Energy retailer’s unusual advice to customers to save money

An Aussie energy company has given some unusual but honest advice to customers to help stop their bills from doubling.

An Australian energy company has told customers it is in their best interests to switch to another retailer as soon as possible to get a cheaper price.

It has warned if they remain, they could see their bills double.

The unusual direction came from ReAmped Energy, which has about 70,000 customers across NSW, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and the ACT.

They were sent an email, with some admitting they didn’t believe it at first and thought it must have been a joke or scam.

The bold move comes days after the Australian Energy Regulator raised benchmark prices for retailers, which means households across the country will face higher bills from July 1.

AER attributed the increases to significant rises in wholesale electricity costs over the past year.

ReAmped Energy chief executive Luke Blincoe said it was an “incredibly volatile time” for the energy market and the company’s policy had always been to be honest.

“Several retailers have already started to pull up the drawbridge so customers need to act fast to get themselves onto a better deal now before it’s too late,” he said in a statement.

“There are still a handful of competitive deals in market. No one really knows how bad it will get so we want people to act now.”

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ReAmped Energy CEO Luke Blincoe has told customers to switch to another retailer. Picture: Facebook

Mr Blincoe also stated that the more customers the company kept, the higher prices would need to go because it had “no choice but to pass on the wholesale costs”.

This was further explained when a customer pointed out on Facebook that the company was required to provide at least a month’s notice for a price increase and therefore during that month ReAmped Energy could operate at a loss and would prefer customers to leave immediately.

The company agreed but added: “It’s more that prices need to increase by heaps to stop us making that loss when we buy electricity in advance (called futures) – but the outcome is the same, yes.”

A customer on Facebook questioned the reasoning ReAmped Energy was telling customers to leave now.

Mr Blincoe also posted a video message for customers on Facebook on Tuesday.

“With the state of the Australian electricity market, the best thing you can do is leave ReAmped Energy and find another retailer,” he said.

“Prices are going to go up and they are going to keep going up and we simply don’t want to be passing those sort of costs on to our customers.”

In the corner of the video were the words: “Leaving ReAmped could save you hundreds of dollars.”

Another message said: “Our prices could go up by 100 per cent”.

Mr Blincoe said the best way to find a better deal was using the Australian Government website Energy Made Easy, or Victorian Energy Compare for those in that state.

“It guts us to give you this advice but we’re a purpose driven company and we set out to make it better for our customers and the planet, and right now with the way the energy market is we simply can’t do that,” he said. “Other than by giving you the best advice we can.”

Power prices are surging as a result of global market dislocations and unplanned outages. Picture: Andrew Henshaw/NCA NewsWire

Customers flooded the comments of the video with praise and promised they would be back in the future.

“Wow! Not sure if this is madness or genius, but I suppose it’s the latter as I can guarantee I will be back,” one person wrote.

“I’m so sorry to hear this and appreciate your honesty and authenticity,” said another.

In response to people asking how other companies would be able to offer them a better deal as wholesale prices rise, ReAmped Energy said larger retailers might be in a better position to do so.

“A lot of other providers will likely follow suit, the difference is that some of the bigger players might be (in) a better position as they have different operational structures that are better placed to handle these conditions, as they also generate electricity which they can use to offset prices offered to customers,” the company responded to one customer.

ReAmped Energy suggested to another customer to find a retailer offering a “decent fixed rate”.

“All retailers will be raising their rates so it’s best to shop around now to find a good deal before they’re all gone,” the company wrote.

Originally published as Energy retailer’s unusual advice to customers to save money