Dubbo households can save more than $400 a quarter on their energy bills by shopping around.
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An online search by the Daily Liberal has revealed a wide difference in prices.
Using online comparison company Mozo, we compared 58 energy plans for a family at Dubbo with medium daily power usage - considered to be 21.1 kilowatts.
It found the prices varied from $574 to $990, for the same amount of power, depending on the power company and the plans offered to consumers.
The variation was even larger for a family with high power usage - 31.7 kilowatts - with the costs ranging from $819 to $1412, a gap of $593.
The same power company, Amaysim, had the lowest or equal lowest as well as the highest or equal highest quotes across all categories of usage.
Singles and couples with a low electricity use of 15.8 kilowatts could also get a better deal by shopping around, with energy plans differing by $327.
Organisations that administer the NSW government’s Energy Accounts Payment Assistance (EAPA) scheme have previously told the Daily Liberal of the increasing demand for support from households struggling to pay power bills.
One company, Energy Australia, is offering a plan where the power bill is frozen for two years.
Usage and daily supply charges are exempt from price rises over the term.
It was quoted at $538 in our low use search, $670 in our medium use search and $933 in the high use search.
Energy Australia chief customer officer Kim Clarke said the plan had been on offer for a limited time since October.
He said it would be available until January 31.
“Demand has been strongest in NSW, more than 35,000 households in the state have signed up, including dozens of customers in the Central West,” he said.
“It’s for households that want certainty of knowing their energy rates won’t go up – and can only come down.
“With energy prices at record highs more and more people are considering plans that let them fix energy rates for a year or two to avoid price rises.”
Mr Clarke said shopping around was vital to minimise power bills.
He said people needed to be wary about special discounts offered by retailers, and there were two key numbers people need to know when making a comparison.
The first was the daily supply fee and the second was the charge for each kilowatt hour of electricity used post [any] discount, he said.