Business owners say they're being forced to rethink how they operate under the pressure of the most recent round of power price hikes. On the first of July electricity prices increased in some states by between 20 and 25 per cent on top of hefty hikes in previous years.
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00:00 Beefed up power bills have butcher Steve Howell looking at ways to cut costs.
00:07 Every time we do get one of these hikes I need to re-evaluate the costs of everything.
00:13 In South Australia where Mr Howell is based, default power prices rose by more than 20% in July.
00:20 Three months on, business owners are feeling the impact.
00:24 I'm finding that I have to work longer hours if that's possible, but I do it because it needs to be done.
00:31 Maria Paglia says the soaring cost of living is impacting her business in more ways than one
00:37 as people increasingly cut back on luxuries like hair appointments.
00:41 It's a bit of a struggle as clients are stretching out their services
00:46 which is making it harder as they're not coming in as regularly.
00:49 It's just layered and it affects us and it hurts a lot of us and we're losing small business.
00:56 Recent data shows South Australian power bills have risen by nearly $650 for small businesses since June last year.
01:05 Meanwhile the average household is paying up to $250 more.
01:10 A concerning figure particularly for those on low incomes bracing for the next payment.
01:16 We know that many families are making decisions not to put food on the table quite as often as they might
01:22 or indeed to feed their kids but not necessarily to feed themselves in an effort to save money.
01:29 In SA, rebates of up to $500 are being offered to households on concession payments.
01:35 That will make a difference but in fact we saw the energy companies move almost immediately
01:42 to increase prices that will see almost all of that gobbled up for most households.
01:49 Consumers hopeful the financial pain will eventually fade.
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