Which Electricity Provider is Best? (Qld)
As a result of three separate door-to-door Electricity retailer salespeople knocking on our door a couple of weeks ago (all on the same day and all of different nationalities!), I decided to figure out what the different deals were and whether I could 'trust' what I was hearing at the front door!
I eventually came across this website to help us keep informed about the offers from these "wiley" door-knockers:-
http://www.qca.org.au/comparator/ It's an online comparison software produced by the Queensland Competition Authority and has been recently updated to reflect the new pricing details of the licensed energy retailers in Queensland. It does have some limitations so please make sure you read the disclaimer on the site.
You'll be able to enter details in from your most recent electricity/gas bill and ideally (to get a more accurate result), you'd be wise to enter the details from the last four bills. This will allow you to take into consideration the differences in your household energy use throughout the four seasons.
It even has provision for showing you some of the "incentive" offers that are going around such as magazine subscriptions, rewards programs and discounts. Once you've done the comparison, you can then go to the retailer's website to find out more specific info on their offers.
In fact as a tool, I'm now using it to compare my cash flow coaching/budgeting clients' electricity bills and just last week, not only did we find that what they thought they had signed on for (some "Green" choices renewable energy program), they in fact were paying 100% of their total household bill on Tariff 11 (one of, if not the most expensive option!) and by electing to move to part Tariff 11 and part Tariff 33 (controlled supply) for appliances such as the hot water system - they'll be saving quite a bit of money in the coming year!
I'd suggest once you've done your comparison, check whether your current electricity/gas provider has any "exit penalty fees" before you decide to switch and take the time to give them a call to ask about the current offers and about the Tariff options you have at your home. Make sure you do all of this before agreeing to anything the door-to-door salespeople offer - they can be quite convincing!
I'm planning my next tip to be about the research I've been doing into the "Solar" option and some of the Governement rebates that are being offered. Stay tuned in to SecretBudget.Net!!
And most of all - have fun!
Take care for now.
Regards,
Sam Best
Cash Flow Coach
