Cheapest – and most expensive – SA electricity deals listed by St Vincent de Paul
Some electricity companies will charge you a lot more than others. Now, a charity has listed the cheapest and most expensive – but one company has fired back.
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St Vincent de Paul has endorsed electricity companies providing exactly the same electricity to homes but with annual savings of $615.
The charity each year asks SA electricity companies for their best quotes, and as at the end of 2019/20 these ranged from $1942 billed by Powerclub, to $2577 billed by Diamond Energy.
St Vincent de Paul spokesman Gavin Dufty said the difference between the best and the worst market was “significant”
“What this means for households who haven’t shopped around, is that electricity companies are relying on your money to prop up their profits, and this is money that should be in your pocket,’’ he said.
“Get on the phone and put the squeeze on your retailer or on the internet and go to government website Energy Made Easy and save yourself some cash that you put toward Christmas presents or a night out.
“Every little bit counts for many households and there are hundreds of dollars in savings to be made.”
Diamond Energy rejected the analysis, which it said varied considerably when different consumption figures were used.
For example, a spokeswoman said, in the 2019 St Vincent de Paul analysis, 6000 KWh/annum was chosen when the “real number” is only 4600 KWh/annum.
Also for Housing SA Properties, the average was 4600 KWh/annum.
This would change the rankings, she said.
“On first review this information is misleading, incorrect and based on skewed non-standard assumptions,’’ she said.
St Vincent de Paul began tracking the difference between the annual prices of retail companies in 2012, just before deregulation and the beginning of aggressive marketing strategies to encourage householders to switch, often to worse offers.
Mr Dufty said it was encouraging to see the wide gap between the best and worst offers last year shrinking considerably.
“The difference or the price-spread is significantly lower compared to last year when the
range was $1065,’’ he said.
The Australian Energy Regulator also regulates a safety-net default market offer for the most vulnerable householders, which puts a cap on potential overcharging by retailer, but has again proven to be more expensive on average.
“For average consumption households (6000kWh/annum), the worst electricity DMO offer is $700 per annum more than the best published market offer,” he said.
Mr Dufty said there was still concern in the welfare sector about the price difference between set DMO bills for electricity and much cheaper market offers.
He said there was also concern about the lower cost of paying bills on time, which many could not afford, and paying bills late.
The report shows for gas, the average annual market offer bill for households consuming 21,000 Mj per annum is currently $1080, which is only $15 less than 2018/19.
“This is disappointing with wholesale gas prices falling, we would have expected this number to be much lower,’’ Mr Dufty said.
There is very little difference between companies for annual gas supply prices: Alinta Energy $1028, GloBird Energy $1036, Lumo Energy $1049, Red Energy $1059, Origin Energy $1063, Simply Energy $1115, AGL $1123 and EnergyAustralia $1163.
For solar electricity households, the average annual bill is approximately $1265 with 3kW
systems and $1660 for 1.5kW systems installed.
This means people who can afford to install 3kW solar systems have an average annual bill $1060 less than those who can’t.
The best market offers for these householders are Lumo Energy $1116, Powerdirect $1129. and Simply Energy $1142.