5th-Jul-19, 05:44 AM
I have been contemplating this same thing myself for a year now, finally got motivated to sort out the incredibly hard to decipher billing and make the phone call to switch.
Power pricing in Australia in NSW has risen on average 63% in three years... for nothing. The government in their dumb ar.se wisdom sold our power grids off for short term income costing all Australians this hefty price hike, they even termed it: 'Gold Plating of Lines and Poles', matches the bloody prices.
What really gets my goat is they charge for supplying the line to my unit (one meter) yet on the bill they charge me for two lines, one Peak the other Off-Peak (hot water), yet there is only ONE line in... how do they justify the two daily charges for one line, I asked this and they could not answer, simply saying because we can, my Barrister says this is illegal, if they want to charge for two then they must run another line in for my Off-Peak, case on-going for this issue.
My main reason wanting to switch is to get my meter upgraded to a new one, this current one is over 25 years old and simply does not offer the benefits of the newer meters, such as Smart Meters that provide 'time of use' features, which are simply Peak, Off-Peak Control Load 1 (hot water systems usually) Shoulder 1 and Shoulder 2.
Both Shoulders offer a cheaper rate for longer period at specific times, for example Shoulder 2 offers me 16c/khr from 10pm to 7am Tuesday to Friday and 10pm Friday to 7am Monday (the entire weekend is half price)
My current provider (Origin Energy aka Essential Energy) wants to charge me $300 to change the meter, speaking with Red Energy they are a lousy $15 per month cheaper and will install the new Smart Meter for free.
Just waiting for the landlord's permission, told him if he refuses then he will be getting a reduced rental payment of $20 per month from me in turn to cover the cost of outdated non energy efficient meter, spoken with the Tenancy Tribunal and they agreed with me.
Time will tell.
Power pricing in Australia in NSW has risen on average 63% in three years... for nothing. The government in their dumb ar.se wisdom sold our power grids off for short term income costing all Australians this hefty price hike, they even termed it: 'Gold Plating of Lines and Poles', matches the bloody prices.
What really gets my goat is they charge for supplying the line to my unit (one meter) yet on the bill they charge me for two lines, one Peak the other Off-Peak (hot water), yet there is only ONE line in... how do they justify the two daily charges for one line, I asked this and they could not answer, simply saying because we can, my Barrister says this is illegal, if they want to charge for two then they must run another line in for my Off-Peak, case on-going for this issue.
My main reason wanting to switch is to get my meter upgraded to a new one, this current one is over 25 years old and simply does not offer the benefits of the newer meters, such as Smart Meters that provide 'time of use' features, which are simply Peak, Off-Peak Control Load 1 (hot water systems usually) Shoulder 1 and Shoulder 2.
Both Shoulders offer a cheaper rate for longer period at specific times, for example Shoulder 2 offers me 16c/khr from 10pm to 7am Tuesday to Friday and 10pm Friday to 7am Monday (the entire weekend is half price)
My current provider (Origin Energy aka Essential Energy) wants to charge me $300 to change the meter, speaking with Red Energy they are a lousy $15 per month cheaper and will install the new Smart Meter for free.
Just waiting for the landlord's permission, told him if he refuses then he will be getting a reduced rental payment of $20 per month from me in turn to cover the cost of outdated non energy efficient meter, spoken with the Tenancy Tribunal and they agreed with me.
Time will tell.
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