Electricity: changes on the horizon
17/07/2015
There are changes afoot to the financial assistance available for NSW park residents who need help paying their energy bills.
REBATES
From 1 July 2015 park residents will be eligible for all electricity rebates provided by the NSW Government. The rebates available are the:
- Low Income Household Rebate
- Family Energy Rebate
- Life Support Rebate
- Medical Energy Rebate
Residents of residential communities and retirement villages need to fill in specific application forms. These are available from the Energy Saver website.
VOUCHERS
The NSW Government Energy Accounts Payment Assistance (EAPA) scheme provides assistance to people who are facing short-term financial crisis or emergency to help them pay their electricity or gas bill. The scheme provides customers with vouchers, each worth $50, which can be used as part payment of a bill.
At the moment park residents who purchase electricity from the park owner are not eligible for assistance through the scheme. However an EAPA voucher system is currently being piloted in two residential parks in Sydney – Gateway Lifestyle Bass Hill and the Nepean River Holiday Village. If all goes well with the trial hopefully the scheme will be extended to all park residents in the future.