At first blush, Robyn O'Reilly is like many people in her position when it comes to her power use.

The retired insurance worker lives alone in the port-side Adelaide suburb of Ethelton, a place she has called home for decades.

As a pensioner, she keeps a close eye on how much electricity she uses and feels keenly any nasty surprises that might arrive with a bill.

"I'm lucky because I do get concessions as well," Ms O'Reilly says.

" But if I didn't get them, it would be hard. It would be really hard. "

In other ways, however, Ms O'Reilly defies stereotypes.

Her home is fully electrified.

From her cooktop to her water and space heaters, it is electricity, rather than gas, that provides the required power.

"So everything I run in the house is off electricity, yeah," she says.

Condu

See Full Page