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Archives for January 2010

I Have The Power… At Last.

January 26, 2010 @ 21:55 By Gavin Webber 8 Comments

The ongoing saga of being paid the Victorian Premium Feed-in Tariff for the net electricity that I export into the grid from my Solar PV system is finally over (I hope).

Since this post, titled ‘How Hard Is It…’, many things have transpired.  Firstly, I was called by Origin new connections and they confirmed that my new electricity meter would be installed on January 8th, between 1200-1600.  So far so good, I thought because we were getting a bit of action, but two weeks later than I expected.  Apparently, the 21 days was for them to contact me with a date, not to install the meter. 

I worked from home on the 8th waiting in anticipation, only to be disappointed at 1600 when no one from Powercor, who were to perform the installation, turned up.  I jumped straight on the phone to Origin to get them to sort it out.  I received a call back in about 10 minutes telling me that Powercor had computer issues and my work request had failed to be sent to the installation team.  I asked for Powercor’s direct number because my beef was not with Origin, and so that I could rip them a new one (hey it worked once already).  I talked to Powercor’s new connections team, who duly apologised in the lamest possible way, and proceeded to book me into the next available installation slot of the 8th of February.  Well, to say that I lost the plot was an understatement.  Kim said that she could see steam coming out of my ears.  The poor bloke on the other end didn’t know what hit him as I promised to get the Electrical Ombudsman involved for loss of earnings.  He began to back pedal really fast and said that he will check with his supervisor to see if they could fit me in earlier.  Hell, that felt good!

Twenty minutes later, I get a call back from Powercor.  The apology was much more sincere this time, and they told me that they could now fit me in on the 21st of January from 1200-1600, and they were going to wave the $167 installation fee.  Well that was much better!  I accepted their proposal, and apologised to the bloke for loosing my nut, and he said that it was he who should be apologising again and not I!  Nice touch.

Anyway, Kim rang up Powercor on the 20th to confirm that everything was going to plan.  They told her that the installation was scheduled for the 8th of Feb (OMG!), whereby she duly pointed out that NO that was not the right date and that we were scheduled in for the 21st of Jan.  They quickly realised their error, checked with the installation team to ensure that we were on their list for the next day, and told Kim that they would be in big trouble if they stuffed up this one again.  I wonder who they were going to be in trouble with, me or the Ombudsman? 

I was to work from home again on the 21st of Jan, and to my surprise on the way home, Kim called to inform me that the installation team had already turned up at 1030, and hour and a half early.  Instead of one hour of downtime, they completed the job in 15 minutes flat and even gave us some instructions on how it worked to boot.  Kim said that one of the installers looked like a young Brad Pitt, so that made her day!

So what was all the fuss about?  Well, in December 2009, after much public pressure and lobbying by environmental groups, the Victorian parliament passed legislation that forced electricity retailers to pay small generators ( PV systems <5 kw peak), a premium feed-in tariff of 60c per net kilowatt hour for electricity exported into the power grid.  However, credits built up over the year by the small generator would be reset, or effectively cancelled, at the end of each calendar year with a potential loss of thousands of dollars.   The retailers took this up immediately, with the larger ones like Origin and AGL offering 66c and 68c respectively, and they promised that they would roll over credits year to year and pay them out upon customer request once the credits available was greater than $50.  AGL got away with a larger tariff because they charge a $10 admin fee for the credit transaction.  As low handed as a bank, I reckon and it pays to read the small print.

I signed the feed-in tariff with Origin in December 2009 after confirming that they had no administration fee, listed the 8th of Jan as the start date of the agreement (even though I didn’t technically get the meter until the 21st).  Straight after the meter was installed, after I had finished staring at it clocking up exported kWh’s, I called Origin sales to confirm that the agreement was in place.  Low and behold, it was effective immediately and that any electricity I imported from the grid was 100% GreenPower wind generated.  So, once again, my power is officially all carbon neutral, which is important to me in a Greening of Gavin sort of way.

So far, as of 1200 today, we have exported 45.3 kWh (+$29.89), and imported 71.5 kWh (-$17.87) from the grid.  This means that I am just over $12 in credit already after 6 days.  I love it!  Less of course the quarterly network service fee of around $50.  Hopefully we should clock up enough credits to pay for that as well.  With a decent system you can export quite a lot of electricity if you keep consumption down low during the day.  We now operate all major electrical items after sunset, like the dishwasher, washing machine, and pool pump.  This way, we get maximum export during the day, and draw on the cheaper energy during the night.  Pretty crafty hey!  If they are going to pay me good money for it, I might as well make the most of it.  Will be able to pay the mortgage off quicker with the profits which is a bigger bonus.

So out with the old;

And in with the new.

Finally, a happy ending.  Now I just have to hope that Powercor took a final reading off of the old meter and passed it to Origin, or they will have no point of reference for my bill when they read this new one in three months time.  Luckily, Kim took a photo of the old meter (above) before Powercor disconnected it!  Thank goodness that I am a member of the ATA as I read about this tip in ReNew magazine about a year ago.  It pays to take every precaution after all the stuff ups so far. 

Oh, by the way.  Origin/Powercor have already tried to charge us for the replacement meter which Powercor said they would waver.  We set them straight on that one as well after another rocket down the phone!  Will they ever learn what good customer service is?

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Filed Under: feed-in tariffs, Photovoltaic, Solar Power

Day 25 – Menu update

January 25, 2010 @ 22:13 By Gavin Webber 6 Comments

Lessons learnt this week;  Lunches at work have proved to be interesting.  I have been taking leftovers most days, because at least I know what is in it and can tell that it is mostly local.  I have not bought my lunch from the  food-court that I used to frequent in 25 days.  So far so good.

Kim stated last night that she now really loved this locavore lifestyle.  We know exactly what is in our food and we feeling better for it.  We went shopping on Saturday at Coles (the supermarket formally known as BiLo) and spent a grand total of $38.  We found that after scrutinising every purchase, we walked out of there with so much less in our trolley than we would have normally bought before we took up the challenge.  A few staples, like free range chicken, local milk for cheesemaking, spices (fair game), bread flour.  This challenge makes you totally aware of the place of origin of all food stuffs, and what to look for in labelling.  Made in Australia is simply not good enough, because it doesn’t give you any idea as to where all the ingredients come from.  The label we are always looking for only if we can’t source local is ‘Product of Australia’.  It is the only way to determine where on the planet the food was grown.  We have noticed that quite often the state of origin is now being displayed in brackets, Product of Australia (VIC) for instance.  It helps to narrow it down even further.  Maybe more people are asking the hard question to the food retailers regarding where their food comes from?

Yesterday, we took another trip up to the cherry farm at Mt Gisborne as they only have two more days picking left to go.  We bought 2kg for $24, which was a steal because our next stop was our local greengrocer at Bacchus Marsh and they were selling local cherries for $18 kg.  Buying straight from the orchard certainly keeps the costs down, and cuts out the middle man.  That way, you know that the producer has gotten a fair price for their produce.

Making; Plumcot Jam, Brinjal Pickles, Zucchini Chutney, Preserved Peaches and Plumcots, Bread, Yoghurt, Pitta chips.

  
Harvesting; Zucchini, Cherry tomatoes, cucumber, basil, spring onions, thyme, sage, mint in tea, eggplant, onions, garlic and an average of 5 eggs a day.

Anyway, on to this weeks menu;

Day 18 – Monday
Breakfast; Weetbix with milk from within zone.  50% local
Lunch;  Sandwiches, cucumber & cheese. 100% local
Dinner; Bean Patties with stir fried vegetables.  60% local

Day 19 – Tuesday
Breakfast; Weetbix with milk from within zone.  50% local
Lunch; .  Leftover Bean Patties with veg.  60% local
Dinner;  Baked Fish with roasted root vegetables.  80% local

Day 20 – Wednesday
Breakfast; Weetbix with milk from within zone.  50% local
Lunch;  Leftover Home made Chicken Noodle Soup from freezer. 50% local
Dinner;  Omelettes.  100% local.

Day 21 – Thursday
Breakfast; Weetbix with milk from within zone.  50% local. 
Lunch;  Sandwiches, Bread & butter cucumbers. 100% local
Dinner;  Takeaway Pizza treat.  0% local.  Unfortunately this made me ill and gave me a bout of gastro.  Lesson learnt not to get take-out.

Day 22 – Friday
Breakfast;  Too sick to eat.  Drank lots of water instead

Lunch; Dry bread.  100% local
Snack.  1 Nectarine, 1 Peach. 100% local
Dinner;  Moroccan Chicken.  Free range chook, my garden fresh zucchini, onions, garlic, local carrots.  100% local. 

Day 23 – Saturday
Breakfast;   Home made yoghurt with apricot jam plus 2 cups of mint tea.  100% local
Lunch;  Bread roll with my garden fresh cucumber, lettuce, chicken loaf and home made Stilton cheese.  90% local

Dinner;  Curry Zucchini Soup with home-made crusty bread.  100% local
Supper;  Cheese board.  Jindi Brie and Home-made Stilton with wafer crackers .  90% local.

Day 24 – Sunday
Breakfast;  Crumpets with apricot jam. 2 cups of mint tea.  75% local.
Lunch;  Bread roll with cucumber and chicken loaf.  75% local
Dinner;  Roast Chicken (FR), with local potatoes, broccoli, carrots, and cabbage.  Frozen peas, from AU.  Gravy from pan juices, cornflour and gravy browning.  80% local

Day 25 – Monday
Breakfast; Weetbix with milk from within zone.  50% local
Lunch;  Leftover Curry Zucchini Soup.  100% local
Dinner; Prawn & Chicken Pasta Salad.  Frozen prawns from Thailand, chicken leftovers and locally made pasta (Kookaburra brand).  Dressing made from French mustard and yoghurt.  75% local.

The maths comes in at 75.4% from 25 meals.  Slowly getting better every week.  We are very happy with  our progress so far, and are still coming in at under $150 per fortnight for our food bill.  The veggie patch is really being put to good use as is the stockpile cupboard for certain staples.


At the Jeff Jones market in Bacchus Marsh we picked up these lovely local fruits grown only 14km from our house.

Yellow Peaches
New season golden delicious apples
Yellow nectarines
Plumcots. A cross between a plum and an apricot.  Great flavour and they make a delicious jam.
Local Strawberries,
The find of the month for January goes to the local Apple Cider Vinegar made in Bacchus Marsh.  It now only has about 200ml left out of the 2 litre bottle as I used it in my pickles and chutney recipes.  When I take the bottle back I get a refill for $3.  What a bargain and a find!  It even has a big glob of ‘Mother of Vinegar’ in the bottle, which I will put in a big glass jar and add a cheap white wine to make my very own white wine vinegar.  I believe it is easy as waiting a few weeks!

Happy locavoring!  I hope you are still going and doing your best.  We love this lifestyle!  Food really tastes like it aught to, and is nutritious to boot.

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Filed Under: 160km Diet

The Zucchini Dilemma?

January 24, 2010 @ 10:41 By Gavin Webber 9 Comments

Look what I discovered lurking under my zucchini bush!  Note the bewildered look on my face.  What the heck am I going to do with this massive zucchini.  It weighted in at 2.772 kg, and it is the biggest I have ever seen.  It wouldn’t even fit in the fridge!

But then the ah ha moment!

I shall make a chutney with some of it, and dinner with the remainder.
So it was off to the kitchen to slice half of it up for a zucchini chutney, which I salted and left overnight.  I will be finishing it off this afternoon as well as a batch of Brinjal Pickles from an abundance of eggplants.

Now for piece de resistance.  I found a recipe for Curry Zucchini Soup, which I gave a go.  Here it is.

Curry Zucchini Soup

Ingredients 

serves 4-6

  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 1 1/2 cups onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 kg (2 1/2 pounds) zucchini
  • 1 litre (1 quart) low-salt vegetable stock
  • 2 tablespoons curry powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions


Sweat the onions and garlic in the olive oil and butter in a large saucepan, set over medium heat, don’t brown.
Add the zucchini, stock, curry powder and ginger and a large pinch of salt and pepper.
Allow to simmer until the vegetables are very soft – about 45 minutes.
Carefully put the soup, in batches, into a blender, or use an immersion stick blender; blend until smooth.
Stir in the cream, taste, and adjust the seasonings if required.
Serve with crusty bread.


We found this soup to have a wonderful flavour, with a slight kick from the curry powder.  All the kids wolfed it down and asked for seconds.  I thought it was quite filling.

So, in reflection, that is what you do with a whopping big zucchini!

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Filed Under: 160km Diet, Cooking, Gardening, Organic, vegetables

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An Ordinary Australian Man Who Has A Green Epiphany Whilst Watching A Documentary, Gets a Hybrid Car, Plants A Large Organic Vegetable Garden, Goes Totally Solar, Lowers Consumption, Feeds Composts Bins and Worms, Harvests Rainwater, Raises Chickens, Makes Cheese and Soap, and Eats Locally. All In The Effort To Reduce Our Family's Carbon Footprint So We Can Start Making A Difference For Our Children & Future Generations To Come.

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