Hi guys,
I’m currently with energy Australia receiving 25% off electricity and 20% off gas. However the deal is about to expire so I’m looking to shop around.
I’ve recently received an offer from Alinta of 40% off. But I’ve never heard of them before, anyone with them or have experience with them? Are the discounts really that good?
Our usage is around light to medium, any suggestions for a good power company?
Thanks for all your help!
Sorry for being ignorant but what’s the difference?
from my understanding - Bill has two components - supply charges and usage charges.
All the companies offering discount give discount on usage not supply charges.
Depends, some give discount on usage only, others give it on supply and usage, need to check offer
their usage rates maybe different, calculate the discounted rates then compare.
What state are you in QLD I thought was 28%
Check how much usage rates are as well, not just the discount.
As AKD stated above, electricity bills have two components:
Supply Charge: Daily fixed cost for supplying electricity to your house. Usually not subject to discount
Usage Charge: Charge based on how much electricity you consume. For some providers, this is a fixed rate per kWh used. For other providers it will be a stepped increment (eg. First 7kWh per day is 35c/kWh, the next 3kWh per day is 37c/kWh, anything after that is 40c/kWh)
Different providers charge difference amounts for each of these components, and the prices vary between states, making comparisons difficult for the end user.
An example of the variable pricing with discounts for South Australia is below (estimating 10kWh usage per day): https://i.imgur.com/VpHlq8q.png
When I was research Alinta I found that they had higher daily supply charges and more 'steps' for usage charges, so whilst a high discount on usage charges sounds attractive, it's not actually as good a deal as it sounds.
Also be careful because in some providers disclosure statements sometimes they show excluding GST charges, and others show including GST charges, which makes it even more confusing!
Ozbargain, why are we still talking about percentage discounts on power?
It's like saying 'Target and Myer have exactly the same jacket that I want. Target has a sale for 25% off and Myer has a 30% off sale - who should I buy from?'
Because Target and Myer will have difference prices of same item. And then discount on top. So it's important to compare after discount rate to check which one is cheaper.
I think you are agreeing with me, but I'm not sure.
I moved from AGL to Alinta, saving decent money. Their rates were lower and discount was good as well so it worked out cheaper.
Just do comparison of your recent bill.
Tango.
As usual no rates published because talking about rates is taboo when everyone is offered dynamic pricing.
40% off some figure we won't tell you, what a joke.
Figures are normally available through Fact Sheets on the suppliers websites. In PDF form.
According to my current supplier, Alinta tried to transfer my gas account to themselves without my authority a few days ago. I've lodged a complaint with the Energy Ombudsman to try to determine the whole story. I don't know yet whether it was fraudulent or just incompetence, but the details don't add up which makes the whole thing sound suspicious to me.
Did you have a new neighbour move in?
Nope. I've heard back from Alinta now, who say my MIRN is not in their system, and they did not request the transfer. So now it looks like AGL incompetence, but I'm still waiting to hear back from them. Sorry, Alinta.
I'm suprised people still fall for the old % off deals.
My folks had 35% off electricity, I had 15% and paid less per kW. Both were flat rate charges.
Don't believe the marketing spin.
I'm now with pacific hydro (they've changed their name, can't remember to what) and get no discount. Yet, they were the cheapest.
Tango Energy
For people wondering about % off deals my understanding is these came about because it was illegal to charge late fees so some companies started to offer discounts for paying on time and this practise has just ballooned out to ridiculous discount amounts compensated by increased standard charges to cover the extra discount
stay away from over charge Alinta Energy. With them for couple of years and just find out they over charge the usage. Search on google and facebook. Alot of people in the same shoes
From memory it is 43% off usage, not bill