Compare Energy and Gas in Brisbane, Queensland

Want to compare electricity and gas plans, prices and providers in Brisbane, or across South East Queensland? Are you paying more for your energy than you need to? If you haven’t compared energy providers and plans for a while, it’s likely that you are.

Compare and Connect takes the stress and difficulty out of finding an energy plan suitable for your circumstances by comparing the energy plans available in Brisbane and South East Queensland. This way, you can be rest assured that you’ve got an energy deal based on your needs.

Why Compare Energy in Brisbane, Queensland?

• With so many energy retailers constantly coming onto Queensland’s market, the increased competition drives energy rates down and increases the value of offers and discounts. Regularly comparing power and gas retailers and plans helps to ensure that you are consistently getting a better deal.
• Take advantage of time-of-use tariffs with the information provided to you by a smart meter. Using your high-energy appliances during off-peak times can help you to save money and get the most out of your energy plan.
• If you initially chose your energy plan based on a limited-time deal or discount, it might have expired, meaning you may be paying more than you have to for your energy. Shopping around for a new energy retailer can allow you to take advantage of new deals and lower rates.

Energy Providers in Queensland

AGL

AGL is one of the oldest and largest energy suppliers and retailers in Australia, having brought power to Australians since 1837. It is one of the leading providers of solar-specific energy plans in the country and is able to offer a range of benefits including a rewards program, a partnership with Flybuys, and fixed power rates.

Alinta Energy

Alinta Energy is owned by Hong Kong-based company Chow Tai Fook Enterprises. It is one of the most widely-available energy providers in Australia, providing energy across five states. Alinta Energy focuses on keeping energy simple without marketing gimmicks by offering just two market offers when it comes to electricity. Their selling point is making energy straightforward and transparent so that customers can understand what they’re getting.

Dodo Power and Gas

Dodo is known for offering a range of services, including internet, phone, TV and insurance, and has now expanded their services to include energy. Their simple and uncomplicated energy plans offer competitive rates and, additionally, Dodo Power and Gas offers no lock-in contracts and flexible payment options.

Energy Australia

Energy Australia places a strong emphasis on sustainability through renewable energy. As such, they offer their customers comprehensive solar solutions and energy management plans with the aim of keeping their energy bills down. Moreover, Energy Australia focuses on providing competitively priced fixed-rate deals that are straightforward and easy to understand.

Origin

Origin is one of the largest energy retailers in Australia with more than four million customers. Their wealth of experience and expansive resources allows Origin to provide their customers with reliable and affordable energy plans. Origin offers their customers a simple and concise range of energy plans to suit individual needs. Additionally, their online self-service facilities combined with their excellent customer service is an attractive factor for many Origin customers.

OVO Energy

OVO Energy a UK-based company that boasts a total of more than 1.4 million customers worldwide. OVO Energy only offers a single market plan that offers customers the option to offset their carbon footprint produced by their energy usage. Their main point of difference, however, is that they offer ‘bill smoothing’, which means that customers pay the same amount every month regardless on the amount of energy they use. This is based on variables such as the size of your household and past energy use.

Powerdirect

Powerdirect specialises in providing energy to businesses but is also able to provide energy to residential properties. As well as offering competitive energy rates, Powerdirect is able to provide their customers with valuable advice regarding how they can effectively manage their energy use and cut down their bills.

Powershop

Powershop is an Australian and New Zealand energy retailer that focuses on sustainability, with 100% of customers’ carbon emissions being offset at no additional cost. Their sustainability initiatives have earned them the title of being Australia’s greenest energy retailer. One of the unique options that Powershop offers to customers is the ability pre-purchase electricity, which can enable discounts and special deals, resulting in lower prices for customers.

Red Energy

Red Energy is one of the most popular energy retailers in Australia. First launched in Victoria in 2004, Red Energy has been providing Queenslanders with electricity since 2017. Red Energy, which is owned by Snowy Hydro, is a proudly 100% Australian company. Their customer service has been recognised with multiple awards over the years; this is because Red Energy customers only have to deal with a single point of locally based contact.

ENGIE

ENGIE powers more than half a million households across Australia and is one of the fastest growing energy companies in the country. As well as offering competitively priced energy plans, ENGIE can also provide customers with energy-saving products that help them to reduce their carbon footprint, such as solar panels, batteries, LED lighting and more.

Learn More About Energy in Queensland

Deregulation of Electricity Industry in Queensland

Since 2016, the electricity industry in Queensland has been deregulated. This is a great thing for consumers as it means that retailers are now able to set their own prices, meaning that they are constantly trying to outdo each other in regard to offering the lowest prices and attracting new customers.

However, it should be noted that this deregulation only applies to South East Queensland, or areas that are serviced by Energex. This area includes Brisbane, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast and Ipswich.

Currently, the only energy retailer available regional Queensland is Ergon Energy and prices remain regulated by the Queensland Competition Authority. However, electricity prices for residents in regional Queensland are subsidised by the state government to ensure that they are not forced to pay significantly more than households in South East Queensland.

Queensland Energy Concessions

The Queensland Government offers a wide range of energy concessions to eligible residents. These concessions include:

• An electricity rebate of $340.85 for pensioners and seniors
• Electricity asset ownership dividend
• Interest-free loans for solar and storage
• Electricity and reticulated natural gas rebates for residential home parks and multi-unit residential premises
• Home energy emergency assistance scheme

Smart Meters

Smart meters, which are also known as digital meters or advanced meters, are in the process of being introduced in Queensland. While you are generally able to refuse the update to a smart meter, there are certain circumstances which prevent you from being able to opt-out from the installation of a smart meter.

However, smart meters offer many benefits, including providing you with in-depth data regarding your electricity use, which can help to inform which energy plan you should use.

Solar Energy

Queensland is known as the Sunshine State, meaning that installing solar panels can provide your household with significant savings, particularly if you sell unused energy to the electricity grid for a feed-in tariff. Residents in South East Queensland are able to shop around for the best feed-in tariff rates from providers.

Additionally, since 2018 the Queensland Government has offered the Affordable Energy Plan which provides initiatives for residents to convert to solar. This includes interest-free loans and rebates for the purchase of solar and storage battery systems.

Electricity Tariffs and Charges in Queensland

In Queensland, there are three types of electricity charges:

• Daily supply charge – A fixed fee charged for the servicing of your property, paid regardless of how much or little energy you use
• Usage charge – Based on your energy consumption, charged in cents per kilowatt-hour
• Demand charge – A demand tariff is a component of electricity billing where the daily charge is set by the highest power demand in a specific time period.
• Feed-in tariff – For homes with solar panels, you can receive credit for the excess power your panels feed into the grid

The availability of certain tariffs in Queensland will depend on your location. The most common energy tariffs in Queensland include:

• Standard residential tariff – Customers pay a standard rate for each unit of electricity used, no matter the time of day
• Seasonal time-of-use – Customers pay higher rates during peak energy usage times, and lower rates during off-peak periods
• Economy or controlled load tariffs, or limited guarantee supply – Customers pay cheaper rates for certain high-energy use appliances, but these appliances can only be used during certain times of the day

Electricity Distribution Networks in Queensland

Electricity distributors are responsible for providing wholesale energy to providers, who then provide and charge residences for it. Distributors are dependent on your location and can therefore not be changed.

The electricity distribution networks in Queensland are:

• Energex – Services South East Queensland
• Ergon Energy – Services regional Queensland
• Essential Energy – Services areas around Goondiwindi, close to the New South Wales/Queensland border

It should be noted that only properties in the Energex region are able to shop around for their electricity retailer.

Default Market Offer

A mandatory Electricity Retail Code began on 1 July 2019. It has new rules for retailers in states or regions where there is no regulated price for electricity. The Code sets an annual price cap in each region – this cap is called the default market offer (DMO) price. It protects consumers on standing offers from paying excessive prices by ensuring retailers cannot charge customers more than this price. The DMO is currently set in NSW, QLD and SA.

The annual DMO price is based on a set amount of electricity usage. Retailers can set different rates, as long as they don’t exceed the annual price for that consumption level. The Code says that retailers in these regions must compare all their offers to the same base rate (the ‘reference price’) whenever they advertise or market their offers. The reference price is set at the same price as the DMO price cap.

Average Electricity Bill in South East Queensland

According to the Australian Energy Regulator and based on figures from DMO set in July 2019, the average annual expenditure for residents of Brisbane, Queensland is $1570 which equates to about $30.11 weekly.

It is worth keeping in mind that this is just an average and that your individual bill will be dependent on your specific circumstances, such as the size of your household and the appliances that you use.