State Member for Cook, Cynthia Lui has announced that Weipa will receive the $1,000 energy rebate on their bills, despite not being connected to the Ergon Energy network.
As part of the 2024-25 budget, Premier Steven Miles announced that every Queensland household would receive a $1,000 rebate on their electricity bills from July 1, but there was uncertainty in Weipa, where residents’ power is delivered through a private network.
Energy to more than 1,200 households in the Weipa township and surrounding communities is supplied through a private network owned by Rio Tinto and is isolated from the national grid.
Ms Lui fought hard for the Weipa community in 2023 over the $550 rebate, and an exception was made to provide the $550 cost of living rebate to Weipa households which met the eligibility criteria.
Ms Lui went into bat for the community again to secure the rebate, saying cost of living relief for remote communities was vitally important to help Weipa families and residents make ends meet.
“I am very pleased to announce that Weipa residents will receive this cost-of-living rebate on their energy bills just as customers on the Ergon network would.
“Just like last year I called upon the Energy Minister and the Miles Government to ensure that residents in the Weipa community have access to the Cost of Living Rebate – and they have delivered.
“This is one of the many ways we are helping Far North Queenslanders to make ends meet in remote communities. We have also delivered an increase in the discount on essential items applied through the freight subsidy scheme, free kindy, free TAFE, free tools and support for kids’ sport.
“I want to thank the Minister for Energy Hon Mick de Brenni for listening to my community and for delivering for our communities.”
As per the approach for the 2023-24 CoLR, an exception will be made again to allow off-grid residents in Weipa to receive the 2024-25 CoLR.
The $1000 CoLR will be applied to eligible customers’ electricity bills by their supplier, Rio Tinto (RTA Weipa) from 1 July 2024, with the rebate appearing on the customer’s next bill.
