark ups and taxes that have to be added to that price to get the retail cost.

 

Those prices are just plain ridiculous.

 

We already close off two bedrooms we don't use and don't heat the house at night, but that still isn't going to be enough. We are going to have to start using our split system reverse cycle machines to heat up part of the house before switching on the natural gas. However, we don't have those in every room and only the central heating works well in those areas.

 

So I'm going to make a couple of "solar air heaters" this summer and get ready for the fall and winter.  The only problem with those is that the weather here in Melbourne is usually cloudy and crappy which means that they will only work part of the time.....................

 

 

 

[schludermann]

What besides heat, applications are you using gas for?  Austin is similar to Melbourne. I turned the meter off decades ago. I paid more to have the meter read, than the gas used. Austin, doesn’t get much colder than Melbourne. Except for the occasional snowpocalypse from Canada, last one was -13C. I get by with extra sweaters and spot heating. This winter i’m trying small USB heating pads on wrists and ankles, to keep fingers and toes warm. 
 

Texas has similar situation, plenty of gas, to those that are to pay the price, like europeans During the 2021 snowpocalypse , the texas grid went down, in part to a loss of gas supply. But kept filling the LNG tankers, while Texans froze to death in the blackouts. I got to spend a week at a huge warming center, with scads of homeless, i learn a lot about the homeless, that the press neglects to inform or does with prejudice.  
 

If you can swing a digester, biogas is suitable for many heat sources. 

[melbourne_yankee]

Heating, cooking, and a bath.

 

We have a "small" 3000 square foot house with vaulted ceilings which is now way to big for us.

 

The house is a typical older Australian one that leaks like a sieve.

 

We have insulation in the roof, but the house is on stumps and there is nothing under the floors and nothing in the walls. It is only single brick too. The glass in the windows is cheap, single pane crap stuff that doesn't do much to stop heat loss or gain for that matter. When they built the house they weren't worried about the cost to heat it or the cost to run it.

 

The previous owner was a plumber and he put in a huge spa bath in the master bedroom en suite.  Take 15 minutes to fill up.!!!