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 | | From: | David Clayton | | Subject: | TXU price rises - Victoria | | Date: | Mon, 10 Jan 2005 14:40:00 +1100 |
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 | TXU are increasing their electricity and gas prices on 9 Feb, but they
have also launched "Fixed" 1, 2 or 3 year deals so you can lock in your
rates for these periods.
I have just finished running the various rates through a spreadsheet,
and to sum up I'm not impressed with their fixed offers.
Firstly, they have different kW/h break points for the fixed versus
"standard" electricity tariffs (at least comparing to the "Life Energy
for Singles" rates), so this makes a direct comparison more difficult
(and probably will mislead those who don't pick up this difference).
Anyway, one thing that you lose with going to the fixed deal is the $25
annual "loyalty" rebate for each type of fuel, (the $30 direct debit
rebate is still there), so you have to factor this into the (apparently)
lower quarterly electricity supply fee (which is quoted in individual
months in the fixed data, but specified as a quarterly figure in the
standard figures).
It looks like the fixed deal may only be of benefit if the price of
electricity rises by more than 4% over the next 3 years, so if you
believe that this will be the case then it may be worth considering,
otherwise there may be better deals out in the marketplace.
I didn't bother to look at the gas tariffs in to much detail, as the
fixed monthly supply charge of $33 - compared to $11.42 with the
"standard" rate - on top of higher usage charges makes it far more
expensive from the outset.
On the data TXU have provided to me, I'm struggling to see how they
could have made comparing their two offerings much more difficult for
the average consumer, I would speculate that a lot of people will have a
hard time to ascertain any real benefit from changing.
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Regards, David.
David Clayton, e-mail: dcstar@XYZ.myrealbox.com
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
(Remove the "XYZ." to reply)
Dilbert's words of wisdom #18: Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level then beat you with experience.
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