An alarming number of Territory households have been disconnected from power as electricity, water, and sewerage prices more than doubled against the national average in the NT, according to the latest Cost of Living report by NTCOSS.

The new report revealed that over the last 10 years, Darwin’s electricity Consumer Price Index shot up by 25.2 per cent, which is two times the national rate. Water and sewerage meanwhile tripled the national average at 48.6 per cent.

The Territory’s inflation rate for utilities also spiked across the jurisdiction.

NT Council of Social Services chief executive Deborah Di Natale said cutting people off from essential services like electricity was unacceptable in Australia.

“We urge our Federal and Territory political leaders to act immediately to protect Territorians’ access to electricity,” she said.

“Energy is an essential service. It plays a critical role in the health and well-being of people and powers the economy. It is needed to keep the lights on, safely store food, keep medications safe and for heating, cooling and hot water.”

The latest report found an 11 per cent increase in monthly involuntary ‘self-disconnections’ from 2020 to 2021 for households using prepaid electricity meters, which were cut off after customers were unable to top up their prepaid meters.

It showed that households with prepaid meters in Alice Springs were disconnected an average of 53 times a year – more than once a week, with an average disconnection time of 8.4 hours across the Territory.

Ms Di Natale said the problem is being made worse by the NT Government’s refusal to adopt a new 7 Star Energy Efficiency standard while all other jurisdictions – except Tasmania – followed the Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme to reduce household energy usage.

Most households in remote Aboriginal communities and some urban housing, comprising the Territory’s most underprivileged residents, use prepaid power meters.

With the inflation rate hitting new highs, housing, fuel, and food costs have been rendered unaffordable for many Territorians, forcing them to choose between putting food on the table or paying for electricity, Ms Di Natale said.

Many of the lowest income households including single parents on JobSeeker payments are not eligible for the NT Concession Scheme, she added.

She said that NTCOSS is urging the Territory Government to expand the NT Concession Scheme to extend concessions to all Commonwealth Health Care Card Holders; ensure that a range of payment options, including Centrepay, are available for households with prepayment meters to purchase pre-paid electricity; and, adopt National Construction Code 2022 requiring new homes to achieve the 7-star Energy Efficiency standard already agreed to by most states.

NTCOSS is also calling on the Federal Government to increase JobSeeker to at least $73 per day to cover basic needs.