OMG - I am moving into a new rental property next week (Sunshine Coast) and I haven’t had to worry about choosing electricity providers for some time. Firstly I can’t believe the insane number of providers there are, secondly trying to use the Government website to compare providers is of course, not straight forward. I am wondering does anyone have any suggestions of a flat rate vs time of use for energy usage please? I live on my own, and I use very little electricity during the peak times (4pm - 8pm in Sth East Queensland), so I am leaning towards the time of use option, as for me, I think it will be cheaper. Any suggestions would be gratefully received. Thank you.
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If you have a smart meter, you can try time of use, and calculate what the cost would be on a standard tariff (11 and 31). After a few months see what regime best suits your usual usage and move to that one. It is easier to calculate tariff charges then the reverse.
Also check what meters you currently have as a time of use may require meter change. If there is a meter change, determine if there are costs before jumping in the deep end.
Also see what costs there is for switching from one to the other as well.
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If TOU rates are applied most of the day will be in Shoulder rates ie 7am to 4pm. So if home during most of that Shoulder period you may need to consider the cost of these rates against a flat rate plan and any discounts you can arrange on any plan you may choose.
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Try moving to regional Qld where there is only one.
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The Qld Govt Energy Made Easy site,
https://www.energymadeeasy.gov.au/start
I used our pre Solar PV consumption 6kWh per day for 2 as a starting point.
It returned estimates of approx $190 per quarter for Origin and AGL for their lowest cost fixed/single rate tariff.
There are 2 suggested options as low as $150, with discounts, otherwise $170 and $180. Single rate tariff.
A third suggests $150 per qtr, without discounting on a Time of Use tariff.
The experience of friends in SE Qld with cheap deals for power has been they are often limited or introductory offers that can change. It’s important to understand the risks if the low price can change, and be prepared to change retailer the instant they change their rates.
Our 12 month fixed rate agreement for electricity recently expired. The first offer was worse than the previous plan. When contacted the retailer proposed an alternate offer that was not quite as low cost as previously. We set about changing retailer. A week later our old retailer called back and made an offer that bettered that of any. We have decided to stay with the original retailer on the best offer fixed rates for 12 months. Note: there are 10 business day cooling off periods on changing retailers or plans.
Notes:
Some of the retailers EG AGL fix their rates on the suggested plan for 12 months. One of the lowest cost retailers EG Mojo can change their rates at any time.
A TOU tariff does need a Smart Meter. Their may be an additional daily charge for the meter (7.7c pd for ours).
For very low consumption, the daily supply charge (Mojo as the example) is $0.814 pd. Consumption $0.984 pd based on 16.34c x6kWh pd. The daily supply charge can be as important as the unit rate.
ReAmped TOU has 13.12c /kWh shoulder tariff is not that much less than Mojo’s 16.34c single/fixed tariff.
It’s not evident whether @helenmszabo has electric hot water, off peak for hot water, or what they consider low use. For TOU options with no seperate metering, electric HW would need to be on a battery backed up reliable timer to operate only in the off peak night rate period.
P.S. (edit added)
The Qld plan finder appears to calculate results to the nearest $10?
For solar PV owners it did not return the lowest cost options available from AGL or Origin. It may be best or worth checking with each retailer on their web site or by chat or phone.
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Do you mean network connections or retailers?
Both. It is called Ergon Energy.
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Network, there is only Ergon for distribution. For retailers, depending in which regional area one resides, there can be a number of limited options. Canstar has covered this reasonably well…
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An interesting system. There is a subsidy but only one retailer gets it, more or less ensuring that retailer (who is also the network owner) gets almost all the business. I don’t know which is more weird, that or the NSW system where in any location there is only one connection but any number of retailers who (on paper) compete for business.
I would be interested if there is any analysis of retail margins under the various systems.
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I fed some data from our ex Townsville home into the Qld Govt Plan finder. It returned 5 suggestions ranging from $620 to $660 per summer quarter. Ergon was the second cheapest at $640.
While there is more than one retail brand the difference in cost is minimal.
Our usage was based on a large family home with off peak and controlled load (tariff 31/33) metering.
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Not outside the Greater Brisvaga region.
QEnergy Prices QLD
Here are QEnergy’s plans on our database for SE QLD. These costs are based on the Energex network in Brisbane but prices may vary depending on your circumstances. This comparison assumes general energy usage of 4600kWh/year for a residential customer on a single rate tariff. Please use our comparison tool for a specific comparison in your area. Our database may not cover all deals in your area. As always, check all details of any plan directly with the retailer before making a purchase decision.
Queensland
Here are the Mojo Power plans on our database for SE QLD. These costs are based on the Energex network in Brisbane but prices may vary depending on your circumstances. This comparison assumes general energy usage of 4600kWh/year for a residential customer on a single rate tariff. Please use our comparison tool for a specific comparison in your area. Our database may not cover all deals in your area. As always, check all details of any plan directly with the retailer before making a purchase decision.
Bright Spark Power Price QLD
Here are the Bright Spark Power plans on our database for SE QLD. These costs are based on the Energex network in Brisbane but prices may vary depending on your circumstances. This comparison assumes general energy usage of 4600kWh/year for a residential customer on a single rate tariff. Please use our comparison tool for a specific comparison in your area. Our database may not cover all deals in your area. As always, check all details of any plan directly with the retailer before making a purchase decision.
What an absolutely pathetic article.
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It is possibly due to the market being (highly) regulated meaning price variations will be less and differences potentially what the retailer can provide at their end within their own costs and margins.
Yes, it is worth looking at the individual retailer websites as they offer plans in some regional areas, such as Cairns. See…
https://portal.brightsparkpower.com.au/#plan_search
https://www.qenergy.com.au/Electricity-Offers
And do searches using 4870 postcode.
Such as Townsville. It seems rather pointless in this example. Bright Spark is worse than Ergon, but only by $10.
I think you hit the spot with
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Thank you. The best deal I have found is with ReAmped. Their Time of Use option is Peak - 22.67 c/kWh; Shoulder (does anyone know what “shoulder” is BTW?) 13.12 c; and Off-peak 11.41 c. Their Anytime option is 16.49 c. No other discounts, but they have no exit or move-in fees, credit card fees etc.
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Thanks. I haven’t moved in as yet, however assume there would be a Smart meter.
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It would make life so much simpler if we only had the choice of one!
Move to where Fred lives.
When we bought our current residence in early 2015 and asked for Tarrif 33 to be connected, Ergon replaced the analogue meter with a smart meter although it is not a remote read version.
The previous owner had had Tariff 33 removed and was running the small 20,000 litre swimming pool on Tariff 11 for 8 hours a day.
