Australia is one of the few countries with a fully deregulated electricity retail market — you are not locked into the "default provider" for your area and are free to choose your own retailer. For Chinese Australians who have recently moved here, this means: spend 10 minutes switching your electricity plan and save $200–400 a year.
How the Australian electricity market works
- Generator → Network (Poles & Wires) → Retailer
- You can only choose your retailer, not the network. The poles and wires in your area are a monopoly (e.g. Sydney is Ausgrid).
- Retailers buy electricity from generators, pay network usage charges, then sell it to you.
- That's why different retailers offer different prices for the same address — and that's exactly where you can shop around.
Comparing the three
Origin Energy (traditional major retailer)
- One of Australia's largest electricity retailers.
- Price fact sheets are published and transparent.
- Downside: default plans are expensive. You need to actively call and ask to be moved to a "market offer" to get a competitive price.
- Best for: people who don't want to shop around and prefer the stability of a big brand.
Energy Locals (emerging independent retailer)
- A different business model: flat membership fee (around $15/month) + wholesale electricity rates (no retail markup).
- If you're a high-usage household (EV, ducted air conditioning), this model can be very cost-effective.
- All electricity is carbon-neutral or from green sources — a good fit if you care about the environment.
- Downside: the membership model doesn't suit low-usage households (a $15/month fee spread over minimal usage effectively becomes a markup).
Econnex (comparison platform)
- Econnex is not an electricity retailer itself — it's a comparison and switching platform.
- Enter your address and latest bill → Econnex automatically compares offers from various retailers → switch in one click.
- Think of it as the Compare the Market of electricity.
- Free to use; revenue comes from retailer commissions.
How to compare prices
Pull out your electricity bill and look for these two numbers:
- Daily supply charge (fixed daily service fee, charged regardless of usage): usually $0.80–1.20/day.
- Usage rate (charge per kWh): usually $0.25–0.40/kWh.
Then head to Energy Made Easy (the government-run free comparison site) or Econnex, enter those two numbers, and see which retailer gives you the lowest total price.
Electricity usage patterns of Chinese Australian households
Chinese Australian households typically share these usage patterns:
- High electricity use for cooking (induction cooktops, rice cookers, slow-cooked soups).
- Heavy air conditioning use in summer.
- More likely to have split-system air conditioners rather than ducted (each room controlled independently).
Based on these patterns, Chinese Australian households should look for:
- Plans with a low usage rate over plans with a low daily supply charge (because we use more electricity, the per-unit price matters more than the fixed fee).
- Time-of-use vs flat rate: if you mainly cook and run the air con in the evening (6–10pm), and your retailer charges a high usage rate during peak hours, a flat rate plan may work out cheaper.
Don't sign a fixed-term contract
If an electricity retailer asks you to sign a 12-month or 24-month fixed-term contract — say no. Australian law allows you to switch retailers at any time without penalty. Signing a fixed-term contract only locks in your price, and electricity prices in Australia are generally trending downward (as renewable energy penetration increases).
What you should do
- Get your latest electricity bill.
- Compare on Energy Made Easy or Econnex.
- Switch (all online, takes 10 minutes, no meter change, no power outage).
- Re-compare once a year (retailers typically quietly raise prices in year two).