Startled, I stared at my electricity bill. My consumption over the quarter had decreased by 4.62 per cent. The bill, however, was 20 per cent higher, at $542.66. I live alone. (Cat doesn’t count…) And that’s before the 9 per cent price rise coming in July.

As one of thousands of households who have had to seek ‘financial flattening’ as a way to manage rising energy prices, i.e.