Electricity & Gas in Vic

Ndiddy on 02/11/2013 - 16:45
Last edited 03/01/2014 - 20:06 by 1 other user

Hi All,

Just looking around to see what electricity and gas deals are going on at the moment. I'm currently with Energy Australia on some value bundle plan and my usage typically is around the following:

Jemena
Electricity
220kWH @ $0.2753 per kWh
Supply charge is $1.008 per day

Sp Ausnet
Gas
9004 MJ & $0.0192 per MJ
Supply charge is $0.65 per day

Tried looking at a few comparison sites to point me in the right direction and Dodo seems to come up with potentially the most savings:

Electricity (after discounts)
$0.20983
Supply charge is $0.91 per day

Gas (After discounts)
$0.01646
Supply charge is $0.5819 per day

Any one else found better? Any current Dodo customers on here?

Home & Garden Electricity Energy Gas

Comments

  • mxyzptik on 02/11/2013 - 19:15

    Oh for the days when everyone was charged the same (& a lot lot less)!

    I have not been a very good Ozbargainer with my electricity usage or contract, until recently. Using an enormous amount of electricity - our family (of 4) electricity bills were around $650 a quarter, a few months ago I was annoyed to realise that I was paying the top rate for my electricity (my fault I know!).

    I rang up Energy Australia and said I didn't want to have to go through the hoops, wanted to be transferred to the department that gives the lowest rates (they never put you through there straight away) & wanted the lowest rate without having to work it out for myself(!)

    They gave me a lot of nonsense, something about not having a lowest rate! & also not even having a "lowest price"! (what they mean is that what they call the 'price' is fixed but what they call the 'discount' is variable).

    In the end - after raising the temperature at my end - they gave me, from memory, a 16% or so discount and swore I would not find I could get it cheaper from them later.

    I find the process ridiculous and feel sorry for the less well equipped in the community, among the - literally - MILLIONS* of Australians who are paying too much for their electricity. Its similar in the UK where, again from memory I read the industry bills around 26billion a year, makes 10bn in profit, and paid under 400 million in tax (or something like that).

    I think the privatisation of utilities has been one of those exercises that has benefitted the few at the expense of the many.

    *Based on the evidence recently that around 40% of UK electricity customers had not changed supplier (which - apparently - would effectively result in them getting a lower price). The energy companies, there and here, rely on inertia to charge customers more than they need to pay.

    By the way, Energy Australia told me they deliberately do not directly notify customers, eg. with their bills, of how to get the lowest price - SURPRISE! - instead relying on advertising (which costs more to execute and is less effective and therefore results in higher revenue to them).

    The 'independent' review body/'ombudsman?' is owned by the energy companies … and therefore not independent at all.

    Its all a sham.

    (Rant over.)

    I will now review my rates. :)

    LOL

    • Ndiddy on 02/11/2013 - 20:21

      Wow - What a reply ;)

      I was tempted to ring up EA and see what they could do and might still do so. They haven't been bad but the prices do seem on the high side.

  • KMeister on 02/11/2013 - 20:58
    +5

    All you need is this, http://www.yourchoice.vic.gov.au. It's not a commercial website, like others, they don't get kickbacks. Do your own research on this site and you'll get a better deal definitely!

    • Ndiddy on 02/11/2013 - 22:10

      Thx KMeister - I actually checked it out which is where Dodo came up as the cheapest.

      • KMeister on 02/11/2013 - 23:09
        +1

        I'm with Momentum Energy, Not that I'm saying they are great, but they seems to be a good deal to me. Dodo is cheaper at the moment but they could jack up the prices later, but keeping the same discount(although, I've gotta say, that Dodo was cheaper when I was contracted with Momentum as well)

        With Dodo you'll have to pay by monthly, they do an estimated charge per month and adjust it against the distributor issued bill quarterly.
        With momentum what I find good is, No carbon tax('Smile Power') and they have a price promise guarantee, which means they won't jack up the prices by themselves(retailer charges) during the contracted period. A bill rise would only happen if the distributor raise their prices.They don't offer you a discount, but their terms sounds reasonable to me, besides I hate this discount sham.

        Bottom line is, don't get attracted to "Discounts", it's what cost you, does matter.Not all retailers operate in all areas and distributors have zones divided among them as well. So costs do differ from two levels. Best thing you can do is, do your own research and weigh up pros and cons before signing onto a contract.

        • Ndiddy on 02/11/2013 - 23:12

          Thanks for the insight mate - Do Momentum do Gas? I thought they were only electricity?

          Agree with your comments btw. The thing I liked about Dodo apart from being the cheapest was that there were no contracts however I did not realise they estimated the bill and then adjusted. Will suss that out.

        • KMeister on 02/11/2013 - 23:42
          +1

          You're welcome. And no, Momentum does not provide Gas. I was merely putting it out there, how I did arrived to my decision and no way I do recommend them over anyone else either. If Dodo doesn't have a contract, the only charges you would have to pay, would be distributor connection/disconnection fees.

        • Ndiddy on 03/11/2013 - 00:05

          Thanks mate.

        • [Deactivated] on 03/11/2013 - 09:14

          I rang Dodo a few months ago about something else, and the lady looked at our energy usage and said they were charging us too much - so she dropped our monthly debit amount $50 in 2 seconds.

        • Holysmoke on 03/11/2013 - 11:25

          Is Momentum Smile Power on a contract and what are the early termination charges?

        • Holysmoke on 03/11/2013 - 11:28

          If you end up choosing Dodo, I can refer you and we both get a $25 bonus. Let me know if you are interested.
          Thanks

        • Ndiddy on 03/11/2013 - 12:16

          Thanks holysmoke - I'll PM you if I end up going with dodo.

    • kcyw on 03/11/2013 - 11:05

      Thanks KMeister. I didn't know new rates came out, just saved $50/quarter switching from EA to Momentum.

    • xii on 04/11/2013 - 12:58

      Used this site to find my energy providers. Highly recommend.

  • redlover on 02/11/2013 - 22:20
    -1

    I woukd suggest try to call energywatch. They have a promise to provide you with the lowest best deal provider and if you find something cheaper than what they offered, they will help you to switch and pay for the cancelling fee from your old provider ( cancelling fee can cost around $25-$75 ) here is the link for a more info http://www.energywatch.com.au/savenow/downloads/future_deal.…

  • r4pd4z on 03/11/2013 - 09:18

    I just changed over to Momentum and saved quite a bit off my rate with EA - The customer service rep said they will do Gas soon - I think they will contact existing customers to the let them know. I have always got a rep on the phone within a short wait period as well - unlike sometimes waiting for ages for an EA customer service rep.

  • pjcook on 03/11/2013 - 10:09

    Check out powershop.com.au I went to the yourchoice site, entered details of my last bill and would have save $70.00 using powershop.

    I have now signed up for this one as it looks very interesting with the ability to take control of your usage and purchasing power.

    • Holysmoke on 03/01/2014 - 20:02

      Whats been your experience so far with Powershop? Seems like their prices are not fixed but fluctuate based on the season.

  • peterhoz on 03/11/2013 - 13:48
    +1

    I now save about $5-$8 per month (winter, which is low usage) by recently switching to time of use pricing. Peak for me is 7am-11pm Mon-Fri. Yes all weekend is offpeak. My monthly bill is $55-$65 (winter, summer was $95 under non timed usage) so $5-$8 off a $55-$65 bill is a significant percentage. I expect to double the saving in high summer. Using my dishwasher timer to switch on after 11pm, and using the washing machine offpeak (weekends) helped.

    Being at work weekdays means that for most of peak time the only power drain is the fridge. My big screen (46" LED) tv costs 4c/hr to run during peak.

    I live with the aircon on all night & all wknd in summer, so the offpeak pricing will work for me.

    You need to think about your own usage patterns to see if it will work for you, but if you can adjust your usage (and are not home weekdays til night) it should work for you too.

  • [Deactivated] on 03/11/2013 - 16:01

    Whatever you go with, just know it's cheaper than what SA gets.

  • MrGareth on 03/11/2013 - 16:19

    I've been with Dodo (in Vic) for both electricity and gas right from when they first started (they introduced gas later on though).

    I'm saving a lot of money with them - they seem to be the cheapest provider in my area, and whilst it's true they can raise their prices at times to match the other retailer price rises (which they have done!), they still always seem to end up cheaper than everyone else anyway.

    And besides, they only have a one year contract with a $20 break-away fee, so you're not really locked in like you are with the other providers!

    I can only make two negative comments:

    1. Their goddamn cold calls are a joke. They kept calling me up saying that because I'm a current elec/gas provider, they can give me cheaper internet rates if I join up with them for internet/phone too.. which was a total lie (they quoted the same prices from the website!). I have their sales number blocked on my mobile now, problem solved :D

    2. They do have a monthly auto-payment plan, which they estimate. If you pay too little, at the end of the three months you need to pay them the extra amount to make up for it. If you pay them too much though, they won't "give you the money back" at the end of the three months! Instead they lower the auto-payment amount, so you pay less each month, in the hope that at the end of the next three months it'll even itself out.

    Currently I'm $400 in credit for elec and gas combined… so they are reducing my auto payments till it sorts itself out :)

    • [Deactivated] on 03/11/2013 - 16:38

      Currently I'm $400 in credit for elec and gas combined

      I'd imagine they'd have quite a large pool of funds they, legally, aren't entitled to.

      • Holysmoke on 03/11/2013 - 19:09

        And earning interest on.

        • MrGareth on 04/11/2013 - 11:29

          I agree 100%. I think this is why they do it… a nice little money earner for them!

          EDIT - Spoke to soon, I called them up and they are going to refund me the $400 back into my account, instead of lowering my auto payments. :)

    • [Deactivated] on 04/11/2013 - 12:49

      Ask them to take you off their marketing list.

      Or register your number on the Do Not Call Register (DNCR)
      https://www.donotcall.gov.au/onlineNumReg.cfm

      Under the Do Not Call laws, they can't make sales call to you if you're on the DNCR,
      unless it's about an existing product you have with them. e.g. If your an Dodo energy customer, & are on the DNCR, they not allowed to call you trying to sell a different service such phone, internet, etc. If they do, lodge a complaint & they'll get fined.

      I've heard about the auto-payment scam. They over estimate & then won't refund/stop auto-payment.
      I can understand the upfront/auto-payment system as it's virtually stops bad debts, but they're taking the piss when you're well in front, they should stop it.

      • MrGareth on 05/11/2013 - 16:21

        Just to confirm - they will refund the payment. The guy put the money back onto my credit card (which is what I use for my auto debit payments). :)

        So it's not as bad as it sounds, thankfully!

  • ozzie freddo on 03/11/2013 - 21:01

    I've got solar so that complicates things (because a lot of the enticements are in the form of pay on time discounts, but with solar if you are in credit you don't actually "pay", so don't get the discount…I know this is unfair because you do "pay on time" with your solar production…whinge over)
    but (for non solar customers) I found Click and Momentum to be pretty good but when I last checked I think that they don't do gas.
    To do a proper comparison, you need to have a record of your current usage and make up a spreadsheet. If you are frugal with your power usage you may find the daily service charge to be quite a significant component of you cost.

    • rmamila on 04/11/2013 - 11:02

      It's not just the usage which is significant. When they charge a daily service fee over a dollar a day that is significant too. That pretty much evens out any advantage you are seeking in lower usage rates. When I did the comparison I found that some companies which offer lower usage rates had higher daily service fees.
      All in all this whole utility retail business is a ripoff. I want to cry when I remember the utility bills I paid in US. :(

      • [Deactivated] on 04/11/2013 - 11:17

        I want to cry when I remember the utility bills I paid in US

        Was you wage comparable? Doubt it.

        • rmamila on 04/11/2013 - 13:54

          Was you wage comparable? Doubt it.

          If your question is just for me then, yes it's not just comparable was about 5-10% higher in US. (and cost of living was far less) But that's not applicable for everyone. I work in IT and back end programming is paid far better than most other jobs in IT in US.
          However I have to agree that the average salaries for most other jobs except Doctors are far lower compared to here. It's only certain areas in IT paid better than in here as they have far bigger IT systems over there and big companies can afford to pay much higher than in here. Still most jobs in IT pays almost same as in here.

    • [Deactivated] on 04/11/2013 - 12:36

      Yeah for Solar, it'll depend on the feed-in tarrif you're eligible for.

      We're in Vic & use Red Energy, as they gave us TFIT of 33c/KWh(25c + 8c bonus).
      Of course with Solar you're on a peak/offpeak rate (which for us works out 32c/16c/KWh)
      Their connection charge was quite reasonable & they also do gas, so you can use credit to pay off your gas bill.

      before Solar we were on Momentum for Lecky due to their cheap pricing (connection fee), green energy, and no overly complicated discount scheme which Einstein couldn't work out. We used Lumo for our gas, just to use their rewards scheme for 5% off giftcards…which is worth considering as this saved us about $25/mth on fuel, groceries & booze, which was about our gas bill.

      • rmamila on 04/11/2013 - 14:50

        Have you ever tried to withdraw any extra credit $s generated by Solar without paying directly to Gas. Do you have to pay tax for that? I too have a solar system and it generates extra credit only in summer when no one is at home during day time. However I can not directly pay for Gas as I use two different companies for Electricity (Lumo) and Gas (RedEnergy). It makes sense to have both of the services with one company when you have solar. However Lumo never showed any interest in getting my gas business :) Their advertised price for Gas is much higher than my current RedEnergey rates. As a result I have to keep my solar credits till the winter to offset my electricity bills come in debit.

        • [Deactivated] on 05/11/2013 - 19:59

          Actually just got my 12mth credit last week. No tax.
          They charge $20 if you want your credit back before 12mth. So we waited.

          Yeah the gas prices aren't that great and we have to ring up for every gas bill to xfer the credit across, but the difference is only $1-2/bill so it's just easier.

  • fimmwolf on 04/11/2013 - 16:08
    +2

    I worked for an energy company and here's some things to consider

    1) if you are on an old plan, stay on it. Your rate per kWh is likely to be less if you stay on your old plan. ie. what was the average cost per kWh in 2003? what is it now?
    (i appreciate this isn't always possible, ie. for people moving to solar)

    2) The price per kWh is often more important than the discount offered. A 30% discount sounds nice but if you are going to increase the cost of electricity per kWh than you may have just increased your average bill by taking the new offer. ie 9 cents is 30 per cent of 30 cents (30 x 0.3) So if your old plan cost $0.30 per kWh and the new one costs 39 cents per kWh but gives a 30% discount with prompt payment, you just lost out why?
    because your new plan has a higher supply charge (like a dollar and 8 cents per day, and the 30% discount applies to your consumption only, not supply.

    3) Don't expect the person on the phone to tell you whether the new plan is better for you or not. The agents have no obligation to tell you. Their job is to quote the plan details and upgrade your account if you request it. If you can't decide there and then, it doesn't matter, there's no urgency. Take down the figures and work it out in your own time, or get someone you trust to crunch the numbers for you. At the end of the day it's your contract not theirs.

    4) If you are struggling financially, there is a $500 grant you can apply for called the Utility Relief Grant Scheme (in victoria) You can apply for it once every 2 years but you must qualify. Other states have something similar. http://www.ewov.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/4760/vic-…

    5) There is an energy ombudsman you can go to if you have an issue that you have tried to resolve with your energy retailer and have been ignored. The number of times I wanted to tell customers to go to the ombudsman…. (we were told in our training not to mention the ombudsman)

    mxyzptik stated that the ombudsman is owned by the energy companies and not independent. I don't know about that but I can tell you with 100% certainty that the energy companies are fined any time an ombudsman needs to get involved in a dispute that the retailer has not resolved.

  • zooter on 04/11/2013 - 16:49

    Try click Energy, i recently moved to them and have been very pleased with their rates.

    They also have smart meter monitoring where you can monitor your energy usage by day/week/hour if you have a smart meter. That way you'll know where you're spending most energy. Also, if you move houses, they don't charge anything (at-least for now).

    The only downside I see is that you have to pay every month and they expect you to pay within 7 days of the bill getting generated for the discount which will be applicable in the next bill. Still, I think it might be easier for you to do this than pay 650 over a quarter.

    Also, decouple (in layman terms), don't worry if your electricity and gas accounts are different. Go in for the ones that are the cheapest.

    If you decide to go with click, let me know, I can refer you and get a $50 discount. you don't get any bonus, but still get the best rates..

  • Holysmoke on 04/11/2013 - 19:20

    Red Energy has a $50 referral bonus for both. PM me if interested.

    • ozzie freddo on 04/11/2013 - 22:50

      Click also has a referral bonus for me and you so let me know if you'd like to be my mate.

      • Holysmoke on 04/11/2013 - 22:55

        With Click only the person referring gets the bonus and not the person signing-up. Has recently changed: http://www.clickenergy.com.au/refer-a-friend/

        • ozzie freddo on 04/11/2013 - 23:13

          Thanks Holysmoke for that update.
          I'll share the $50 referral bonus with anybody who wants to switch to Click…all I need is your First name and your email address :)

        • MrGareth on 05/11/2013 - 16:23

          You two should just transfer back and forth between each other's providers and pocket $50 each. It'd be cool if you were allowed to do that continuously, it'd be like a pertpetual money maker :D

  • Happy501 on 13/01/2015 - 16:38

    Qenery are perfect, I am paying under 20 per kilowat hour

    check them out

    I found them after 4 hours calling around different companies.

  • ozzie freddo on 13/01/2015 - 21:45

    I just checked out Qenery and found that Red are 18.5% cheaper for Peak, 26.6% cheaper for Off Peak and 26.3% cheaper on the service charge.
    Let me know if you want to connect to Red and I'll share the spotter's fee with you.

    • Happy501 on 17/01/2015 - 17:03

      funny how we both spelt Qenergy wrong….

  • Holysmoke on 24/01/2015 - 01:26

    $75 Powershop Referral wiki: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/wiki/powershop_referral_links

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