RAA Energy is here, and promises to save the majority of households hundreds on their bills
RAA has launched its retail electricity plans, promising to save its members potentially hundreds of dollars per year by buying up power and passing it through to customers without a markup.
RAA has launched its retail electricity plans, promising to save its members potentially hundreds of dollars per year by buying up power and passing it through to customers without a markup.
Under the plan being launched under the RAA Energy banner on Wednesday, RAA members who switch to the new program will pay a $24.95 monthly subscription fee, and will then be charged a competitive peak rate for their power.
RAA chief executive Nick Reade said the rate was below that being charged by major retailers in the electricity sector, which the organisation could offer by not charging a margin on the power.
“On the energy itself, we won’t make any money on at all,’’ Mr Reade said.
“We buy it and we pass it through to you, and we cover our costs with the monthly fee.’’
Mr Reade said as a not-for-profit, member-focused organisation, RAA was not driven by the need to maximise profits, and had thought hard about how it could ease cost of ;living pressures for its members.
A pilot program which RAA ran over about a six month period showed that two thirds of the households involved saved money, and across those, the average savings was about $400.
“What we’ve done is we’ve designed our program around medium to high energy users, such as families,’’ Mr Reade said.
“We won’t be the cheapest at all times of the day, but we’ve designed this to be really competitive at the peak when people use a lot of power.’’
Mr Reade said RAA would not offer discounts to lure in new customers, but aimed to be cost competitive across the board.
“It’s coming from this ethos that we really want to give back to members,’’ Mr Reade said.
“We’re worried about the household budget, as everyone is.
“We think if we can save people around $400 on average, that’s pretty exciting, and hopefully we can do a little bit to help the household budget.’’
Mr Reade said RAA Energy would be signing up customers from Wednesday, and would build customers numbers over time.
RAA Energy will also offer monthly billing solutions, and users would be provided with a free smart meter on sign up if they wanted one.
Users will also be offered free solar and home battery assessments, with RAA already in the business of solar and battery installation.
RAA is South Australia’s largest member-based organisation with 820,000 members.
For more information visit raa.com.au/energy
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