Millions of Australians miss out on saving hundreds of dollars by not switching deals, ACCC says
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Electricity prices fall an average of 4% over 12 months – but almost half of customers miss out by sticking with their old plan. Millions of households could save more than $300 on their yearly energy bills on average just by swapping to better deals on the market, the consumer watchdog has found.
Falling electricity prices over the 12 months to August saw nearly 5m households and businesses on flat rate plans receiving a 4% cut on average, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. But almost half of those customers had missed out on savings by sticking to the same plan for two or more years, the ACCC’s energy market report found, and were paying an average annual bill of nearly $2,200.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email. Only one in four households had swapped plans in the last 12 months and found savings of $317 on average – about a sixth of their bill – to pay less than $1,800 a year. “If you haven’t changed electricity plans in the past 12 months, chances are you are paying more for your electricity than you need to,” the ACCC commissioner Anna Brakey said.
The report also found 2.6 million customers paying the same or more than regulator-set default offers. “Take some time this holiday period to have a look on the Energy Made Easy or Victoria Energy Compare websites … [or] simply call [your] retailers to see if they have a better offer available,” Brakey said.
