Don’t expect the power companies to have the courtesy to warn you though, it’s something you just discover when the bill arrives. If you haven’t worked it out yet expect something like a 15 per cent increase overall.

Amanda Stroud of Nethercote said she “nearly fell over” when she saw her latest bill while Ron Douglas of Merimbula said he has spent hours trying to understand different power contracts that are just “too complex”.

Ms Stroud’s recent bill from Origin Energy was so huge that the company agreed to investigate.

Power company bills increased from July 1 and now customers are starting to see the effects, but the varying changes to individual parts of the bill can have a much greater impact.

For example anyone on Origin’s Standing Offer will have seen their off peak controlled load 1 cost increase by 29 per cent. This is typically the charge used for off peak water heating, something that makes up a large proportion of many household bills.

Even smaller households with modest power usage are likely to see an increase of a couple of hundred dollars a year, and all this at a time when wages growth is 2.5 per cent at best.

How is this level of increase justified?

But power companies assault us on another front by making it close to impossible to compare contracts between different providers. Even understanding your own bill is not a simple job. In any other business we would call this a scam.

So it is hardly surprising that the federal Treasurer has directed the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to hold an inquiry into retail electricity pricing.

A series of public forms will be held in major cities, which means those with the least choice of power providers must travel to have any input.

Fortunately though the ACCC is accepting comments. If you would like to provide feedback directly to the ACCC, write to them at retailelectricityinquiry@accc.gov.au. 

A preliminary report is expected to be produced by the ACCC by the end of September 2017, with a final report due on June 30, 2018.