qld electricity market confusion

[weisyboy]

all thows adds on tv a wile ago about how there was a change coming, competition coming to the qld market and how it would make the power cheeper and easyer.

ok so energex is no longer selling to the public but is sellign to retailers and retailers sell to us.(either energex has taken a price cut or we are going to pay more)

when the change came in my bills all said origin energy at the top insted of energex. this i understood.

i then recived a call from "energy australia" (represented by a indian that i could hardly understand) offering me a 5% discount on my bill so like a fool i agreed, when i recived the paperwork it said i would recive a 1 month discount on a 2 year contract witch equates to aproximately 2.5% and i would be locked in. i neverless said nothing and an locked into the contract for 2 years

i recived a call on friday from "qld energy" (another indian i could hardly understand) saying he was from the company that i have been with all along asking if i was happy with the serivice i have been reciveing for the past 20 years. and i should remain in a crotract with them and they would offer me a 5% discount on my current bill and they would match any better offers i recived or i could leave them free of charge.

i then read the original agreement (from "energy australia") and it said that i could leave the contract at any time within the first year with no penalty.

i ten rang "qld electricity" back and told them i would be happy to remain with them if they would send me all that they said in writing so i orgonised this and they are to send the contract wihitch should arive in 2-5 business days.

i was lying in bed thinking last night that if "qld electricity" realy is the companyi have been with all along then why do my bills say "origin energy".

i have a 10 day cooling off period with "qld electricity" and can exit the contract with "energy australia" at anny time so i have no cancelld any contracts as yet until i can work out what to do. it seams that everything i got told was a pack of lies.
what should i do

- should i contact "qld energy" and get them to explain how i have been with them all along and my bills say "origin energy" and not "qld electricity"

- should i contact "origin energy" and ask if i am currently a customer oftheres and what the hell is going on

- should i cancell contracts with both companys "qld electricity" and "energy australia" and see what happens

it seems to me that this new system is in no way eisyer than the old one.

[Ron Dunn]

You're being conned by shonky resellers. Don't take any notice of their official/big sounding name.

Stick with a name company like Origin, AGL, TXU, etc.

[weisyboy]

i would rather stick with a big company and will ring origin tomorow and get some info. i think?

isnt there a law against this sort of thing? false advertising , misreprisentation or sompthing.

[Colin Howkins]

Weisyboy,

Don't kid yourself. power will never get any cheaper. As you may recall power was once generated by the state governments and sold through state government departments.

Power, emissions, climate change are all really hot topics at the moment and will continue to be for a while. They are that hot they could potentially unseat a government.

Think about it- government controlled power generation spewing out vast amount of co2, etc etc. Escalating costs with the so called 'clean coal technology' No government wants it for they can see it will inevitably drop them right in it. All any polititcian wants is to be re elected next time, and then preferably his/her party and to aid and abet themselves in this quest they devoid themselves of all contentious issues ie power generation & sales

So what do they do - privatise power generation and the sale thereof and they can let market forces rule [read jack up the price]. They can stand back and positively state its all in the hands of private enterprise we cannot interfere.

Even though I am a free enterprise person and I think it is fair that any company should maximise its profits as they have shareholders to answer to I none the less truly believe that things like power generation, water supply and all basic services should be supplied by the government/s for then, we - the people- can hold them accountable.

We are all going to be harrassed as you have as company's attempt to woo you to thier camp. Bottom line is it will cost you more

Cynical bastard aren't I

[derekh]

I'll try to add my 2c worth.

Deregulation or Full Retail Competition (FRC) began in QLD on 1 July 2007 to open up the QLD market similar to VIC and SA. Approx 600,000 Energex domestic customers were sold to Origin Energy and 400,000 sold to AGL. Energex and Ergon Energy still maintain poles, wires, substations etc (the distribution network) but the selling is done by others. The retailers buy from the grid and on-sell to you. The trick for them is to buy cheap and sell high, it's like it's own mini futures market.

One Retailer cannot guarantee a better supply than the other one because they have no control over distribution. Personally, I would stick to one of the big players, Origin or AGL. BTW, it was actually written into the sales contract between QLD Government and AGL/Origin that they wold be allowed to raise prices by 10%. The government then tried to shift the blame onto the drought for the extra costs.

[Bob38S]

Weisyboy,

Don't kid yourself. power will never get any cheaper. ................


We are all going to be harrassed as you have as company's attempt to woo you to thier camp. Bottom line is it will cost you more

Cynical bastard aren't I

I would suggest that the last portion of your quote is inaccurate and should read "Realistic / Down to Earth / Unable to have the wool pulled over my eyes" Bastard

[Colin Howkins]

I would suggest that the last portion of your quote is inaccurate and should read "Realistic / Down to Earth / Unable to have the wool pulled over my eyes" Bastard

Sir,

I will take that as a compliment

[Bob38S]

As intended

your welcome