Hi,
Moving to a new place and never done this before. Have had a few calls with suppliers but they seem dodgey ("contract but you can leave when your want ") just confused me.
Electricity is disconnected at the new place.
Can anyone recommend a supplier? Should I negotiate?
Happy to give someone a referral if that's how it works.
I'm in NSW
Hi hows it going?
Unfortunately most salespeople in this area are trained to incentivise everything they have to offer including this "contract but you can leave whenever you want" tactic as well as their favourite 15 or 20 % off when you pay on time bullshit.
From my understanding some companies will put you on a contract, and allow you to break it only if there is a cheaper option out there. They work from this angle preying on your laziness to take advantage of it, but it is legitimate. Saying this, a contract is a contract and if you break it, there will be fees incurred so its best to make the right decision first time round. from experience there is a small difference between retailers, im talking $200 - $500 a year depending on how much you use sometimes even less.
In saying that all electricty and gas retailers pay distributors for a supply charge which they pass on to you. You cannot choose your distributor as they are fixed geographically, (it is like this in victoria). but you can choose your retailer (agl, origin etc.).
The daily supply charge is usually about 1 dollar. You cannot escape this fee.
what you can do is look at how much each retailer charges per kW (electricty) and mJ (gas). This is what you want to know, as this is what you as a consumer have control over. There are government websites available to help you make a decision. Ive been out of the market for a while now (1.5 yrs plus) but when i signed on momentum energy had the best comparable rates for electricity (i am not affiliated with them). THis may have changed now so you can do your research. if youve got the energy (pun intended) that is what you want to ask when you call each company, to save you time go straight to it ask them how much kilowatt per hour they charge. it should be around 20c/hr to 30c/hr.
Write it down and compare, or alternatively visit some websites and become more informed. just remember that if you always pay on time, you will receive discounts off the fee. make sure you account for this variable
Hold them accountable. what they quote over the phone may differ from the package they mail out to your home, which is why you have a mandatory cooling off period of 2 weeks to cancel anything free of charge. When they do a verbal contract over the phone, they will osmetimes say "we reserve the right to change our rates at anytime over the contract for no reason" or something along those lines. this is to protect them from any changes in legislation which happens from time to time, so dont be scared of how shifty it sounds. again when they mail out a package it should describe the fees.
I would be scared to if it was the first time hooking up electrcity, because they people working here are so used to these type of negotiating tactics. nut knowledge is power, so i hope that helps.
Powershop would work out about $105 more over a year than Dodo. OP, beware of people recommending referral links without checking out the facts first.
You can neg me but, put the figures in the website i mentioned above and sort the total cost over the year, factor in the discounts and there are the figures in black and white.
That's the problem with this site sometimes, people out to make a buck at other peoples expense.
Dodo is about $10 cheaper for the year for the area I checked in NSW. I'd rather pay $10 more than deal with Dodo customer service.
Be interested to know how you arrived at that estimate? Care to share what you based that on?
Thanks all. So I've arrived at the new place and dodo tell me it will be 3 days until they can connect me…
I was told by a friend I can just go to my power board and "switch" it on (but it will be temporarily theft!?)
If I do this - are they likely to catch me?
No, if there is power supplied to your place at the moment and it works, its free unless you have arranged an agreement with the supplier who currently supplies your house. They could try and chase you up for payment but it certainly would not be worth it for them. I've been living in my new place for a month but have no agreement/contract in place for who is supplying the electric now which means they cannot charge me.
Have a look at the governments energy made easy website to compare the prices. https://www.energymadeeasy.gov.au/offer-search
I've just changed over to Dodo for my electric. Cheapest rates, best pay on time discount, no contract and a $100 credit on your 1st bill if you ask them when you speak to them when signing up.
I'm in Queensland but I just had a quick look at the rates for a Sydney postcode and seems to be Dodo cheapest again without contract.