My wife Lois, and I own the Heritage Hotel Dorrigo.
Heritage Hotel Dorrigo is situated on the Dorrigo Plateau behind Coffs Harbour.
The Dorrigo district population is circa 2,400.
The major economic activity in Dorrigo is tourism from the World Heritage Gondwana Dorrigo National Park and beef cattle.
Mr Albanese and his government said electricity prices would reduce.
Over the three years of the labour government annual electricity costs at Heritage Hotel Dorrigo have increased from $37,623 to $60,150. That is an increase of $22,527 and 59.9%.
Electricity Costs:
• 2022 $37,623
• 2023 $46,289
• 2024 $60,150
With the escalating electricity costs at Heritage Hotel Dorrigo, an electrical engineer was engaged to determine where energy was used in the hotel and at what time of the day.
It was found that:
• Energy was used 24/7 for two large cool rooms, a freezer room, two large fridges and 24 room fridges.
• There were two peaks in energy use; in the morning when guests got up turned on the lights and TV and then went to the bistro for breakfast; then at night when guests turned on lights and TVs and came to the bistro for dinner which was open until 8.15pm.
• Both peaks when solar would not be generating.
Thus to provide energy for the 24/7 demand and the peak demand periods a solar system would have to have battery back up.
The investment for solar required to provide for the hotels energy needs was $125,000. The battery back up investment was $150,000.
Thus the total investment for solar and batteries was $275,000 which level of investment is not cost justified for a hotel in a small country town.
Peter Feros
Partner Heritage Hotel Dorrigo
PS. Our experience is that coal is a lower cost source of energy than renewables.