CAN we all save on power costs simply by banding together and buying electricity as a group? That is the question an innovative group of Tamborine Mountain business owners and householders are investigating.
Convenor of the local group is Brian Mutton. He says households in other Australian communities have been able to save hundreds of dollars in annual power bills by a bit of clever thinking.
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Hoping for savings in power bills are Herman Piersma, Richard Bartlett and Brian Mutton who are exploring group purchasing of electricity for households and businesses on Tamborine Mountain |
Brian Mutton is working with Richard Bartlett of Eagle Thai and Herman Piersma from Bungunyah Manor to gather the initial information about the initiative. They then plan to hold a community meeting to present the concept and to gauge local interest.
Many on Tamborine Mountain will have seen the Channel 7 Today Tonight television program which recently carried a story about group purchasing of electricity which has taken off in the southern states.
In some communities, it’s reported that electricity customers received cash signing on bonuses, a discount for using direct debit payments and electronic billing and a major discount as long as the bill is paid on time. This discount is typically about 15%.
In total, annual savings of $100 to $200 are possible.
“As soon as I saw the programme I realised that the scheme could well work for us here on Tamborine Mountain,” said Brian Mutton. “Not just for households but for businesses as well.”
To find more about the scheme, Mr Mutton contacted the Queensland facilitator of PowerGroup Purchasing, Les Barkla. PowerGroup is based in Victoria. It is one of number of companies that give advice to communities. They facilitate the tender process for buying electricity and present the community group with a series of alternatives from the retail power companies.
Since the deregulation of the power industry, there are many retail suppliers of electricity. In South East Queensland alone, there are ten companies active in the retail electricity supply market.
By selling electricity to a community group on a fixed term contract, the power supplier saves on marketing and administration costs. The power company knows that it will also be free of the costs associated with the churning of customers as they go from one retail electricity supplier to another.
These savings can be passed onto the consumers.
Brain Mutton says a small steering group has started the process to form a Power Purchasing Group on Tamborine Mountain. The plan is to get a committee together, decide on a group name and take details of those interested. Once there are sufficient numbers the local group can apply for registration and begin the tendering process.
The SE Queensland Community Representative of PowerGroup Purchasing, Les Barkla says: “There are 10 community groups we are working with is SE Queensland. In Victoria there are over 20 and we are also active in New South Wales and South Australia.”
There needs to be at least 100 households or businesses in the purchasing group. “The bigger the numbers, the greater the bargaining power the community has,” says Les Barkla. “Ideally there are more than 200 users to make it worthwhile.”
“People have worked out that they could save between $100 and up to $600 each year on their power bills, with the average being about a $200 saving," said Mr Barkla. “The scheme is available to householders and businesses alike.”
“In one recent negotiation, PowerGroup was able to secure a 10.5% discount for households and an 18.5% discount for business,’” said Les Barkla.
Brian Mutton says, “We need to get more community groups involved, such as Rotary, Lions Chamber of Commerce, Church groups etc to make it known to a wider local group of residents and businesses.”
“I feel it is an ideal way to reduce our power costs; we all strive to make savings these difficult days!” said Brian.
“Be assured this is not any kind of scam or that I have any personal pecuniary interest in inviting people to avail themselves of this offer; it is for the benefit of the consumers only,” said Brian.
Les Barkla says “We help the community groups to gather information, prepare tender documents and then invite the local retail electricity providers to offer their best deal, which we present to the community."
"The community makes the decision and if they go ahead, each member has an individual contract with the supplier. We just act as facilitators so communities can get the best deals.”
Anyone interested may contact Brian Mutton on 5545 2368 or by email on bamutton@bigpond.net.au. For further information on group purchasing of electricity, please see www.powergrouppurchasing.com.