We're from the government and we're here to help you "achieve your energy saving goals by allowing you to monitor your energy usage online".

There was a flyer in the letterbox from a semi-government body. It wanted me to "imagine if you could stream videos, download music and play games over the web at lightning fast speeds" and promised that it would "change how we access information, use communications and enjoy our entertainment". I imagined, and then I went out into the street to play football with the boys.

On the same day, another semi-government body sent me a flyer offering me a "new online way to reduce your energy usage". It said I could "go online" (currently the most-used expression in marketing) and "track how much energy I was using", "see how the temperature can impact your energy usage", and "build a personal energy saving action plan".

Today is just about Melbourne's coldest June day in history. The government is sending me a letter telling me the temperature affects energy use.

There was a photograph in the paper the other day of a family standing in front of a small screen set up on its kitchen table. The accompanying article explained that the screen was a new device that told you how many appliances were turned on around your house, and that if you looked at it frequently, it would help you "save on your energy bills". You could always walk around and switch off lights and pull sockets out of walls yourself, but that is so old school.

Imagine that. A device running on electricity that cuts electricity bills.