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Energy Locals wins this year's Finder Green Awards with its 100% carbon offsets on residential electricity plans.
Energy Locals works a bit differently to other providers. Rather than simply paying for your power use, you pay a monthly membership fee instead.
In return, you get access to fixed power rates that are updated every August.
These rates are based on wholesale electricity prices - the price that retailers pay for power before passing it on to their customers.
They tend to be 2-5c/kWh cheaper than what other retailers usually charge their customers.
As with many providers, Energy Locals doesn't have any lock-in contracts or exit fees, so you're free to change plans whenever you desire.
Energy Locals is available in VIC, NSW, QLD, SA, the ACT, and Tasmania.
Although Energy Locals doesn't offer specific solar plans, you will be able to get feed-in tariffs on all plans if you have a solar system.
It's also partnered with startup Enosi to create Powertracer, a software that allows solar customers to buy and sell excess solar power to each other at rates they set themselves.
If you are in NSW, VIC, QLD, SA, or the ACT, you can go to Energy Locals' website, enter your postcode, and hit the "join" button.
This will start the switch over to the appropriate energy plan. And once everything's been set up, you'll receive a registration email for the trading platform.
Energy Locals offers reasonable feed-in tariffs in every state - nothing far above the average, but nothing on the super low side, either.
Green Electricity Guide Rating: 8.09/10
Energy Locals has done its fair share in the green energy space.
It supports the environment with 100% carbon neutral plans, plus gives customers the option of purchasing up to 100% GreenPower for further support of renewable energy investments.
Additionally, it also supports a few renewables schemes like solar power trading through its Powertracer program and purchasing electricity from power stations that burn sugar cane by-products for energy.
For its efforts, Energy Locals has won the Finder Green Awards for Green Energy Retailer of the Year (Retail-Only) in both 2020 and 2021.
Note: 5,000 kWh was used as an average annual power consumption figure based on data from the 2020 Residential energy consumption benchmarks report for the AER. Power consumption varies by state and household size.
| EnergyLocals | Market Average | Major provider average | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average call wait time | 27seconds | 53 seconds | 99 seconds |
| Calls abandoned before being answered | 4% | 9% | 6% |
| Complaints (% of total customers) | 1% | 2% | 2% |
Why does customer service rating matter?
A high customer service score is a great indicator of how your energy provider will help you:
Energy Locals has a number of ways for you to get in touch, mostly during the week.
You can:
If you'd like to join an energy plan with Energy Locals, just hit the green "Go to site" button in the table and fill out a quick form.
Alternatively, head to the Energy Locals' website and sign up directly by entering your address and following the prompts.
Important notes: The estimated price we show by default is based on a single rate tariff. On your bill this might be known as a "peak tariff", "peak only" or an "anytime tariff". There are other tariff types available to customers and you may need to contact your provider if you are on these tariffs:
The price estimate should not be used as an official quote, but an indication of what your costs may be on the plan. It varies based on whether you provide us with your bill details. You can learn more here.
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