Who do you use for energy?

scotty on 12/03/2007 - 21:07

It is the time of the year for us to renew our energy (electricity + gas) subscription! Instead of me doing the hardware (talking about the complexity of different energy plans), maybe I will ask the question here —

<blockquote>Who do you use for energy in NSW Australia?</blockquote>

It is not that we are dissatisfied with our current provider (Energy Australia for both elec + gas), but just wondering whether there are cheaper options. Currently we pay about $220 - $360 per quarter for both electricity + gas, depending on which quarter it is (winter=expensive).

Anyone got suggestion?

Find Me A Bargain

Comments

  • Jaxx on 20/03/2007 - 08:01

    We're with AGL for elec, just the default company, I am sure that we could be doing a lot better in terms of prices but I just haven't had the time to look into it. Would love to hear who others are using, esp in SA. I won't even list the price we've been paying as it brings up some bad memories (let's just say that a couple of summers ago we got a 4 figure bill!)

    • scotty on 20/03/2007 - 08:29

      I guess in SA heating can cost quite a bit during winter time, and gas vs. electricity can make a lot of differences. Not too bad here in Sydney.

      The rate is about the same across all retailers after doing some research. I guess they are all using the same wholesalers. However there are sometimes percentage discount if you meet the criteria (loyalty, for example), which I want to find out…

  • [Deactivated] on 17/09/2007 - 20:53

    Well Integral, Energy Aust and the other big one are all state govt owned arent they? so why would they really compete with themselves

  • jtu100 on 04/10/2007 - 20:46

    I am trying to find a new electricity supplier myself (Sydney). The energy industry in NSW appears to be regulated such that all the cos sell electricity at exactly the same price. I have looked around their price lists and that confirms the same unit costs.

    There is another type of contract though called a 'market contract' which I suspect might let them sell it at unregulated prices or something, but I am not sure yet as the websites are quite hard to decipher.

    So … if all the prices are the same on standard contract, how to choose between them? I can't answer that as I still have not made a decision. Perhaps we just judge them on customer service? Even the green power subsidies appear to be the same. (one might ask - "what is the point of multiple energy suppliers if there is no price competition?"…strange times we live in).

    (I was with Energy Aus in my last rental… signed up and got 4k kwh for $50 per year or something, which was 60% of my consumption. Great i thought. then a few months later i got a letter from them telling me (in their words) "Good news! We have made changes to the green plan to make it even better. The new plan includes 10% green power". Er? Thanks. 60% -> 10%. I can only suspect An Inconvenient Truth was such a hit that suddenly they did not have enough green power to go around. Oh well, can't complain I suppose… its all for the greater good).

  • jtu100 on 04/10/2007 - 20:47

    4k kwh of GREEN power i should have said. doh.

  • scotty on 04/10/2007 - 21:42

    Yes. Everyone sells at the same price. However not everyone gives the same discount…

  • jtu100 on 06/10/2007 - 18:48

    so… did you ever find out who gives he most discount then?

    • scotty on 06/10/2007 - 21:15

      They all have the same base rate, but depending on circumstances, they might give you a different discount rate. With my current house I was with Energy Australia for 3 years. So at the point of renewal they were offering me 5% discount.

      Then Integral turned up with 10% discount from the base rate — since they are all offering basically the same service, guess which one I went.

      I think the best way is to call each of them up. Maybe ask whether they can match the discount. 10% will be your starting point. Do tell if you can actually get more :)

  • POWERevolution on 11/10/2007 - 01:20

    For Electricity, MOMENTUM ENERGY seem to be the cheapest. Check on their website:

    www.momentumenergy.com.au

    For Gas I'm not sure, still searching for myself. If anyone know the cheapest please post.

    • scotty on 11/10/2007 - 09:32

      Thanks! Momentum Energy is for SA and Vic so does not apply to me.

  • Rosered on 27/03/2008 - 19:59

    Looking for a good electricity deal for SA because our energy agreement expires end May.

    Anyone got the recent Choice report on green energy suppliers?

    Any good deals around at the moment? Thanks!

  • Rosered on 28/03/2008 - 12:18

    Thanks, I'll check it out.

  • tasbee on 12/05/2008 - 11:55

    Momentum Energy had sold off their residential accounts last year to Australian Power & Gas (i was one of them and quickly switched out too when they increased my rates)

    http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22079545-2862…

    For VIC residential, if you tend to pay by the due date, Victoria Electricity and maybe Red Energy offers competitive deals. VE offers 7% discount on prompt payment and a loyalty card similar to Ambassador card. TRUenergy offers 3% discount + another 3% discount if you pay on time. For NSW and SA, probably TRUenergy with a similar 3% + 3% discount offer? Not sure..havent look around for a while.

    By the way, if you looked at regulated prices and they looked the same across the retailers, it is because the prices are regulated (and approved) by the government every year and by default, if you have not chosen a retailer, these are the rates that would be charged to you by your incumbent retailer. Once you start switching retailers, you will be put on "market contract" rates. Normally for residential, it is a % discount of the regulated rates.

  • ash on 16/05/2008 - 21:31

    hi

    not sure if this is available in every state, but this website was setup by the Queensland government when the state's electricity market became privatized:

    http://www.qca.org.au/comparator/

    I found it pretty useful, and you can fairly compare all the players depending on your usage habits. I found AGL to be the best for me.
    *note that the price comparison does not include the discounts offered by the companies…so make sure you take that into account.

  • sadpp on 25/06/2008 - 15:26

    Hi

    Try this one for Victoria

    http://www.shoparound.com.au

  • Josh J on 09/07/2008 - 15:36

    Victoria energy(or Queensland Electricity or whatever. They are just the same company with different names depending on where you live) gives you 5% discount just for your electricity every time you pay the bill on time. And I reckon they will give you a membership card as well which entitles you to receive 5% discount at selected stores such as Woolworths, Woolworths Cartex, Big W and stuff.

    Tru Energy gives you 3% discount. But they give you 3% more discount for prompt payment which makes 6% discount in total.

    Integral Energy gives you 10% discount which I think the highest discount rate in the market currently. But they lock you into a contract for 3 years. If you want to leave them, you have to pay more than $100 as termination fee.

    Origin gives you a shower head and a few light bulbs. If you are not interested in light bulbs and sort of things, you can get 12 months free magazines.

    AGL gives you 5% discount for your actual consumption. So I think it's gonna be about 3% discount for your total bill.

    As far as I know, the service stays exactly same because all companies that I mentioned above are just retailers for your electricity. Meter reading and fault handling are handled by your physical supplier(or provider) which is Ergon, Energex and stuff. So basically you need to check their discount rate, termination fee and minimum period of contract.

  • rickb on 19/07/2008 - 10:06

    Tru Energy give you 3% + 3% but you must sign up for a 2 or 3 year contract.

    Where as Red Energy give you 5% if you pay on time and another 5% if you stay with them for 1 year. And 3% on Gas. No contracts.

  • coolblade on 29/03/2009 - 23:27

    I worked for Victoria Electricity before, this company did things dodgyly as they give discount every month with introduction of low rate with no risk offer but they just keep increasing the rate even higher than the ppl previous provider

    It's basically not about how many percent discount they provide you the best deal at the moment in the market is "country energy" the lowest rate even beat those with discount and the low rate can be fixed for 2 years.

    Victoria Electricity did not pay me all my commission as well and now i am jobless.

  • [Deactivated] on 17/08/2009 - 15:37

    Click gave me $100 discount. Think it's $50 for new customer now.

    They made a few mistakes but corrected them when I told them.

  • [Deactivated] on 17/08/2009 - 16:36

    COOLBRADE.

    Just checked Country Energy and they charge about 50% more than Click for both KWh and supply charge!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    • HueyData on 17/08/2009 - 22:49

      Click the reply link underneath the specific comment you wish to reply to.

      And you may want to search for some deals on glasses, as it's "coolblade" not "COOLBRADE" :)

  • [Deactivated] on 17/08/2009 - 16:39

    BTW I pay Usage 0.1542 + GST / supply 0.4352 + GST on ClickQuick plan.

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