![Expected bill increase a blow for families and small businesses Expected bill increase a blow for families and small businesses](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/173106531/2eb935fe-cba8-473c-b257-36b6d4bc4ed5.jpg/r0_203_3888_2390_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Proposed electricity price increases add another blow to already difficult cost of living pressures.
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Ballarat business owners were not surprised but still concerned with the news the Essential Services Commission has flagged between a 25 to 30 per cent increase on electricity prices in its recent draft proposal.
Anne Alexander, Commerce Ballarat deputy chair and owner of The Sporting Globe Ballarat said they were expecting a price increase but it will still be difficult to find up to $1500 more to pay the bills.
"It is lower than what they had originally set at 50 per cent," she said.
"So there is a little bit of light there, but just like everything else, there's a lot of pressure on business."
The commission blamed market volatility in 2022 as the reason for the proposed increases to the state's default electricity prices.
While only a small percentage of the population use the default price, traditional market operators are expected to follow suit on a price increase.
Feedback on the draft is currently being sought and a decision would not take effected until the new financial year.
Clients feel the crunch
Taite Radley, owner of Sweaty AF gym on Lydiard Street, said clients are starting to feel the cost of living crunch.
He said there are a lot of conversations happening on the gym floor, with some clients taking a closer look at their spending and are flagging "they will need to make sacrifices", Mr Radley said.
Ms Alexander said ultimately both businesses owners and consumers are in a similar boat and feeling similar cost of living pressures.
"I think it's starting to get to a point where it becomes especially difficult to go out and those kinds of things are more of a treat than something you're able to do all the time."
'Hanging on by their fingernails'
Welfare agencies have slammed the proposed price rise as "unacceptable" at a time many people are struggling financially.
Local representatives of the Salvation Army, Anglicare, and Child and Family Services (Cafs) are already seeing concerning levels of demand, and agreed the ESC's announcement would cause "unnecessary" anxiety in individuals and families grappling with rising accommodation, food and transport costs.
"It's just another burden people have to carry," Salvation Army Doorways Coordinator John Clonan said.
"The cost of living is just getting very, very critical for some members of our community.
"We are seeing people re-present for ongoing assistance: crisis food relief, and cost of living assistance mainly around the essentials of life."
Anglicare Community Development Manager Kate Schnerring said utility price increases would force people to cut back, and even go without heating in the winter months.
She said the timing of the announcement was particularly tough as some struggling families still hadn't had a chance to "recover" from back-to-school costs.
"The overwhelming feeling is that everything is coming at once," Ms Schnerring said.
"Bills are needing to be paid, food's still needing to be supplied, but the wages and the benefits have remained stagnant, so there's not a lot of give in what people have access to.
"We're seeing an increase in people who haven't used our services before - families who would normally be able to survive on what they've got , they're now accessing our services more and more."
Cafs financial counselling team leader Colin Handreck called the proposal an "unwelcome development" for households already "hanging on by their fingernails".
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Mr Handreck said his team had seen a 20 per cent increase in demand compared to this time last year, with instances of clients living in their cars still paying off debts associated with homes they've had to vacate.
He urged people to continue to make use of support services such as the confidential National Debt Helpline (1800 007 007) and to check their eligibility for concessions and assistance such as the state government's $250 Power Saving Bonus and Utility Relief Grant Scheme (URGS).
Organisations such as Anglicare provide a free service helping people compare and save on utility plans and can also provide guidance in grant applications.
"There's always options, always a way forward," Mr Handreck said.
"We're here to help and if you reach out sooner rather than later, you'll have more options."
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