I am currently with AGL (Sydney, NSW) and getting on-time payment discount of 14% on electricity bill. I have received an offer from Simple Energy via NRMA and they are offering 20% discount and $50 one off credit on anniversary.
What kind of discount Ozbargain members are you currently getting on Electricity bills and who is their provider?
Sounds good. I wonder if they are available in Brisbane.
I am currently with AGL and getting 16% discount.
This offer is only available to VIC residents :(
Sadly I have no choice of electricity provider. The building has its own magical subsystem or something so we are all locked into a single retailer.
It's not magical.. You would be referring to an embedded network. More and more of these with brand new apartment buildings. These electrical providers tender to have their meters installed in every building, forcing residents to use their electricity. Some of them charge a connection/disconnection fee of $35.00 each time. Imagine the turnover each year in a high rise apartment in the CBD with 600 units. To use a different provider, you'd have to pay $300-$500 to have a different electricity meter installed.
We also have solar panels on the roof, so that probably plays a small part too.
What comparison website do you use to find the best deals on electricity and gas pls?
I've used yourchoice.vic.gov.au .It didn't come up with anything too exciting.
For NSW:
https://www.energymadeeasy.gov.au/
%-off mean very little, as the rates and supply charges vary between providers.
Dodo, 30% off pay on time and 20% on Gas. Cheap rates, can't go wrong.
Good stuff, Negged because I answered the OPs question? Quality readers here!
Mate ozb needs to start banning idiots that just neg
What state was this for?
Vic
Do you have a "Smart Metre"? If so, you might be able to go on the "free electricity all-day-Saturday" plan from AGL (who you're already with). To be eligible you must have a Smart Metre, and it's not available to those with any solar.
We're on it, and it equates to free heating of the house for us all of Saturday… we usually heat the place via a gas heater, cause it's cheaper, but we have a split system air-con too. We ordinarily would never use that unit to heat the joint, cause it's too exy; we just use it on the > 35C days in summer for cooling. But with free electricity all day Saturday, I can tell you, that sucker comes on at 1 minute past midnight on Saturday morning, and it doesnae go off until 23:59 Saturday night. All the walls in my place are made of thick concrete, and I've discovered that they retain a reasonable amount of heat all day Sunday as well, after their "Saturday roasting"…
Get's a bit hot sometimes inside on Saturdays though… when that happens I just open a window…
;P
Hi, Gnar, how true is that you mention that on Saturday the use of electricity is whole day free with AGL. We are with AGL and with a smart meter too, never know that it is free on Saturday. Would contact their office just to ascertain it. Anyway thanks for your useful info. By the way we are in Victoria.
You have to ring them up, and specifically join the "free Saturdays" scheme/plan. Then they send you all the TCs of your new plan, which includes the explicit statement that from midnight Saturday morning to midnight Saturday night, your electricity is free.
And they mention that the new plan is for 12 months, but note that there is no exit fee; so it's actually just for however long you want it to be; up to 12 months.
Confirmed
http://www.agl.com.au/about-agl/media-centre/article-list/20…
Just wondering, what's the catch? And how long will they offer this plan?
I couldn't find the T&C's on their website.
@GnarlyKnuckles do you get any Pay on time discount with this plan?
I just rang them and asked about stacking this with a 'pay on time' discount Kumak, and it seems that is the 'catch'; this deal and a 'pay on time' discount are mutually exclusive plans. But the thing is you can opt out any time without paying an exit fee, so while this plan is saving us an entire day of heating charges every weekend (plus any other electricity we use on Saturdays) I reckon I'll stick with it, but then when the weather turns/heating is no longer required, I might switch to a 'pay on time' discount. I guess the other thing is this plan puts a bit more power in your hands, in that you can consciously use a lot on Saturdays, to avoid having to use it later in the week; so at my point Saturday is now "do multiple loads of washing/re-charge everything" day. Doing that would make no difference to a 'pay-on-time discount'.
Incidentally, you can simultaneously have a 'pay on time discount' for your AGL gas (17% off; which I do have), which stacks nicely with this plan; cause you use a lot less gas if heating the joint via (free) electricity on Saturdays, then you get the 17% discount on top of that… The free Saturdays thingy would also be a good option if you lived in a (crap) 'group-house', where bills tend to be paid late due to one or more peeps not being punctual coughing up their share [I'm shuddering now as my mind is involuntarily cast back 20+ years to my days of group-house living].
So I guess if you were getting a 'pay-on-time discount' under your current plan that was substantially greater than 14.3% (1/7), then you might be better off with that; unless you tend to use substantially more power on Saturdays than most other days of the week (for example, weekdays).
Then there's all the other charges to consider (charge per kW/ supply charges). I recently changed to AGL electricity specifically to try out this plan, and I plan to do all the sums once I have the first bill. Then I'll either stay with it (at least until the end of the cold weather), or opt-out depending the results of my comparative calculations.
Re your other question, I have no idea how long they will be offering the deal for.
PS. hey Kumars, I note that some humourless hippy has negged my insightful initial comment in this thread; no doubt because they failed to get the joke about opening a window. Poz that comment back to neutral, would ya? I don't actually care about negs/pozzes, I just hate hippies.
TLDR: You have ADD, I cannae help you.
Hey Mate. How did you score 17% disount on AGL GAS? i am with AGL for my gas but maximum I was able to get out of them was 10% p1y on time.
P.S- Fixed that negative on your initial comment
@lokesh7:
LOL, cheers hombre :)
When I changed my electricity to AGL, I asked what the best they could do re a discount on the gas was; and they offered me 17%. I bet if you rang them and told them you were contemplating changing to another company taht offered 17% or more, they'd offer you 17% too.
Damn, I'm only getting a Voltage discount on mine
http://www.powershop.com.au/ Puts you in control of your power usage, you know exactly what you are using every day and the prices leave the rest in the dirt….
" … you know exactly what you are using every day"
Only if you have a smart meter. If you have a "dumb meter" and you want this information, you have to read your meter yourself, every day, and enter it on the website. So you might as well just compile your own excel file. See this, from their website:
"If you have a dumb meter: we offer you the opportunity to go online and enter your own meter readings as often as you want so you can track your power usage, but regardless of whether you do this or not we will still obtain meter reads. If you choose not to enter your own meter readings, your meter will be read once a quarter by the distributor's meter readers and the other months will be based off [sic] estimated readings."
I signed up to Powershop recently and have reduced my bill by at least 25%. Previous supplier was Origin (VIC) and before I left they offered me a 35% discount but I found Powershop was still cheaper.
I signed up with them when they first arrived. I still recall trying to explain how it worked to the energy provider I was with when they tried to keep me from leaving. The guy couldn't wrap his head around how it worked so he just gave up…..
I find paying through the month and picking up the daily deals is a great way to remove the quarterly bill shock of the other providers and being able to buy special packs in advance at lower prices has really help save.
Generous referral bonuses from Powershop as well:
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/wiki/powershop_referral_links
Alinta
20% off electricity
10% off gas
I spoke with AGL this morning and I have been able to secure 20% off electricity charge and one month free bill.
Is that 20% off contingent on you paying on time? I.e., are you on a 'pay-on-time' plan?
If you do decide to change be sure to let your existing company know it's because of pricing.. you might be able to squeeze a bigger % discount out of them by staying. But yeah as others have said you need to compare things such as peak/off-peak tariffs and service availability charges. https://www.energymadeeasy.gov.au/ is what I've used in the past.
edit: Just saw you did get a discount out of them, good for you.
Momentum Energy - SmilePower. Price is competitive and renewable energy, so while I am not a tree hugger it helps to know that I am doing my bit :)
Currently on a saver plan with AGL. So I'm charged only on a peak basis. Does anyone know if I would be better off changing to a Time of use meter. That way the electricity would be calculated on a peak/off-peak basis. I've been told that it would cost around $13 and up to 20 business days to install. Also once changed, you can't go back to being charged on a peak basis.
Yes, I would highly recommend it. As an Ozbargainer, it puts the incentive in place to shift load to off-peak periods. Save ~$60-$80 per quarter but results would vary depending upon consumption.
"I've been told that it would cost around $13…to install"
Please clarify dras; did you mean "$130" here?
exit AGL to anybody else, they will contact you and (if anything like what happened to me) offer you 26% discount (on time-of-day metering)
Agree with battler. I did that, as battler said and AGL offered me 26% off. I am in Sydney NSW as well.
This is great news for global warming and all those brown coal power stations
Energy Australia POWER PLAN
I'm with Western Power. I get 0% discount, with $0 incentives to stay with them.
So tired of these 'SAVE 12%', '14% DISCOUNT', and '16% OFF' electricity providers. 12% off what? How come you can't advertise a price and can only advertise a discount? One company's 12% off may be a lot cheaper than another's 16% off, depending on starting price.
When signing up for an Origin power plan I was first shown how big the discount would be on each plan, then given the option of paying more for green power, and only on the final page was a price mentioned.
Imagine walking into a store with 'X% OFF!' signs everywhere, and only when you get to the checkout does anyone mention how much you will pay.
Agree completely with Cluster.
Find an actual bill from your current provider, work out a very rough 12 month usage, then go to Powershop, which must be about the only place where you can get a meaningful rate without needing a map and a compass.
Not suggesting they are the best by any means, but at least you get to compare a reasonable open market rate with what you are paying.
Then, either pat yourself on the back for the great deal you already have, or ring your provider and TELL THEM what you are willing to pay. If they don't beat it, go to Powershop, or ring someone else.
One qualifier. Daily rates appear to have risen dramatically this year, and Kwh rates dropped. But with electric slab heating, and usage that could stop Climate change, I had to do full comparisons to see if there were real savings. This year will save me 15% off last year's Momentum, who I swapped to from AGL. It's a bit hard yards, but it will pay off.
Oh! And read Cluster again.
Speaking of electricty bill, i just received a letter from origin telling me they have made a mistake with the solar rebate and have been over paying us. Instead of 6cents per kw they have been paying 20cents. They said i could keep what they have paid me but future rate would be the lower rate. Anyone receive a similar letter?
And that sums it all up they pay you 6c and then sell it for up to 50 c…..
If I had Solar I would be looking into the new battery packs from Tesla and tell the electricity company to take a flying leap…..
Im with origin in qld got 16% but dodo can offer a tiny bit cheaper rates and 10% i mentioned the 16 from origin so they gave me $100 credit. Now i then rang origin and told them and got s $25 credit. That will be on my last bill before i change. $125 free
I was with Click Energy until I switched to Origin Energy at the end of last year where they had the $50 off your gas bill offer. I calculated both companies offered the same rates if you pay on time, but it was the $50 that made me switch over, since my gas supply is also with Origin. Just gotta be careful with Click that they want to hold onto you after they find out that you're switching — they'll temp you with a "Platinum plan" which is something like 18% off if you pay on time, but if you look at the base rates it's actually more expensive than their standard "Elite plan" even with the discounts factored in.
Check here to compare QLD suppliers http://comparator.qca.org.au/
Secondly - To get out of a contract (With Simply Energy at least)… I was locked into a 24 month contract with Simply Energy with a 20% RAA discount (for usage only). I'm looking to move to DODO, so I rang Simply Energy requesting to change to a no contract plan.. basically so I could leave without paying a contract penalty. It was very simple, cost nothing, they then offered the same RAA% discount without a lock in contract and 10 days later I'm free to leave to wherever I want without penalty… Plus when I pushed DODO they offered a $35 credit if I came across "as they assume I would need to pay a contract termination fee". So a $80 saving + $35 credit!!
I had a totally bad experience with Simply Energy after I took up their offer through RACV (Victorian equivalent of NRMA). I had to take them to the Electricity Ombudsman about deceptive pricing and discounting. Stay away!!!
you have to remember sometimes it is not about the % discount.
You need to look at the $ value or usage and supply charge and also whether the discount is applied to just usage or also supply.
I moved to simply energy village gold class deal recently. 24% off usage and supply + a gold class ticket every quarter.