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Energy Made Easy can't calculate Demand comparisons
Energy Made Easy and Vic Energy Compare cannot calculate a Demand tariff comparison, so these services are next to useless for energy consumers on Demand tariff plans.
Have you found a strange new line-item in your energy bills for 'Demand' or 'Peak Demand'?
You're not alone. Demand tariffs have been available for the past few years, but energy retailers and distributors are aggressively ramping up the process to migrate energy consumers onto this new way of being charged for electricity.
The core concept of a Demand tariff is that you are charged not only for the total number of kWh you consume but also for the peakintensity of that usage.
Whatever was your highest level of usage recorded during a single 30-minute metering period within the 'peak window' time, will be used to calculate a 'Demand charge' that then is applied across the entire Demand billing period (usually a calendar month). This means that high energy usage recorded in a single 30 minute period on a single evening can translate to higher prices for an entire month.
Demand tariffs are punitive, expensive, and inherently complex. Unfortunately for energy consumers, they are by far the fastest-growing electricity tariff type in Australia.
Most households that upgrade to a new smart meter, or install solar, will find that they've been switched to a Demand tariff, and will be faced with this confusing new cost component in their bills.
The official advice to energy consumers has always been to use the government comparison services Energy Made Easy (EME) or Victoria Energy Compare (VEC), so you'd be forgiven for assuming there must be some 'official' support available for this new electricity purchasing problem.
But you'd be wrong...
EME and VEC can not calculate Demand comparisons
It seems incredible, but sadly for long-suffering energy consumers, neither EME nor VEC can calculate a Demand tariff comparison, making these services next to useless for energy consumers on Demand tariff plans.
EME helpfully points out that an extra and unknown Demand charge amount will be added to the calculated price for this planVEC reports: ‘This plan includes demand charges. We are unable to provide an estimate’
Bill Hero can calculate Demand comparisons!
Hooray! There's a solution for the many households in Australia struggling to make sense of their new Demand bills.
Subscribe to Bill Hero
Not a subscriber yet? What are you waiting for! Never overpay for energy again! Bill Hero automatically compares every bill to help keep you always on the best priced plan.
We believe Bill Hero is the only comparison platform in Australia that can handle Demand tariff comparisons. It's simple, seamless, and effective.
Bill Hero is the only comparison platform in Australia that can handle Demand tariff comparisons
When Bill Hero encounters a bill that includes a Demand charge component, we use the demand data in that bill to calculate the Demand component into every alternative plan we compare for you, which is every plan from every retailer.
You'll see the relevant dollar value of the Demand charge in each plan in your comparison results, and this additional fees rolled up into the overall comparison making it easy to see which plan would give you the best price outcome overall.
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Richard Foxworthy
