General Usage Next

[sarahkate]

I recently received my latest bill or last bill rather before moving.

I have been paying monthly for a number of years and now see there is a charge on my bill for general usage next. This amount is $160!!! What is this charge considering i am moving and pay monthly.

[jayden_AGL]

Hi sarahkate,

Thanks for your enquiry!

So that I can provide you with an accurate response, do you mind me first asking to confirm which state you reside in?

Cheers,

Jayden

[sarahkate]

Hi Jayden,

I live in south australia

[jayden_AGL]

Thanks for clarifying sarahkate!

In South Australia, you have what is commonly referred to as a 'stepped-tariff'. This means that you have an allocated of 109.589 MJ per day at one price, and anything over that is charged at a different price. The way to calculate your threshold at this price is multiple the number of days in your bill by 109.589.

For example, for a 30-day bill - 109.589 x 30 = 3,287.67. This means that 3,287.67 MJ of usage would be charged at the first rate, and any usage thereafter would be charged at the second rate which is lower.

Kind regards,

Jayden

[Tony50]

What does ‘general usage next’ on my bill mean?

What is it a charge for?

[NeilC · Accepted solution]

@Tony50

Now in answer to your "What is General"?

You are talking about Electricity.

The Three Basic Tariffs that most home users have are:

General    -    This is your main supply to the house

Controlled -  Available for a set time during the night ( by a Switched Meter on a circuit)

Feed-in -   The power that you do not use within your house from a Solar System

I would suggest that you look at:

https://www.agl.com.au/help/payments-billing/your-energy-bill-explained

This is supposed to explain your basic Electricity or Gas bill for AGL users but they are not correct.

Then look at @jayden_AGL response explaining stepped tariff's.

Electricity, Gas and Water Retailer's can have up to four levels of tariff's.

Lets make it simple.

You have a plan that says your first usage is 10 units per day at $1.00 per unit, any additional units are $1.50 per unit.

You get your bill and see that you have used 1170 units over a 90 day billing period.

Therefore your daily usage is (usage / days) 1170/90= 13.000 units per day

So the FIRST 10.000 units is 10.000*$1.00 = $10.00

and the Next or remaining 3.000 units is   3.000*$1.50 =   $ 4.50

Your Daily Price is then $14.50 a day

Multiply that by the number of days to get 90*$14.50 = $1305.00

So this is explained by Jayden as

First 9000 units (90*10.00)   at $1.00 =  $900.00

Next   270 units (90*3.00)     at $1.50 =  $450.00

                                                      Total  = $1350.00

In a real bill you will have other charges (Supply, GST etc) added as well

Please note that I used the word UNITS as this formulae is applicable to KW, Mj or Kl.

In Electricity and Water the more you use the more you get charged.

For some reason the more GAS you use the less you get charged.

Hope all this helps.

Neil

[Stina]

This isn't correct. I have notice "general usage next" on my electricity bill for last quarter which was exorbitant and we did nothing different. Yet the general usage next isn't calculated at a different price but rather the exact same price as the first tariff. So it doesn't make any sense. Please explain. 

[NeilC]

@Stina,

Sorry I really can't help you here.

In my last bill (issued 11 July 2023), I go through FOUR different billing rates.

AGL is also using a new format bill, which is completely different than my previous 17 bills.

I did manage to find a bill from Oct 2022 where I went through a price change.

I could not find a Next on that bill nor any of my other bills.

Above is two of the price changes that I went through in my recent bill.

There are errors on this bill which I am trying to get resolved, but none of the bills have a reference to NEXT (if fact the new bill no longer has a NEXT read date printed).

Maybe the only change is if you have solar and that rate has changed (these are shown later in the bill)??

Without actually seeing your bill I cannot help.

[Stina]

This isn't correct. I have notice "general usage next" on my electricity bill for last quarter which was exorbitant and we did nothing different. Yet the general usage next isn't calculated at a different price but rather the exact same price as the first tariff. So it doesn't make any sense. Please explain. 

[Stina]

Sorry I was responding to Jayden's comment.