I decided to have a small solar  power system installed.
After installation the electrician hooked it up to the old meter.
The beauty of this is when the solar is generating you get to use it first and the meter winds backwards.  When the sun goes down the grid power comes on and the meter winds forward.
Perfect! That's all I needed. Then they installed the smart meter and I was charged for the installation. This is a con which benefited the power companies at my expense.
Because now they charged me 32 cents a KW and paid me 31 cents a KW. Moreover i had to use their electricity all the time. Then this month they put up my bill by a dollar a week. BUT! my solar price remains the same so I am double whammied. What is worse is when the grid goes down, my solar generation is wasted- I can't use it myself. The grid inverter needs 240 volts to generate it. They send a leaflet with the bill which tells you how to save electricity, but if you do that the price goes up  to make up the loss of profits. This whole system is a shonk, a rort and a ripoff foisted on us by the government in collusion with the power companies.
It must be reversed and the whole lot put back in government hands along with the old meters.
Let me tell you an experience I had with these shonks. I received a flyer in the mail from power company 'A'. with an offer. I rang the number, Yes they will give me a very low price for my peak and off peak use , pay the same for my solar, 17.5 pensioner discount and 18% off if I paid on time.
I figured I would save $40 a month. I accepted.
The bill arrived $30 a month more than the old bill.
They charged me 5 cents KW more and 10 cents KW less for my solar. No discounts of any kind.
I took it to the omnbudsman and they reversed it back to my original company without loss to me.
When I spoke to the head honcho of company 'A' he told me it is the marketing companies they hire who cause all the trouble to  get their success bonus. They all do it he said.
This is why it is a RORT, A RIPOFF AND A SHONK.
I will not be voting labour or liberal ever again I am afraid it will be the green party or a decent independent.
Phew! thats better!

You are not alone, bludger. The power companies (and the state governments that still own most of them) are trying to prop up a dying business model. It isn't working, but they can't afford to acknowledge that. The way PV+storage economics is going, the shenanigans of state governments and power companies will only motivate individuals, businesses and entire communities to give the grid the flick.

Anyway, read this http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/solar-23763. Pay particular attention to the comments. Hope it cheers you up. 

# wrote on Jan 17^th, 2014 at 8:30pm:

Well that cheers me up no end. Thankyou