Reviewing your tariffs for cheaper alternatives does not have to be difficult or stressful!
In fact, there are several methods for assessing your tariffs that can be performed as a regular health check. Most of these options are available for free, with only simple steps required.
Our recommended options for reviewing your tariff are detailed below:
1. Retailer Tariff Review
At a customer’s request, some energy retailers will perform a tariff review for your energy accounts. This is generally a basic assessment of the current tariff costs compared with other tariffs that the retailer offers.
This is typically offered as a free service by several energy retailers.
The process is as simple as contacting retailer and requesting an energy tariff review. The retailer will likely ask you to provide the National Meter Identifier (NMI) for the account you wish to review. This can be found on your energy bill (simply look for ‘NMI’ followed by a 10 or 11 digit number).
It is important to consider that, in some cases, the review offered by the energy retailer may not be detailed enough to address certain aspects. However, at the very least these reviews can provide an example of any areas that can be investigated in more detail. Some examples of retailers that provide tariff reviews, and how to request them, is given below.
- ERM POWER – Twice a year you can request a complimentary ‘Network Tariff Review‘. Contact your allocated account manager or email essupport@ermpower.com.au
- ORIGIN ENERGY – You can request an assessment by contacting your account manager or emailing businesscustomers@originenergy.com.au
- AGL – Contact the large business accounts team on 1300 001 047 or email commercialbilling@agl.com.au
- ERGON ENERGY – Ergon Energy Retail offer a tariff comparison feature built into their ‘Energy Analysis’ tool, further information can be found here on their website
2. Online Assessment Tool
There is a government provided online resource to assist you in comparing retailer options called ‘Energy Made Easy’. This tool is available for small business customers (using less than 100,000 kWh/year) and is useful for comparison of general retail plans and associated tariff costs.
It covers most (but not all) regions within Australia and is found here.
The website requires you to enter your consumption information, then it will run a comparison of your usage costs for the tariff rates offered by a variety of energy retailers. This tool has limitations in the complexity of its review process, but is helpful for quickly reviewing what options are available for you.
3. In-House Records and Self-Review
You can also keep records of your energy billing in a spreadsheet and run an annual cost assessment on various tariffs. This option works best if you have a staff member with experience in spreadsheets and energy billing.
The process can be time consuming to set up, but will mean that you have full knowledge on how the assessments have been performed and can modify the spreadsheet to work with the more complicated tariffs.
4. Energy Consultant
If you would like a more detailed assessment of your tariff options or are considering options for a site that is undergoing a change in energy use, an energy consultant may be required.
An energy consultant will provide a more in depth analysis of your options, including a review of more complicated tariffs and future cost predictions. This analysis can be customised to include expected costs for the inclusion of energy intensive equipment upgrades.
The level of detail that the consultant can provide depends on the quality of information they receive. Ideally, a minimum of 12-months of recent energy billing is required. Some additional information that will improve the quality of the assessment includes notes on operations or production processes (think about any relevant factors you think should be considered).
Our in-depth Tariff Review Service independently reviews your current and future energy needs to help develop practical and financially viable energy tariff solutions.
Ask yourself: when was the last time my energy rates were reviewed?
Energy retailers update their tariff rates annually, so if your answer was more than 12-months ago you could be paying more than you need to for your energy bills!