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75,000 households freeze energy prices with Secure Saver

More than 75,000 households across Australia will avoid energy price rises for the next two years after making the switch to Secure Saver, EnergyAustralia’s new rate-fix product. 

In December 2017, five energy retailers announced price increases for Victorian customers of up to 25.6 per cent for electricity and up to 14.8 per cent for gas, effective from January 2018.

EnergyAustralia Chief Customer Officer Kim Clarke said the response to Secure Saver, launched in October last year, reflected how families were looking for ways to avoid rising household electricity and gas bills.

“Family budgets are under pressure and people are concerned about what’s around the corner,” Ms Clarke said. “But by choosing a zero-rate-rise plan like Secure Saver households are taking back control of their energy bills – it’s like hitting the pause button on price increases for two years.”

Secure Saver combines in one package:

  • Protection for customers from energy rate increases for two years, while maintaining their ability to benefit if EnergyAustralia’s market rates decrease
  • A pay-on-time discount off electricity and gas usage rates, and
  • A guarantee that customers will be placed on EnergyAustralia’s best new available plan at the end of the two-year benefit period.

Ms Clarke said the cost of buying electricity on behalf of customers had increased more than 55 per cent since January 2017 as big power stations closed and gas markets tightened. However, an average EnergyAustralia customer in Victoria, for example, could save more than $900 over the next two years by moving to Secure Saver.

She said she expected products that guarantee no rises in electricity and gas prices would become more popular as Australians look for ways to beat rising energy prices.

At the same time, there were other things customers could do to avoid paying more for their energy than they have to, including:

  1. “Shop around and get on the right plan for you. Understand how much energy you use and when you use it. Make sure you get your discount – offers off usage rates when you pay on time can mean big savings.”
  2. “The cheapest energy is the energy you don’t use,” Ms Clarke said. “Turn off appliances at the wall, switch off the light when you leave a room, replace old 50W light globes with LED lights, block out draughts, close off rooms you’re not using and choose energy-efficient appliances.”
  3. “Fix your energy rates to beat price rises. Secure Saver offers a competitive pay-on-time discount and protects customers from increases in usage and supply charges for two years – and still lets you benefit if our market usage rates go down.”

Here are EnergyAustralia’s top tips for saving on energy:

  • Installing LED lights is a great way to make real savings. For example, replacing 15 50W globes with LED lights could reduce your bill by up to $250 a year.
  • Look at the star ratings when you’re buying a new washing machine, dryer or dishwasher because the right one could save you $30 to $60 a year.
  • Turn your computer off when you’re not using it – that might save you another $30 a year.
  • Block up draughts and close off parts of the house that aren’t in constant use. Every degree below 25 degrees that you run your air conditioner increases cooling costs by around 10 per cent.

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