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NewsBill Shock: How Kayley Harris cut her Energy bill by 44%
Bill Shock: How Kayley Harris cut her Energy bill by 44%

Bill Shock: How Kayley Harris cut her Energy bill by 44%

Tags: Energy Information
Last updated by Kayley Harris on

As a single mum, I have to watch my budget very closely. I have a 12-month budget forecast that enables me to see if any of my bills are not affordable, so I can either contact the provider or move other bills around to accommodate it.

Part of my budget obviously includes my energy bill and I currently pay $260 a month and, until recently, this had covered my bills. In fact, on some occasions I have been in credit.

Imagine my horror this week to receive a bill for over $1,200, even though I was in credit $288! I was ready to rouse on the teenagers for long showers and using the dryer but when I checked the bill, my power usage hadn’t changed. That’s an increase of 43 per cent!

I called my energy provider and they confirmed the bill increase was as a result of price increases on 1 July that has finally filtered down to my account.

If working for the FiftyUp Club has taught me one thing, it is to never just blindly pay your bills. This goes for just about every bill in the house.

I checked a recent school fee invoice and found there was a $400 voluntary payment for the building fund. I’m not paying that. Over the course of my daughters six years at high school, the school gets around $60,000 from my family, so they won’t be getting the building levy as well.

I also picked up the phone and spoke to my private health insurer and found out I could do away with pregnancy and cataract cover as well as increase my excess and that reduced by premium from $180 a month to $110.

Next, I worked out I wasn’t watching two-thirds of the pay TV channels I was paying for, so I switched to a cheaper package and saved $70 a month.

But back to my energy bill.  

A quick call and a simple question reduced my bill from over $1,200 to $671.67 – that’s practically half!

I simply asked, “Am I on your best offer?” To which the reply was, ‘No, you aren’t at the moment, Mrs Harris”.

ACCC Chairman Rod Sims last week announced that energy prices have risen 90 per cent in real terms over a decade. His advice? "If you haven't phoned up your retailer in the last couple of years and demanded a better offer, I'd urge you to do so, and I think you'll save a lot of money, perhaps hundreds of dollars".

Never a truer word has been spoken. Pick up your phone this week and call your provider. Use the FiftyUp Club’s offer as leverage. It’s a competitive energy market at the moment, so make it work in your favour.

HERE ARE 2 WAYS TO FIND A CHEAP ENERGY OFFER:

CLICK HERE to see the FiftyUp Club's MEMBER-ONLY Energy Offers
CLICK HERE to see Mozo's Top On-Market Energy offers for this month+

 

 

+ As a result of services provided by us Mozo Pty Ltd may pay The FiftyUp Club a fee of up to 50% of any fees they receive from their providers. These fees may be based on either referrals to third parties or on application or approval for products from third party providers; for further details see Mozo's Financial Services Guide available here.
 

Originally posted on .

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What Kayley Harris did when her Energy bill rocketed by 43%

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Gillian
Gillian from SA commented:

We have installed 24 solar panels on our farm, and the last energy bill from Origin was only two hundred and something dollars! The more the price goes up, the more worthwhile our investment becomes. However I was not pleased to see the supply charge had risen dramatically. I believe the supply charge is the same whoever is your supplier ...I could be wrong there. We use our heaviest load appliances when the sun is working at its hardest! Bore pump, garden irrigation pump, tank pumps, cooking appliances etc are our major daytime usage. I am thinking of getting rid or our night tarriff for HWS as it would be cheaper to heat water on daytime with our own generation in Summer. Panels are well worth saving up for, as it also gives you a sense of control over your bill. 

Marissa
Marissa from NSW commented:

Many thanks Kayley for the good tip. I for one donot check the bills I pay for as too many distractions like I work full time. But for some reason, I have checked my Origin bill for electricity and gas and thought to myself "why". Why, as I work full time so does my son so it means no one at home for 5 days a week and/or 6 days a week. But my gas bill in Sept was $180.04 when in fact I donot even cook at home. My electricity for Dec is $159.45 and I've said we both work full time: we leave for work at 7:30am and home after 6:00pm. I have sent my questions to Origin online and they told me that they will look into my enquiry and get back to me in the next 2 to 3 business days. I am also a single mother with a grown up son however I watch the penny! So guys stay tuned and will update you. Marissa Pena 

Barbara
Barbara from VIC commented:

As an RACV member, Simply Energy gives me 40% of my Electricity usage and 25% off my Gas usage. Their Charges are competitive. I am happy with this. Offer of 40% and 25% off are only for RACV Members. 

Someone
Someone from NSW commented:

No I didn't go with Origin -When I went to pay my bill at the P.O. with a cheque I was informed Origin is the only elect company that won't let you pay by cheque at the P.O. thats what started the look around - Even with the discount I told them where to go. 

luke
luke from NSW commented:

Hi Kayley, regarding your energy bill going from $1200 to $670 after a call your your provider, did your discount benefit period expire which accounted for the large increase upto $1200 as your consumption did not change and did they back date your new discount benefit for the electricity that you already used? or as your consumption might not chance in the next billing cycle your energy bill will be $670? (Current bill still $1200) I thought click energy discount benefit period does not expire, are you not with click energy? could you clarify the above issues. 

Someone
Someone from QLD commented:

isn't it about time something was done for country people we are still paying high prices with no chance of switching between providers. Country people are paying for city people to go on these cheaper plans 

Sunny
Sunny from QLD commented:

Re power bills - if you have solar - you will find that no energy supplier will offer you cheaper power rates.Ignore the solar rebate rate - they simply refuse to give even a discount on the power component.. Kayley - I would also like to know which health fund you are with that reduced your premium because you did not want pregnancy cover. That is my big bug bear - and I simply cannot get any fund to exclude pregnancy, IVF, weight loss surgery. I have tried and tried, and they say it is because all those things are in the 'top' level cover. 

Robert
Robert from NSW replied to Sunny:

Hi Sunny, Re private health insurance: Some funds are now offering policies which do not include pregnancy and IVF etc, but do include the majors like cancer, heart, and joint replacements. We were with one fund for years but they refused to budge, and then found one a couple of years ago that offered what we wanted ( we are retirees ). You have to shop around and do your homework - we have changed funds several times over the years to get the cover we want. 

Maree
Maree from VIC replied to Sunny:

We changed our Australian Unity cover several years to not include pregnancy when it became obvious we didn't need that cover. 

Ken
Ken from QLD replied to Sunny:

Sunny, which energy suppliers have you contacted? I live in Brisbane and I have 5kW of solar panels. I buy my electricity at 18% off Base Rates by buying discounted Bulk Packs in advance. My electrical usage is fairly low, however I still get a credit of between $200-$300 every month for my solar power exported. Do you have solar panels? If so are you getting the Queensland Solar Bonus Scheme feed-in tariff of 56.2 c/kWh of metered net export generation? 

Sunny
Sunny from QLD replied to Ken:

Ken - I am with Origin, and yes, am on the old feed-in tariff rate. I only have a 3KW system, but am also only a single house-holder small user. After my original post, I did phone Origin, and after much haggling, they reluctantly gave me a discount of 14% - but ONLY because I always pay my bills ahead of time so am in credit. 

Philip
Philip from QLD commented:

Good to see that some people are getting reduced bills. Here in North Queensland there is no competition as we have one provider which is the state gvernment owned ERGON and they charge what they like. 

Robert
Robert from NSW commented:

I find it hard to believe that some people still haven't done their homework re power bills. Check out any and all offers. Compare the daily supply charges for mains supply and off-peak supply, then multiply each by 91 to get a quarterly total. Compare the cents per kwh rates and multiply by your quarterly usage. Apply any discounts applicable, then add it all up. You'll be amazed at the differences between retailers. I've been with Origin for years, and for my usages, they have been and still are, the best on offer. 

Someone
Someone from NSW replied to Robert:

I was with Origin but found a cheaper offer and when Origin found I was moving to another supplier they had a member from the Origin retention team ring me and offer 28% discount ! Why are we paying higher prices when they can offer that ????? 

Robert
Robert from NSW commented:

Have never had to do that, but you did very well to get 28%. Makes you wonder why they offer discounts at all. Why not simply offer the discounted price. But then they rely on most people not doing their homework. 

luke
luke from NSW replied to Robert:

Just wondering when you commenced the transfer to another retailer was their discount similar or Origin was as few points higher, did you follow through with the transfer or get sucked back with Origins few points extra discount? 

Robert
Robert from NSW replied to luke:

Hi Luke, When the suppliers started to goldplate the system in 2009 and IPART approved the subsequent price hikes, I started keeping records of my mains and off-peak usage on a monthly basis, so I know exactly what my usage is. I also built a little computer model to evaluate and compare any and all offers. I just enter the daily supply charges and kwh rates, my usage, and then apply discounts offered and add GST and bingo, my calculated bill pops out. For my household usage ( there's only 2 of us ) Origin comes out on top. I will have to investigate the 28% offered to Anonymous though - I'm only getting 24%. 

Robert
Robert from NSW replied to Robert:

Origin ells me that their best offer is 24% off usage. 

luke
luke from NSW replied to Robert:

Hey Robert, try finding another retailer and initiate a transfer to the new retailer, after a few days Origin will then give you a special call, which will include a special offer for you to stay with Origin, if you like the revised offer from Origin (asked Origin when I was a customer why didn`t you offer this same discount to me as an existing customer, you only offered revised discount to customers who leave Origin, what about taking care of existing customers) not fair 

Gertraud
Gertraud from ACT commented:

Just did a quick calculation using electricity costs from Energy Australia and, using the amount of my most recent quarterly bill (dated 27 October), my bill would have been only around $450.00 in Sydney, without any solar. Here in Canberra I am enjoying very low electricity prices and I have solar. I have been keeping a record of all my electricity costs and for the year November 2016 to November 2017 my total outlay, including supply charges, were $18.83. 

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