Please excuse my ignorance.
I recently purchased a new house around a month ago. I did not set up any electricity or gas connection but there still seems to be electricity. Presumably from the previous tenants/owners.
Do I simply call up my preferred provider and set up a new connection with them?
And what about the bill for the interim period before setting up my new connection under my name?
Okay thank you for the clarification.
There are also solar panels installed on the roof. Does the energy generated in this system get automatically deducted from the power bill?
Never had solar panels so I don't know specifically but would imagine nothing is 'automatic'. You really need to talk to a provider and get their advice. Maybe 2 or 3 to compare rates.
no, for feeding it back you need to have a feed in contract with your electricity provider.
while signing up for the electricity check their feed in rates and sign up then and there itself.
One point to note has the solar been connected with the Electricity provider not the retailer?
As for connecting it for the first time you will need to provide couple of certifications provided to you by the installer EWR and one more can't remember the name. This process can take upto 10-20 days. Check this before signing up for feed in with the retailer. The retailer will be able to check this for you if you have a smart meter.
Without having a feed in contract you can still turn on the solar and use the generated electricity.
Hope this helps.
Ring them and ask, make sure you are in a correct plan, some plans are cheaper to input than output.
No.
How it works is anything the solar panels produce that you can use immediately you use. No charge or credit for this power. Whatever the solar panels produce in excess of what you can use you get a credit for. Usually about 8c per kWh. If the solar panels do not produce enough for your needs (morning / evening / night, and most of winter) you draw from the grid and are charged for it, like 20 c per kWh (???). But there is a multiplier depending if you're on time of use or demand plan depending on how much you draw at peak times of the day (not sure if this varies in other states)
If you're lucky enough to have an analogue meter (with a dial that ticks forward), excess solar power pushes your meter backwards, essentially giving you credit per kWh equal to what they charge you! I don't know if anyone in the country has managed to hang onto their analogue meter while installing solar though
Thanks for the explanation. Very helpful!
Where I'm at, they don't cut the connection for both Electricity or Gas. Day you move in, let them know, so they come and read the meter.
Yeah this seems to be the case. I will call AGL to set up a connection now.
And sometimes (in apartments) they come and read someone else meter, here comes the pain. So alway double check your meter number with the bill.
Always a good idea to photo the meter when you move in case you have to argue the toss with the utility provider about what the reading is.
I recently purchased a new house around a month ago
Since you bought (rather than rent), I believe it should be under your name from the day you exchanged contracts, that is when you 'own' the house, even if you decided to not move in from the first day of ownership.
Yes.
You are meant to do this on day 1 of moving in and provide the meter readings to provider. Anything before than date/reading is not your liability.