Another Price Hike for Electricity in Victoria Australia

The latest figures from electricity and gas price comparison site www.makeitcheaper.com.au reveal that Victorian households will be hit hard as electricity price hikes send thousands into fuel poverty.

• In 2009 an estimated 158,000 households suffered Fuel Poverty across Victoria

• This has since risen by approximately 53,000 to 211,000 in 2010 - equivalent to the population of the Northern Territory

• We anticipate a further 2,900 households will be added for each 1% increase in electricity costs

The latest figures from electricity and gas price electricity comparison site www.makeitcheaper.com.au reveal that Victorian households will be hit hard as electricity price hikes send thousands into fuel poverty.

"Fuel Poverty is when the cost of your energy bills is more than 10% of a household's income," explains Tim Wolfenden, home electricity expert and CEO of Make It Cheaper.

"These figures clearly show the social implications of these severe price increases.  Households just won't be able to pay," he says.

"Melbourne's coldest winter in a decade, mortgage pressure plus energy price rises of up to 20% this year have pushed thousands of households into Fuel Poverty across the state. Despite switching off fuel-hungry devices, there's no doubt that families are going to struggle," warned Wolfenden. "Older people may shiver through cold nights or swelter through the heat of summer for fear of being hit with an unmanageable bill at the end of the month," he added.

Make It Cheaper arrived at the startling statistics by identifying the average Victorian household income and comparing that with the average household electricity bill.

"There's no doubt that fuel prices will continue to rise.  All Victorians will be slugged with increasing fuel bills over the next few years, particularly if carbon tax is introduced - and unfortunately the vulnerable households will be hit hardest," said Wolfenden.

However, there are other options for reducing the family fuel bill.

"A household bill could be slashed by up to 15% by finding a better deal and switching to a new supplier," Wolfenden advised.  "As competition increases across Victoria families can make significant savings by just switching their energy supplier.  Even if they think they are locked into contracts, the savings often outweigh the penalties," he explained.

Another Price Hike for Electricity in Victoria Australia

The latest figures from electricity and gas price comparison site www.makeitcheaper.com.au reveal that Victorian households will be hit hard as electricity price hikes send thousands into fuel poverty.

• In 2009 an estimated 158,000 households suffered Fuel Poverty across Victoria

• This has since risen by approximately 53,000 to 211,000 in 2010 - equivalent to the population of the Northern Territory

• We anticipate a further 2,900 households will be added for each 1% increase in electricity costs

The latest figures from electricity and gas price electricity comparison site www.makeitcheaper.com.au reveal that Victorian households will be hit hard as electricity price hikes send thousands into fuel poverty.

"Fuel Poverty is when the cost of your energy bills is more than 10% of a household's income," explains Tim Wolfenden, home electricity expert and CEO of Make It Cheaper.

"These figures clearly show the social implications of these severe price increases.  Households just won't be able to pay," he says.

"Melbourne's coldest winter in a decade, mortgage pressure plus energy price rises of up to 20% this year have pushed thousands of households into Fuel Poverty across the state. Despite switching off fuel-hungry devices, there's no doubt that families are going to struggle," warned Wolfenden. "Older people may shiver through cold nights or swelter through the heat of summer for fear of being hit with an unmanageable bill at the end of the month," he added.

Make It Cheaper arrived at the startling statistics by identifying the average Victorian household income and comparing that with the average household electricity bill.

"There's no doubt that fuel prices will continue to rise.  All Victorians will be slugged with increasing fuel bills over the next few years, particularly if carbon tax is introduced - and unfortunately the vulnerable households will be hit hardest," said Wolfenden.

However, there are other options for reducing the family fuel bill.

"A household bill could be slashed by up to 15% by finding a better deal and switching to a new supplier," Wolfenden advised.  "As competition increases across Victoria families can make significant savings by just switching their energy supplier.  Even if they think they are locked into contracts, the savings often outweigh the penalties," he explained.

Victoria proclaimed the most competitive energy market in Australia

Victoria has shown great prowess in promoting its energy market that other Australian states are now lagging behind in terms of energy consumer-provider activities. As a matter of fact, Victoria has held the lead for five years running; with some of the most competitive electricity marketers consistently vying for the favor of consumers and small businesses. According to VaasaETT, around 20% of these providers' customers change yearly.

In 2009, Victoria experience a 26 per cent conversion of energy and gas shoppers, from one dealer to another. That is more than what the rest of the Australian states had, with South Australia at 12.2 percent, Queensland at 11.5 per cent and New South Wales only having 9.2 per cent shifts.

With this kind of dynamism, it may seem like Victoria has a thriving energy market. However, the number of energy marketers and conversions do not necessarily reflect it as there is still that concern as to whether or not consumers are getting the best deals out of their choices. Usually customers are just swayed by the sales pitch of marketers, and their decisions are not governed by convenience or benefits. Thus, it cannot be fully concluded that Victoria's energy market is at all healthy.

Unlike the United Kingdom where there is a huge conversion turnout (1 million to be exact) among consumers, after full education of the pros and cons of certain dealers, Make It Cheaper makes it known that Victoria still has a few improvements to make before becoming fully realized as a global energy market player. The government must then take that initial step of providing customers with information, in order to promote educated consumerism.

TRU Energy Victorian Price Rise

Proving just what business customers could possibly be expecting from other suppliers, TRU Energy released a variety of electricity price rises for all of it's Victorian Customers in late May 2010, with consumers expecting to notice higher fees on their bills in the following 6-12 weeks.

The typical small business is actually getting struck by a 3.9% rise, even so, consumers who may have traditionally been provided through TRU Energy in the SP Ausnet region are generally seeing price increases of anywhere from 5.5% and 9.9%.

It is predicted that most additional providers will follow in TRU's actions within the forthcoming weeks, however it is still to be seen whether they will be of a similar level.

Traditionally, suppliers may pass on these rises in the locations where they have the highest volume of clients - in this case SP Ausnet. This usually enables competitors to sharpen their pricing and provide more aggressive discounts, to win over clients.

Tim Wolfenden, CEO of MakeItCheaper.com.au remarks: "Business consumers have become more and more accustomed to seeing their bills change, so this change by TRU Energy will comes as no real surprise.

It really is essential that consumers keep on top of these types of movements, and look to locate financial savings to counteract these kinds of increases simply by switching to a cheaper package.

We would certainly advise that present TRU Energy customers inside the SP Ausnet area check to see just how much they are able to save by changing, particularly if they've noticed a rise of nearly 10%."

SP Ausnet covers the following postcodes:

3063, 3064, 3074, 3075, 3076, 3082, 3083, 3085, 3087, 3088, 3089, 3090, 3091, 3093, 3094, 3095, 3096, 3097, 3099, 3106, 3109, 3111, 3113, 3114, 3115, 3116, 3132, 3133, 3134, 3135, 3136, 3137, 3138, 3139, 3140, 3152, 3153, 3154, 3155, 3156, 3158, 3159, 3160, 3175, 3178, 3179, 3180, 3521, 3522, 3607, 3608, 3610, 3658, 3659, 3660, 3662, 3663, 3664, 3665, 3666, 3669, 3670, 3672, 3673, 3675, 3677, 3678, 3682, 3683, 3685, 3687, 3688, 3690, 3691, 3694, 3695, 3697, 3698, 3699, 3700, 3701, 3704, 3705, 3707, 3708, 3709, 3711, 3712, 3713, 3714, 3715, 3717, 3718, 3719, 3720, 3722, 3723, 3725, 3726, 3727, 3728, 3732, 3733, 3735, 3737, 3738, 3739, 3740, 3741, 3744, 3746, 3747, 3749, 3750, 3751, 3752, 3753, 3754, 3755, 3756, 3757, 3758, 3759, 3760, 3761, 3762, 3763, 3764, 3765, 3766, 3767, 3770, 3775, 3777, 3778, 3779, 3781, 3782, 3783, 3785, 3786, 3787, 3788, 3789, 3791, 3792, 3793, 3795, 3796, 3797, 3799, 3802, 3803, 3804, 3805, 3806, 3807, 3808, 3809, 3810, 3812, 3813, 3814, 3815, 3816, 3818, 3820, 3821, 3822, 3823, 3824, 3825, 3831, 3832, 3833, 3835, 3840, 3842, 3844, 3847, 3850, 3851, 3852, 3854, 3856, 3857, 3858, 3859, 3860, 3862, 3864, 3865, 3869, 3870, 3871, 3873, 3874, 3875, 3878, 3880, 3882, 3885, 3886, 3887, 3888, 3889, 3890, 3891, 3892, 3893, 3895, 3896, 3898, 3900, 3902, 3903, 3904, 3909, 3910, 3912, 3921, 3922, 3923, 3925, 3945, 3946, 3950, 3951, 3953, 3954, 3956, 3957, 3958, 3959, 3960, 3962, 3964, 3965, 3966, 3967, 3971, 3975, 3976, 3977, 3978, 3979, 3980, 3981, 3984, 3987, 3988, 3990, 3991, 3992, 3995, 3996

Victoria has the most competitive energy market in Australia

Victoria has already dominated the Australian electricity market for the past five years. This was according to VaasaETT, a global power analyst operating out of Finland.

With the Twenty six per cent of Victorian energy and gas shoppers who opted to switch dealers, Victoria electricity market has become radically more productive. This is also quite obvious with the annual 20 % rate of costumers that are moving over that includes small businesses and ordinary households. It was also found out that 12.2 % made the change in South Australia, 11.5 % in Queensland, and 9.2 % in New South Wales. As compared to their tough competitors in Australia, Victoria has indeed become more fruitful.

The real deal is not all about getting high numbers of customer transfer but rather how effective was the switch decision. This was cited by Make It Cheaper. The entire process of coming up with a decision must be investigated thoroughly. Consumers might have been presented with a single option leaving them with no choice but to grab what is in front of them. This is what door-to-door selling is all about – making biased reviews and making customers believe that they are choosing the best option. If you compare it to United Kingdom’s unbiased reviews with its 1 million companies, customers are really assured that they have opted for the best.

Since then, the issue about having satisfied customers who made a decision to shift dealers is still questionable. This is now the wake up call for the government to act upon existing market issues to assure the sound welfare of its consuming public.

Victoria Gains Number Slot in Electricity Market Competitiveness

Victoria has shown great prowess in the electricity industry as it was recently declared one of the most competitive electricity markets in the world. VaasaETT, a leading analyst based in Finland, was not hesitant to declare this given that Victoria has had 20% of its populace and small businesses transfer providers for five years in a row. Though competition is stiff with other states, Victoria has remained strong.

As statistics would show, there were more people who converted to another dealer in Victoria than in other states during the year 2009. Compared to South Australia, which had 12.2 percent, Queensland that had 11.5 percent and New South Wales with 9.2 percent; Victoria experienced a 26 percent turnover.

But the real question for this is if the turnaround is actually producing more benefits for consumers. Although Victoria is experiencing quite an impressive augmentation as compared to other states, this does not entail that the consumers have actually found the most cost effective option. Usually, what happens is they are just presented another choice, instead of a multitude, to which they convert to, given the opportunity. Unlike in the United Kingdom where 1 million conglomerates and private entities swap energy providers upon clear comparison of the alternatives, there is no clear indicator for this in Victoria.

Thus, Make It Cheaper urges further investigation. Moreover, it also urges the government to safeguard the interest of consumers by giving them the chance on making an educated decision regarding transferring energy providers.

Click Energy Release in Queensland

In May 2010 Click Energy, one of the latest electricity suppliers in Australia expanded their service from the borders of Victoria into Queensland. Having a brand renew, showing you the simplicity along with ease associated with moving over electricity, Click Energy is looking to extend itself straight into an as yet, ‘untapped’ marketplace.

Click Energy comes to market with a basic proposition, which is to obtain any bills by email and also pay your bills within seven days – for that, Click Energy will provide a flat 7% discount across every cost. Simple! In fact, for a short time only, Click Energy will be offering a $50 sign-up discount for all new customers which join.

Tim Wolfenden, CEO of MakeItCheaper.com.au comments: "Click Energy’s proposition provides a rejuvenating change to many of the larger participants within the Australian marketplace. They show that competition works, and for customers who want to support the smaller business, Click Energy helps make the perfect choice.

Make It Cheaper has seen plenty of business and residential customers make the change and move to Click Energy. The transfer process is usually quick, simple and hassle free – the best benefit, the electricity costs less!

Click Energy launch in Queensland

In May 2010 Click Energy, one of the latest electricity suppliers in Australia expanded their service from the borders of Victoria into Queensland. Having a brand renew, showing you the simplicity along with ease associated with moving over electricity, Click Energy is looking to extend itself straight into an as yet, ‘untapped’ marketplace.

Click Energy comes to market with a basic proposition, which is to obtain any bills by email and also pay your bills within seven days – for that, Click Energy will provide a flat 7% discount across every cost. Simple! In fact, for a short time only, Click Energy will be offering a $50 sign-up discount for all new customers which join.

Tim Wolfenden, CEO of MakeItCheaper.com.au comments: "Click Energy’s proposition provides a rejuvenating change to many of the larger participants within the Australian marketplace. They show that competition works, and for customers who want to support the smaller business, Click Energy helps make the perfect choice.

Make It Cheaper has seen plenty of business and residential customers make the change and move to Click Energy. The transfer process is usually quick, simple and hassle free – the best benefit, the electricity costs less!

Click Energy launch in Queensland

In May this year Click Energy, one of the latest power suppliers in Australia widened their services from the edges of Victoria into Queensland.

Using a brand refresh, showing you the simplicity and also ease regarding moving over electricity, Click Energy will be aiming to extend themselves into an as yet, ‘untapped’ marketplace.

Click Energy arrives to market with a simple proposal, that is to obtain any bills by means of email along with pay your bills within seven days – for that, Click Energy will provide a flat 7% price cut across every cost. Simple!

In fact, for a limited time only, Click Energy will be offering a $50 sign-up discount for all new customers that join.

Tim Wolfenden, CEO of MakeItCheaper.com.au remarks: "Click Energy’s proposal provides a refreshing change to many of the bigger participants in the Australian marketplace. They demonstrate that competition works, and for customers who want to support the smaller business, Click Energy helps make the best choice.

Make It Cheaper has noticed plenty of business and residential customers make the change and move to Click Energy. The transfer process is fast, simple and straight forward – the best part, the electricity is cheaper!

Victoria has the most competitive energy market in Australia

VaasaETT, a global power think tank located in Finland, has declared that for the fifth year consecutively Victoria has one of the world’s most competitive electricity markets, with around 20% of homeowners and small business switching every year.

Presented with other Aussie states that have created openly competitive changing markets, Victoria is noticeably more productive.

Last year twenty six per cent of Victorian electrical energy and gas shoppers decided to switch completely to another dealer last year, while 12.2 per cent made the change in South Australia, 11.5 per cent in Queensland, and a minute 9.2 per cent in New South Wales.

Make It Cheaper says: "The devil is in the fine detail. Even though Victoria is performing effectively with regards to real consumers moving over, the key will be whether or not they acquired the best deal available to them after they changed. Most of these customer may have changed via a power suppliers door-to-door sales agent, or telesales rep. Given these kind of guys only put one offer on the table, the consumer is usually blind to whether or not there are far better deals available in the market place.

Match it up to the United Kingdom in which about 1 million businesses and also home owners switch by way of comparison providers each year, these customers can be confident that they are getting the best deal for them, through and independent service.

Victoria has the most competitive energy market in Australia - however the question we have to ask ourselves is 'Are customers better off?'

It really is quite clear how the government must know that it's not only about transferring, it is more valuable that the client understands they have choice and how to go about getting the best deal."

Gas charges set to rise throughout NSW

Business consumers and also householders might possibly see price rises of up to 17.5 % over the coming three years.

This news arrives off the back of recommendation by IPART, the New South Wales energy regulator. This price increase can fluctuate massively by customer, all depending on which supplier they are currently with.

A breakdown of the suggested gas price adjustments in the next 3 years are as follows:

Residential
• AGL Energy: 12.4 per cent
• Country Energy: 17.5 per cent
• Origin Energy: 17 per cent
• ActewAGL: 12.3 per cent

Business
• AGL Energy: per cent
• Country Energy: 16.4 per cent
• Origin Energy: 9.3 per cent
• ActewAGL: 13.6 per cent

Make It Cheaper says: "These suggested gas price changes have some real ups and downs. AGL business customers however, have struck some good fortune, whereas Country Energy residential customers have caught the sharp end of these increases. This is actually going to make it challenging for customers to truly understand the effect of these cost increases."

As ever, we recommend thinking about starting to be efficient and economical regarding the gas you use. Not to mention doing your research to determine if you can find cheaper gas deals on the market - remembering that some bundle dual fuel deals through a single supplier is probably not as good as two separate suppliers for you gas and electricity."

Energy Australia Smart Meters Leading to Customer Criticism

Smart meters are increasingly being set up in newly built or any renovated homes all over Energy Australia's incumbent supply area.

The modern electricity smart meters allow for a retailer to implement 'time of use' charging. 'Time of use' charging isn't something new in NSW, the majority of consumers usually are charged a Peak, Off Peak and Shoulder fee by suppliers. Nevertheless the way of measuring and tracking is fairly crude.

The previous 'dumb' meter has a simple time switch to measure the consumers use across different periods during the day. The only way to read the meter, or change the time structure, is for an engineer to go out and re-configure it.

The modern smart meters permit the complete period of use to be configured remotely and for the meter to be read remotely. As a result even though the 'time of use' periods might be predetermined today, they might very easily be altered in the foreseeable future to more accurately reflect the costs received by suppliers to supply consumers with electricity.

The issue NSW consumers tend to be dealing with, could be the peak time period (highest prices) that Energy Australia are enforcing on these consumers is across the time of day whenever a they use, (particularly a family) is likely to be highest - typically 2pm to 8pm.

Consumers are generally less than happy about this as they think they're being struck with significant prices hikes, and some are. Energy Australia on the other hand suggest that 70% of consumers using smart meters will end up paying less for their electricity than those on a flat rate - demonstrating that bad news travels much faster than good.

Energy Australia has now permitted consumers to choose among a 'time of use' charging structure and also a 'flat rate' set of prices. This could be a good choice for Energy Australia - there's a clear need to get consumers onboard, after that improve the amount of information available about the benefits of smart meters.

The benefits being:

•Cheaper rates

•More accurate billing

•Improve energy efficiency

Very easy to say but a little trickier to deliver to buyers who are merely worried about affording their power expenses.

Delayed Sale in Electricity Retail Assets Set in New South Wales

The federal government of New South Wales announced the public regarding the delay in the sale of various electricity retail assets, which lead to speculations by most market associates as to whether the transaction will continue right before election next year. The said retail assets include Integral Energy, Country Energy, and Energy Australia. People felt to be uncertain with the said reform since the government may put off investors from any doubts with the whole privatization thing, including the launching of Gentrader concept.

The government's proposed reform is intended to draw attention from various marketplace entrants under retail, distribution, and generation, which serves as the industry's key levels. This can also assist in forming an acceptable field of industry.

By gaining negative feedback from various business industry, many suggest that instead of spending much time in creating intricate retail assets delay proposals, NSW government should coordinate with the local regulator IPART and develop a certain strategy that would allow companies to compete with other business competitors within the same marketplace for a better market community.

It is noticeable that most organizations today are more concerned of how much they would save from getting low cost energy charges. They are not particular with the sender's credentials and even the process of how it was created. As of this time, a margin (profit) of only 5.4 percent from the retailers is permitted by IPART, still far from driving attention to any potential retailer to be part in New South Wales' competing market against local retailers.

There is a possibility that companies may see a great deal of power charges reductions after IPART enhanced their strategies to be carried out. And since electricity expenses may about to rise by more than $5000 for the next four years, business operators can only benefit with these changes if the regulator will grant competition to exist in the said Australian state.

Western Australia Battle on Energy Price Hike

The Western Australian government has confirmed a round of expected energy price increase specifically on gas and electricity later this April.

Ongoing increases are expected that by next month, homeowners and business sector will feel a 7.5 percent price increase, and further 10 percent by mid-year.

In support to the energy price trend, gas may also add its current price by up to 7% in July on the same year. It is said that approcimatley an annual average of $215 will be added to local WA residents' electricity bill, and $379 to the business industry.

Thos who are high energy consumers will be slogged an event heftier price rise when this change goes ahead.

This dramatic energy price increase is not common for every nation, and it is constantly receiving negative feedback from the people. The worst thing about this scenario for the residents in WA is they were not given chance to choose among other cheaper energy suppliers, as compared to other Australian states (Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia).

Areas that are able to switch to other energy suppliers may less likely experience the burden of energy price hike.

The only thing that WA residents can do is to find ways on how to reduce energy
consumption. Ensuring proper usage of home electronics is a sure way to reduce the impact of this unavoidable incidences.