Ben Hood was elected to the South Australian Legislative Council in March 2023. He lives in Mount Gambier with his family and is a passionate advocate for regional South Australia, for smaller, less interventionist government and conservative values.

Ben Hood MLC

19 hours ago

What is FERM and what’s it really going to cost you?

There’s a new charge on your power bill. It started on 1 July; it’s called FERM, and most South Australians have never heard of it, which is exactly how the SA Government likes it.

Put simply, the Government is underwriting a handful of big battery projects, and you’re paying for it through the transmission charges on your bill.

The contracts have a floor and a ceiling. In a good year it costs us around $20 million, the number the Government likes to quote. When the batteries fall short, we top them up, all the way to around $75 million a year. Only one of those numbers makes it into their press releases.

And you start paying now, for batteries that don’t switch on until 2028 around the same time as the government will close Torrens Island B, assuming everything runs on time.

Every other state got a power price cut this year. We’re the only one where bills went up, and the energy regulator pointed to this very scheme as a reason.

The least this Government can do is be straight about what people are actually paying.

Have a listen to me on 891 yesterday 🎧 ... See MoreSee Less

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Ben Hood MLC

1 month ago

“You’ve got to keep all these things in perspective.”

That’s what the Treasurer says about $1.3 BILLION in departmental budget blowouts this financial year alone.

Here’s our perspective: $1.3 billion is not pocket change, and South Australians won’t be told otherwise.

Today, we introduced a bill to Parliament demanding greater accountability and transparency on every taxpayer dollar this government spends. ... See MoreSee Less

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Ben Hood MLC

1 month ago

State debt heading to $53.7bn and on top of the big build, Labor’s spending $340 million on consultants and contractors. That includes $53,000 for “cultural advice” on a hydrogen plan that fell over.

It’s like having a maxed-out credit card and then hiring someone to do the dishes. That’s Labor’s South Australia.

You can either have a small government that leans on consultants or a big one that doesn’t. Right now, we have both.

Mums and dads are tightening their belts. The Treasurer should too. ... See MoreSee Less

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