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Householders will be able to take advantage of cheaper, off-peak power by altering their electricity consumption, under new flexible pricing energy deals launched by EnergyAustralia.
Under EnergyAustralia’s three new flexible pricing plans, Victorian household customers with active smart meters can choose to pay different rates for electricity, depending on when they use it: peak, off-peak and shoulder times.
On these new plans, electricity costs are highest during peak times (3-9pm weekdays), lower during shoulder periods (7am-3pm and 9pm-10pm weekdays, and 7am-10pm weekends) and the lowest during off-peak times (10pm-7am weekdays and 10pm-7am weekends).
Household customers will be able to choose from three EnergyAustralia plans and sign up to the one that best suits their lifestyle and electricity use.
EnergyAustralia’s new flexible pricing plans are:
- Regular Saver: This is designed for customers who use electricity day and night and want to benefit from lower rates in non-peak periods. This may suit families, pensioners, students or people who work from home during the day;
- Weekend Saver: This is designed for customers who are not home until the evening on weekdays and want to benefit from lower rates for using electricity at weekends and after 9pm on weeknights. This may suit working couples and singles; and
- Night Saver: This is designed for customers who are heavy users of electricity between 10pm-7am and want to pay low rates during these times. This may suit shift workers.
EnergyAustralia’s Group Executive Manager, Retail, Adrian Merrick said customers wanted more power in their hands to take control of their electricity bills.
“We understand that people want more control over their energy costs. EnergyAustralia’s flexible pricing products allow customers to align their electricity use to cheaper pricing periods,” Mr Merrick said.
“Most electricity plans are based on a flat rate, so the same rate is charged no matter what time of day or night electricity is used. This means if customers want to cut their bills they need to cut their overall electricity use.
“Under our flexible pricing plans, the cost of electricity is dependent on the time of day it’s used, so a customer can save money by making choices about when they use electricity.
“Flexible pricing is not for everyone, but for those who want to or are able to match their energy use with the lowest-priced periods, our plans may help people save money.
“We’ve found some customers already use a lot of their energy on the weekends and late at night. Our analysis shows that by switching to one of our new flexible pricing plans some of our customers will be able to save over $150 per year if they continue to use most of their electricity in these off-peak times.
“We know that everyone uses electricity at different time, so we have designed our flexible pricing products to suit a range of households. For example, a shift worker who gets home at 11 at night may use more electricity during off-peak periods compared to someone who works in an office between 9 and 5, and our plans reflect these differences.”
Mr Merrick said EnergyAustralia was already supporting customers to take control of their electricity use through the online portal eWise.
“eWise is an energy efficiency initiative designed to save residential electricity customers money by helping to reduce their usage,” he said.
“It gives people a helping hand to make informed choices about their energy use by providing clear and personalised insight into how they use energy and how they compare to similar homes in their area.”
If existing customers find the current flexible pricing plan doesn’t suit them, they will be able to move back to their existing EnergyAustralia plan with no administration fees until 31 March, 2015.
It follows the Victorian Government’s state-wide rollout of flexible pricing.
To find out more EnergyAustralia’s new flexible pricing products or the free online eWise portal, visit energyaustralia.com.au or phone 133 466.