Power prices: how to beat looming electricity bill increases

Electricity prices are about to soar, putting even more pressure on already stretched household budgets. But John Rolfe is here to show you how to beat the increase.

You can fight back against the imminent increase in power prices. I have. Here’s what I did.

The electricity retail market has a similarity to home loans in that there are variable rates and fixed rates. But unlike mortgages, right now it is still possible to find a fixed electricity rate that has yet to go up.

By switching to such an offer, you can avoid the price rises that will take effect from July 1.

So where do you find these fixed electricity rates?

Arguably, the easiest place is wattever.com.au. It is a commercial comparison service. I am not affiliated with it, nor is The Daily Telegraph.

Journalist John Rolfe has one simple tip to help you beat looming electricity price hikes.

There are two things about wattever that make it especially helpful.

First, it compares all retail offers — not just the ones it can earn a commission on. Many comparison services only show you deals they can make money from.

Second, it has a feature that allows you to compare fixed-rate plans only.

Fixed-rate plans may not be the cheapest right now, but there is every indication that variable-rate deals are about to become more expensive. Much more expensive.

That’s why I moved our household to a fixed-rate plan this week.

If you disagree with my logic, you should still use a comparison service such as wattever or the federal government’s energymadeeasy.gov.au to shop around.

Many, if not most, consumers will be able to neutralise the looming increases by finding a more competitive tariff.

It’s a lot more useful than whining about the climate policies of Albo or ScoMo.

Let me know how you get on:[e-mail]