You can’t change the price of electricity but you can do something about the cost!

Electricity prices for Ergon customers change on the 1^st of July every year.  It’s also the time when obsolete tariffs usually end and new tariffs take effect.

To find out more about how the Queensland Competition Authority arrives at what the new pricing will be, click here.

This year sees a reduction across most tariffs for both the actual electricity we use and the daily service fees.  They are not huge reductions, but it’s better than the double figure increases we were seeing several years ago.

Lower prices are great, but there are a couple of things that different customers should be aware of:

• If you are a large business customer (defined as using more that 100,000kWh/year) and have a digital meter (that will be most of you) you will be moved to kVA pricing today, if you have not already. I’m not going to go into what kVA and kW are here, that’s a whole other conversation.  What’s important right now is that you know kVA pricing is a bit lower than the kW pricing it replaces and the threshold (the amount you get for free) is a bit higher.  For many customers though, the gap between the amount of kW and kVA will be large, seeing overall electricity costs increase.  There is a solution though, so give us a call to find out how we can help you.
• The large customer Tariffs 20 and 22 have now been closed. Customers on these tariffs will be moved to demand based tariffs today.  The cost effects will vary greatly from customer to customer, depending on how you use electricity.
• If you are a farmer, Tariffs 62, 65, and 66 are also gone. There are alternatives if you were already on these tariffs and other business tariffs may benefit some customers.
• If you are coming off a transitional tariff and your annual electricity costs increase by at least $500, you may be eligible for the Queensland Government’s “Electricity Tariff Adjustment Scheme”. Under this scheme recipients can receive Transitional rebates for up to nine years to offset increased costs.  Click here to find out more.
• If you are a residential customer your price per kWh (the electricity you use) for Tariffs 11 and 33 (the two most common residential tariffs) has come down a little, as has the daily supply charge.
• The solar Feed in Tariff (FiT) has also reduced a little. Generally speaking, the FiT follows other tariff pricing.

So, there will be winners and there will be losers.  But, there are plenty of opportunities for both residential and business customers to use the changes to their advantage.

Remember – you can’t change the price of electricity but you can do something about the cost!

Call us to find out how we can help you on 4772 7394, or visit our office at 1 Carse St, Hyde Park (once the lockdown is over of course!).