A multi-staged survey of 485 businesses finished at the end of November by the Australian Industry Group revealed that most construction companies had already felt the burden of the carbon tax.

After a first full quarter of power bills, respondents estimated the tax had increased their power costs by an average of 14.8%.

Just over half (50.8%) reported an increase in their energy bill of between 1-10% per annum, while a rather high proportion – 20% of construction businesses – reported total energy cost increases of at least 20% per annum.

Only 1.5% of construction businesses reported that their total energy costs had not increased as a result of the carbon tax.

Furthermore, 52% of firms said their input prices had increased immediately from July 1 last year, the day the carbon tax started.

On the other hand, the Ai Group said the direct cost burden of the carbon tax remained unclear for a third of construction firms, which were unable to estimate the direct impact of the carbon tax on their own energy costs.

Nonetheless, Ai Group chief executive office Innes Willox said the carbon tax was too harsh on businesses, most of which were struggling in a difficult economic climate.

“The cost imposts on domestic businesses and the resulting squeeze in margins come at a time when many businesses are under considerable pressures from a broad range of factors including the very strong Australian dollar, strongly rising unit labour costs and the direct and indirect impacts of the prolonged contraction in residential and commercial construction,” Willox said

“As Ai Group has argued over the past 18 months, the fixed carbon prices that apply until July 2015 are well above current and projected international prices and are a major flaw in the current approach.

“This considerable additional burden on Australian business could be substantially reduced through early linkage to much lower international prices without compromising Australia’s 2020 greenhouse gas targets.”

The carbon tax undoubtedly puts pressure on construction firms, but the reason why the price is so high (currently $23 a tonne and set to gradually increase to $350 a tonne by 2050) is because Australia is one of the world’s biggest polluters per capita.

Despite generating only about 1.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, last year Australian emissions per person were about 24.4 tonnes.

Only a few countries in the world rank higher — Bahrain, Bolivia, Brunei, Kuwait and Qatar.

This may suggest that despite the carbon tax being a burden on most Australian businesses, it is unlikely to drop soon, as Willox suggested it could, forcing firms to rethink their energy consumption in order to save precious dollars.