Alternative Technology Assn Forums

1. 

   peuckers
   Member

   Following on from ATA's survey about victorian customers with solar being hit with Time of Use tariffs, I contacted my reatiler (Red Energy) and then my distributor(Jemena) to try and have this removed.

   My reply from Red Energy was:

   "The moratorium on time of use tariffs is in place for non solar customers mainly with respect to the new meters being rolled out by the government. As you are a solar customer, this time of use tariff is applied by the supplier and not Red."

   Today I had a call back from Jemena. They say that the retailer CAN elect to offer me a flat rate tariff, and some retailers in fact do. They also indicated that the government approves network tariffs set by suppliers. I also expressed my feelings on the timing of the peak period (7AM - 11PM) and there was an indication that Jemena may be looking to make this more reasonable in the future.

   What this seems to mean is:

   1) we need to lobby government more (which I believe ATA is doing, and I also CC'd my email to Jemena to local politicians.

   2) I need to contact my retailer armed with this new information and request (again) that my TOU tariff be set to a flat rate.

   Has anybody actually had any luck with getting TOU tariffs removed ?

   Posted Tuesday 17 Aug 2010 @ 4:46:52 am from IP #
2. 

   gully
   Member

   That's some good info to share thanks. In my case, I am happy to have TOU tariffs - half price on weekends and after 11pm? Nice one. Why would you want it removed?

   Posted Tuesday 17 Aug 2010 @ 9:44:09 am from IP #
3. 

   solar_star
   Member

   Whether a TOU Tariff is a good thing or not has to be calculated for your individual household.

   If you don't have gas connected and depend on electricity for your heating and cooking then swapping to TOU can up your bills. My projections with AGL (32c kw/h peak) increase my bill by $150 over having a flat rate tariff - and that is with heating in just one room. For a retiree or a family where people are home all day the penalty of swapping to TOU could be huge. For other people with the ability to load shift TOU can offer them real savings.

   For anyone with a very small system on their roof in Melbourne, if they are home all day in an all electric house ( and thus exporting very little over what they generate) it may be better to just let their meter run backwards rather than get a new meter and the Premium feed in tariff if they are forced onto TOU. Each household needs to do their own calculation based on their own solar system and their own usage patterns.

   I'm waiting for AGL to respond to the ombudsman over my challenge to being forced onto TOU. I will let you know how I go. They were meant to respond on Monday (16th) but I'm having trouble getting hold of my conciliator at EWOV.

   Posted Wednesday 18 Aug 2010 @ 9:00:18 pm from IP #
4. 

   Mally
   Member

   The benefits of TOU probably have not been explained, at least enough to bring energy conservers happily on board. They perceive a ripoff, still. I went for TOU because it offers me as much off peak energy as i need between 10pm and 7am. I didn't think the same off peak time span is possible with an old off peak meter. Also, the Government is saying that smart meters allow generators to direct and control energy so less is wasted. I have heard as much as three times energy is generated than goes through all meters combined, therefore it appears there is some scope for improvement in how energy is managed. So, why wouldn't the generators put a smart meter in every substation kiosk rather than our own houses to monitor demand in every street and reduce waste this way - (apart from the obvious ability to read our consumption remotely) ? Hopefully time will provide a reasonable answer.

   Posted Wednesday 15 Sep 2010 @ 5:21:25 am from IP #
5. 

   Michael L.
   Member

   I wrote and asked minister Bachelor about this very problem over a week ago and am waiting for a response. My retailer, Origin, sent me a letter telling me my tariff would be changed from peak/off peak on Aug. 17, yet my latest bill, read Sept 7, did not reflect this, I still had the off peak from 11pm to 7am for the whole period.
   If the retailers don't know exactly what is going on, how the hell are we comsumers supposed to know?

   Posted Wednesday 15 Sep 2010 @ 5:43:36 am from IP #
6. 

   peuckers
   Member

   I received a reply from DPI this week.

   They basically tell me nothing I don't already know and that TOU tariffs allow me to shift my consumption. etc. etc.

   I still thing that having off-peak start at 11PM is ridiculous. TOU tariffs are were sold to us to move usage away from peak business use, so having off-peak starting around 7PM seems much more reasonable.

   Posted Friday 17 Sep 2010 @ 4:02:13 am from IP #

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