Supply Charge when no Supply!

[kpaton]

We only use gas 5 - 7 months of the year, yet we get charged a supply charge every month even when there is no supply.

If no gas is being supplied to the property, it seems a bit steep to be hitting consumers up for a charge for the supply of nothing!

Would be great to only get charged for the supply when you are actually supplying the product to the consumer.

[David_AGL]

Supply charge is the charge for supplying energy to the premises regardless of how much energy is used. It covers some of the costs of maintaining and operating the distribution and transmission networks and some of the operational costs of supplying our customers.

You of course won't receive usage charges for any period where you aren't using gas, but for any period when you're connected and have the service available to use there is a supply charge. For more information, check out our page about How Energy is Priced

[kpaton]

Hi David, thank you for your response.

I understand why you charge it, but it is unfair to be charging customers who aren't utilising the network for the customers that are.  We have already paid for provision of the network to our properties and shouldn't be expected to pay for something we aren't using.  At least a reduced supply charge for the months that there is no supply would be better than what we have now.

[David_AGL]

Sorry, @kpaton it seems like there might be some confusion about what the term "supply" means in this context: Any time you're connected to the network and could potentially turn on your gas heater or stove, you are receiving "supply" and thus utilizing the network - even if you don't actually turn them on and use any gas.

If you are disconnected from the network completely and can't use gas,  that means you aren't receiving supply and of course won't be billed with a supply charge.

[kpaton]

Hi David,

I understand exactly what 'supply' means and I stand by my statement that if you are not using the service you should not be charged the 'supply' fee as you are not being supplied anything.  As I stated earlier, we have already paid for the network at our premises and should not be footing the bill for others 'supply'.  This is purely a money generating exercise by retailers and if I could be bothered I'd cancel my service at the end of winter each year and then start it again at the start of the following year.  An extra $535 in my pocket a year is a big deal as I'm sure it is for most families navigating the ridiculously high costs of energy in this state.

I am well aware that this is something that you won't change, but I will certainly be looking into my options with other retailers to mitigate this expense.  It is a shame that energy retailers don't offer plans for families that only use their services for part of the year as I'm sure we aren't the only ones in this situation.

[David_AGL]

Sorry I couldn't be of more help, @kpaton. Although there unfortunately won't be any retailer that does not charge any supply charge, it's always a good idea to shop around for the best deal in your particular circumstances. 

Disconnecting supply you aren't using and reconnecting it when you need it might be a money-saving option in some circumstances, but you have to compare the supply charge you'd be saving against the disconnection/reconnection fees to make sure you're actually saving. These get charged to AGL by your local gas distributor company and then passed on to the customer.

[Airwin]

If you have cancelled your account, you should not be charged a supply charge. If one switched to a different supplier, agl could not charge a supply charge. What is the difference?

[David_AGL]

Hi @Airwin ,

You won't be charged for supply if you aren't connected to the network.

However, because the supply charge is charged by your electricity distributor and passed on to you by your retailer (AGL), you will still be charged a supply charge by your new retailer when you switch to them.