By Callum Ludwig
Since she was a young girl, Yarra Junction resident Alice Underwood has dreamt of one day having electricity connected to her home.
Now 32 years old, Alice and her mother will have lived without power for 30 years come this December, other than a small 12-volt generator set up by their friend Mikey that’s barely enough to charge a phone and power some fairy lights.
The ‘last power pole’ on their street is only 500 metres from their home, yet Alice and her mother have been quoted between $83,300 and $98,800 by Ausnet to extend electricity infrastructure to their property, an unaffordable figure to drum up through her disability support pension and her mother’s age pension and previous casual work as a fruit picker.
Alice said she would be amazed if she had electricity.
“I was scared of electricity when I was a kid because I didn’t have it and I was scared of getting electrocuted if I went to someone’s place, I didn’t know how it worked and I’m still nervous around it in some ways,” she said.
“I would love to learn how to use it, learn how to use appliances, learn how to use a washing machine, an air conditioner or a fridge,”
“It’d be a different world for me if I had electricity.”
Alice has severe autism and her sole income is the disability support pension, though she and her mother have to contribute large amounts to extra costs through having no electricity such as using a laundromat, batteries for torches, bottled water, transport into town and replacing spoiled food.
Before Mikey set up the generator some years ago, they were also spending up to $50 a week on candles to provide some light at night.
Mikey said it breaks his heart seeing how it just continues to be the way it is.
“I feel like my hands are tied and I feel frustrated, I’ve done a lot of work there helping as much as I can and neglecting my stuff because it’s just a bigger priority there,” he said.
“Alice, and everybody, deserve to have dignity, comfort and normality, this isn’t something that should be a luxury, it should be a right for everybody on the planet, let alone somebody living in the first world.”
Alice’s nearly 80-year-old home is in desperate need of restoration due to their inability to afford upkeep and repairs, with restumping being carried out, asbestos needing to be sealed and a clean drinking water system installed all on the list of works.
Alice’s support worker Lisa said Alice has so much potential.
“Her living environment doesn’t allow for her to move forward like everyone else; to get a job or study,” she said.
“What it [access to electricity] would do is it would give you more independence, like the NDIS support workers, we’re doing things just to keep you fed and the basic things,”
“If that was all taken care of, Alice could do other things with her NDIS pension to move forward and thrive and meet those goals.”
Alice has put forward a Change.org petition calling on Ausnet, the Energy and Water Ombudsman for Victoria (EWOV) and Victorian Government to make changes, including recognising her situation and desperate needs, developing viable renewable energy alternatives in difficult locations for connecting to the grid such as her own and to establish no-interest loan schemes repayable at the time of property sale, specifically designed for low-income individuals and pensioners.
Alice’s petition can be found here: chng.it/ZjtrMvHQR6.
The EWOV is unable to comment on individual cases or acknowledge if cases have been received.
“If you’re connecting a new property or existing property to the electricity wires or gas pipes in Victoria, you can contact your chosen electricity or gas retailer (the company that issues your bills) or the distributor (the company that maintains the wires and pipes) about any issues you may have,” Energy and Water Ombudsman Catherine Wolthuizen said.
“If you can’t resolve the issue with the company, EWOV can investigate complaints about the cost of a new connection, delay in connection or information provided about a new connection,”
“If Victorian consumers have a dispute about another energy or water issue that they can’t resolve with their provider, we are here to help. EWOV can assist with fair, independent and free dispute resolution about most energy or water issues relating to a member. More information is available at ewov.com.au.”
A fundraiser has also been set up in support of Alice, which will be managed by local homelessness support service Holy Fools, and will go towards restoring her home.
Holy Fools’ chief executive Neal Taylor said technically Alice and her mother can be considered homeless because they don’t have access to safe and secure housing.
“Behind the scenes, we’ve been talking to different people about what can be done to help her, whether there are building materials that could go up there, could there be a group that could go up there and do some yard work, or could some trade guys go up there and help us with some of the projects that need doing,” he said.
“One of the first things we’re going to need to do is do an assessment on the property and to see what needs to be done and how we can go about doing it,”
“I think there’s been a tendency to let people fall through the cracks, Alice is just one story of the issues of homelessness in the Yarra Ranges but there’s all forms of homelessness going on in the Yarra Ranges and we need to recognise the fact that it is getting worse.”
The fundraiser for Alice can be found at: mycause.com.au/p/354729/alice-underwood-electricity-clean-drinking-water-sealing-asbestos-and-restumping.
Ausnet was contacted for comment.
