I switched over my parents to Momentum Energy electricity a few months ago after using the Vic Govt's electricity comparison tool and finding that they were the cheapest/simplest on the market. Now they're offering gas and I think I'm going to switch over my gas and electricity as they're cheaper than Energy Australia even after the 13% + 3% discount bonus for gas. They seem to have a fairly straightforward deal and you don't need to pre-buy credits or do anything fancy like some of the other suppliers that offer slightly cheaper rates. Looks to be a no-fuss deal. Plus since they're launching their gas offering they're also offering a $50 EFTPOS card for switching your gas and another $50 card for switching electricity. Key condition is that they can reclaim the $50 at a prorated rate if you leave them within 12 months.
Momentum Energy Free $100 EFTPOS Card for Switching Gas & Electricity (VIC)
Referral Links
After referee initiates the switch, referrer and referee each get $50 credit on their accounts.
Referee who signs up via telephone: quote the referral code & name of referrer to customer service during your sign-up telephone call.
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Yep that's the one I used for electricity comparisons. There's MASSIVE differences in prices between the big players and new comers like Momentum even for low energy users.
thanks for the info, I just downloaded the SmartMeter data from United Energy, but the file only contains 100 days of data, though the meter was installed for more than 2 years.
Give them a call or send them an email and request a full copy of all the data. They're required to provide it to you within 10 business days.
Great to see my homework was right. Used this tool and it told me the Momentum Energy plan i'm on, was the cheapest (and yes, cheaper than powershop; never got the whole 'we can't give you a price as it varies' idea, I dislike not knowing how much I have to pay).
I'm also on Jemena, possibly the worlds most expensive bloody distribution network too.
One thing people fail to realise is that most the companies offering 10-30% 'pay on time' discount are jacking their prices up by 20-60% to cover their discounts. Fail to pay on time, and they just make more money.
I have a 10% pay on time discount and it was the cheapest non-gimmick plan when I looked ~18 months ago. By gimmick I mean the "pay on time for 24 months and we send you $100" type ones where you know that one will always be "processed late" or such.
But, just requested by smart meter data and Ill run it through the site and switch if something better comes up.
Switchon.vic.gov.au experiencing heavy traffic might have to try at 3 am.
Typical Gov website.Is there an equivalent of this for SA?
The switchon tool is a bit surprising with some of its figures, i mean how can it work out the savings on a 2 year fixed rate plan if we don't have a crystal ball to see what future price rises would be…
powershop all the way baby.
for average to low usage it aint much cheaper at all.. .
Also they don't do gas I might switch :)
post title should probably mention the minimum 12 months to actually keep the eftpos money
There's always caveats to these 'free bonus' offers. I'm with Lumo Energy and have been for 5 years as they offered me the best rates, so far NONE of the telemarketers or door to door sales people have been able to beat Lumo's rates (true story). Lumo also recently added the 'best price guarantee' where they won't charge you an exit fee if you present them with the offer from the competitor.
I recommend you check your rates against others such as Lumo to see if you really do get a better rate after the $100 EFTPOS card is consumed http://lumoenergy.com.au/why-join-us/energy-packages/vic.
And check your rates after the first bill is presented, I won't be surprised if the rates discussed over the phone are different to the one on your bill.
This is not only illegal but u get a shedule documenting the rates when you sign up.. and you have 10 days cool off if you are not happy. If the rate are then different on your bill the retailers gets fined and a black mark against them if a complain is filed wiht the ombudsmen… not worth the few cents they would make to profit for being dishonest
I know, from first hand account with one energy retailer who promised me a good rate. As you said, it was written all in documentation however when the switch completed and I received my first bill it was a different rate.
I did have to contact the ombudsman to settle it, wasted a collective 6+hrs of my time on the phone going back and forth from Lumo to Origin Energy to the Ombudsman before I got it back to what I had before.
pretty poor if true.. I would have cancelled and gone somewhere else
I went back to Lumo because no other company could match their rates. I chose to receive my bills electronically and paid monthly.
To anyone who finds they have been gazumped by false promises, contact the ombudsman first, don't bother contacting your current or past energy agent, they might provide you the wrong information (that happened in my case, I was back and forth exchange from Lumo to Origin, each time Origin pointed the finger at Lumo to fix it).
After the ordeal I found Lumo and the Ombudsman to be most helpful, and all the more reason for me to stick with Lumo.
The disappointing thing is the same agent who spruiked Origin to me still called in twice in the period since I reconnected back to Lumo, to try lure me back (whereas I thought he would have been dismissed for misleading conduct!).
just to note they have very high supply charge rates.
147.587 cents per day for UE area for Momentum Smile Power plan
List of rates here:
http://www.momentumenergy.com.au/pricesrates depend on location and wholesaler/dist. rates. whilst ur user charge is a lot doesn't mean everyones is. I know ppl on momentum also pay around 68cents daily rate. That's why the site about is brilliant.
red energy user here.
Referred an ozbargainer and both got $$$.$50 each from memory (coles myer?? I can't remember), I found out by accident when I mentioned my parents were with Red.
Yep, $50 each, Coles group gift card.
Many people offer 'cash back'!
simply energy are cheapest for me.. with guaranteed 24% off usage AND SUPPLY (most only do usage) + 16 free gold class movie tix over 2 years. Swapping from momentum whose rates are around 10% cheaper but with no discount.
I've been looking at this. Any hassles with getting the gold class tickets?
I hope not. I just signed up. anyone with simplyenergy can confirm? The tickets are worth around $304 per year (8 gold class tickets) for gas and electricity. With 24% discount on electricity and 14% on gas its not a bad deal at all. The rates are also super competitive.
I work in their customer care team. So long as we have the correct email on file there shouldn't be any issues. It will be sent to the same email address that we email the bills to.
One common question is that the tickets are sent every three months. Not necessarily in line with when your bills are received. Especially since gas is sent Bimonthly in Vic.
Apart form that, you have a year to activate the tickets once sent. So plenty of time to wait for a good movie.Thanks for the info.. I was reading in the T/C that as long as simply energy are a partner with the company providing the tickets they will keep providing them for 2 years. If they cease their partnership they will try and find another one. If they cant find another on they will stop sending the tix and keep providing you energy.. What is the likelihood this could occur?
@Gavman:
It would be incredibly unlikely. It's still a beneficial partnership for both companies. It's a pretty popular offer as well. We use Edge Loyalty to provide the tickets. They seem like a pretty large and reliable group. That been said, anything could happen.
If such an event were to occur, it would be pretty easy to terminate the contract and just move onto a better offer or another retailer.Would it warrant not having to pay the $44 fee to cancel before the 2 years is up?
@Gavman:
I would waive it straight away.
Pretty unlikely scenario though.
I'm sure they would put something in place if it were to happen.Thanks for that. Put my mind at ease since switching the other day.
Momentum is no way the cheapest, even with their previous pricing. You need to remember to either multiply their rate with the discount or compare their rate with the after-discount rate of other company especially supply charge. People seems to forget that and just compare the rate with no discount with other retailer pre-discount rate.
For United Energy I can guarantee you that PS is the cheapest even if you have low usage. It will be even cheaper if you understand how their systems works and can fully utilise it.
United Energy user here and currently getting 0.1588c kWh
Anyone do better?
I am in the UE area. With Red Energy I pay 27.324c/kWh (Peak) and 12.474c/kWh (Off Peak). $0.8145 per day service charge. 68.2c/kWh solar feed in. Those rates are with a 10% pay on time discount.
Red offer a $50 Coles Myer card if referred by current customer for both referred and referee.
If you are just talking about rate, my am paying about 13.489 (ex-GST) after discount. Also what is the supply charge you are paying? Supply charge contribute significantly to your bill. You need to work out per unit rate to compare, there is no point compare just your rate.
Thats a very good rate…is it a flat rate?
Agree about supply charges and currently paying $1.07 p/d. Not great but not a rip off either.
Which retailer are you with?
You need to understand about how the whole system works, I have switched to Flexible Pricing and that is the blended comparison rate. This is just a current snapshot of 2015 rate, my average rate that I pay will be even lower than this because there is special pack during the year that I can buy.
Also with Powershop I have even locked in the 2014 rate for nearly 6 month of this year. So if you want a comparison rate that is not the rate that I am paying this year, the rate that I am paying this year will be lower than that. The goverment MyPowerPlanner is quite good but it lacks of some features and some retailer didn't even bother to update their 2015 rate 2 weeks ago so your comparison may not be correct.
and PS after discount supply charge is 99.743c/day
which retailer are you with? That rate is not too bad, is it the updated 2015 rate?
@samehada: No….price hasn't been updated for 2015 yet.
Currently with Powerdirect.
I did try the MyPowerPlanner site with data downloaded from https://energyeasy.ue.com.au but it returned an error of 1 day missing even though I was uploading 3 years of data. :p
Looking at our power usage history at energyeasy, we'd gain little moving to tiered rates. Typical cost through the off peak hours for us is only around 7c per hour.
Far out! In country NSW Origin is 33c and around 1.30 for daily fee. They also have annoying penalty charges like if they can't access the meter or it's 'dirty'. Don't use them but know most people do and they're just petty with those silly extra fees.
How can you say it is no way cheapest?
Comes up cheapest for me, and gas now!
How do you get the free tickets with simple, do they mail them to you
they email you the code to claim on a from the promotion website.
You will have to calculate, their daily charge rate is higher compared to the bigger companies but their USAGE charge is much lower.
Even on my bills during off peak season, I still save $5 compared to AGL (on the Multinet VIC gas lines). But they way they calculate is different too (ie. First 50mJ/day or 3000mJ/60 days)
I'm currently with AGL, paying around $1940 annually even with a concession card discount and 4% 'guaranteed discount'. The government tool is saying all my best options are Momentum energy with an estimated annual usage of $1420 with my uploaded smart metre reading. How can it possibly be that much cheaper? A bit reluctant to change, but seems stupid not to. I should mention that I won't be able to get a concession if I change provider (as I'm no longer eligible) and I can't contract given I'm renting and looking at moving somewhere bigger in a couple of months. If anyone has some solid advice I'd appreciate it!
AGL are scum who's business model revolves around people not realising that they're being ripped off, and by scamming new customers through dodgy door to door salesmen.
The government tool is an independent and unbiased tool telling you the cheapest option. I would take it's advice. If it makes you feel any better, I believe Momentum Energy is fully owned by the Tasmanian Government.
Ha, I had two different salesmen from AGL come to my door in the space of an hour once..I was like..Are you serious?
Problem is Momentum only offer contracts of 12 months onwards and I'm renting and looking to move in the next 2 months.
screw the concession.. CHANGE!
PM sent. Regarding concession, retailer will automatically verify with Centrelink system anyway so you will not get it if you are no longer eligible doesn't matter if you stay with AGL. It is all automatic. Look at your bill once you receive it and you will see.
Is this tool available for other states?
Simply Energy Electricity user here
unit price 26.84 (29.524 including Gst)
supply charge per day 1.210100
30% Guaranteed discount
discount applies before GSTI take it you got the RACV deal.. I opted for the gold class tickets with 24% discount. What i like abt the discout is its off the rate and usage not just usage as alot of other retailers do. Discount off before GST is standard practice.
The rates quoted for me was 22c and 111c service after gst
Simply Energy with 30% off RACV offer was one of the cheapest on the market actually but they just updated 2015 rate and I am not sure where it sit atm. They have also changed it in around Sep last year to include discount on supply charge.
"Where you sit at atm"
Only one way to find out —->>> https://mpp.switchon.vic.gov.au
Of course I know that but like I said, not all retailers updated their rate + it doesn't have all the special deal i.e RACV 30% off instead of the standard 27% off. Last time I checked Red Energy rate is wrong.
27% - 30% meh whats the diff.. you get a pretty good picture
not if the rate used for calculation is wrong. And I don't get a picture of my usage pattern from it, i.e Peak/Offpeak/Shoulder which will give me a better understanding of which tariff benefit me more.
@samehada:
Why dont you get your usage pattern data? You just need to upload your meter data.
Does anyone here have solar panel on their roof? I am with AGL and have my solar power rebate with them. I use the above calculator (using my smart meter data) and it show I am better off by at least $500 per year if I switch, but I am not too sure about the solar power rebate, would that get switch over as well? ( I put off switching because I am not sure what happen to my solar power rebate if I switch. My solar panel does not generate enough to power to cover my usage and I still pay a lot of electricity bill to AGL each year ). Many thanks.
Im with red energy and they just jacket up their daily supply charge from 90c to 115c NOT happy, looking to leave them now
you'll probably find they all have as the distributor has upped supply charges.
The rates that people are quoting seem pretty high?
I have been with momentum for awhile now (maybe 2 years?)
My new rates for 2015 are 21.93 c/kWh and service charge of 0.6929 $/day..
Peak only on United Energy.
Thanks OP, will look to change Gas to them…they promised to call me when gas was available in VIC!
Edit: A little shocked by one of the estimated annual amounts on concession….maybe check if all appliances are working correctly? I have a family of 3 with gas heating/water and refrigerated A/C in a 2 storey house but am only paying about $900 p.a?
Gas is available in Victoria on them. Rates and Service charges depends on the wholesaler hence the discrepancy. Everyone electricity in VIC just went up 6-10% because they were granted an increase, now passed on to the consumer
I hope the charges I quoted above are correct - my notice for those rates say effective from 1 Jan 2015…
I noticed that with Momentum Energy as well, it seems they didn't apply the current rate to existing customer. I don't fully understand how their rate structure works yet. One of my friend signed up with them recently and was getting an old rate but when I call them they quoted me the current rate.
So it seems that their rate system got many product code that even confuse their own staff. The operator must have enter an old product code and that explained why some ppl like my friend get a different rate compared to their current rate
@samehada:
Most companies seem to have different rates for current or new customers?
I called and switch my gas and updated my electricity rates and they were very helpfulActually most companies have the same rate for new and current customers, only some has different rate. Besides, if you check the rate on MPP site you can see that it is not up to date, Simply Energy rate is not up to date and Red Energy rate as well.
What's the point of a comparison with an outdated rate?
Power shop is usually cheaper and has a $75 credit for you and your referrer. Better rates and cheaper supply charge
I just used the iSelect comparison tool, with order set to cheapest to most expensive. Two observations:
- The first in the list wasn't the cheapest, but it was from Origin (site sponsor - dodgey part 1).
- After entering my bill information, they then said I would save $50 / year with AGL. However, when I look at the rates and the supply charges they were approx. 20% more than I'm currently paying - Dodgey part 2).
Just a FYI - Im with Simply Energy - Rates (with 22% pay on time discount - usage only - ex GST)
Supply 0.76
Peak - 0.24
off peak - 0.104Anyone used DODO?
Supply - 0.68
Peak - 0.295
Off Peak - 0.137+20% pay on time discount - No contract / termination fee
I've been with momentum for over 2 years for electricity & love the simple pricing (no calculating % off usage, different % off supply ect) however as my contact ended I decided after some research to sign another fixed benefit deal with them & join for gas also! Was very disappointed when told they wouldn't give me the $50 eftpos card for power as I was already a customer?
I did sign for gas, but my argument that it's cheaper for them to retain a customer than sign a new one fell on deaf ears? Very disappointing, anyway as I'm an extremely low power user I switched to Red as their p/kWh rate is cheaper & the service to property concession covers any difference in the supply charge for me although after discounts Red was not much more (Jemena)! Also Red gave me a$75 credit & a $50 Coles voucher for being referred!!! If that takes your fancy feel free to pm me and I'll be happy to give a referral so we can score a $50 Coles voucher each! Cheers, Clarky77
The Victorian Government Electricity Comparison Tool mentioned above is here: https://mpp.switchon.vic.gov.au
It's very good, it uses the last 12 months of your ACTUAL SmartMeter data to work out which provider and plan is the best. Highly recommended!