BUYING SMART
JENKOATAMAN / STOCK. ADOBE. COM
Electricity in Australia
In Australia, our electricity bills are affected by a host of complicated factors. These include fluctuating wholesale electricity prices, network prices, your tariff and metre type, and more.
A big piece of the puzzle is the competition available in your area. Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria have many providers to choose from, and therefore, healthy competition. Navigating the complexities of this market is where Costco service compare & connect can make a real difference.
Trust the process
Partnering with compare & connect was a natural step for Costco.“ As most of our members’ bills are household related, we recognised the need to find a company that could offer great value on everyday expenses,” explains Andrea Macquarie, Costco Australia’ s Assistant Buyer for Membership and Services.
This value offering has many benefits: not only do Costco members have the chance to save money, but they can also save time.“ If you were to compare prices across retailers yourself, you would have to go into a multitude of sites, write all the details down and try to compare them. We bring it all together and do that for the customer,” says compare & connect’ s Chief Growth Officer, Penni Nicholls.
The process is simple – either upload your bill for the quickest and most accurate comparison or enter your details for a comparison against the average user.“ We have around 16 retailers on our panel, so we have a very broad range of choices. It’ s not necessarily the price that people want to change – it could be a case of getting a better feed-in tariff, or finding an Australian-owned company,” says Nicholls.“ We not only can help people save on their current bills but help them move into their new homes and connect to multiple services with peace of mind.”
You also have options in how you sign up: exclusively online or with the help of a representative based in compare & connect’ s Melbourne call centre.
Not only is this convenient, it also means you can rest assured that your data is safe.“ In our industry, data security is very highly regulated,” says Nicholls.
When to switch
Last year, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission found that most Australians in states with a competitive energy market were paying more than necessary, simply due to not shopping around for a better price.
To rectify this, Nicholls advises comparing your bill every 12 months, regardless of the decrease in wholesale prices forecasted for this year.
“ Whenever you’ re advised that your rates are changing, rather than uploading your latest bill with the old charges, call us to do your comparison to make sure you’ re checking the right thing,” says Nicholls.
Finally, keep in mind that changes to your energy usage patterns can affect your bill as well.“ So in 12 months, for example, your kids might have moved out of your house, so your usage drops.
12 | JUL / AUG 2024 COSTCO CONNECTION