Apart from telling you what you owe, energy bills provide a lot of information about how you use your power. These details can help you cut down on your energy usage and how much you're paying. They can also help you decide if switching to a different plan will actually save you money or not. This guide will take you through what to look for on your bill and where to find it.
Every power bill is laid out differently on paper, but there's a few terms that are critical to know, depending on what you are trying to do.
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How your energy bill looks will vary depending on the brand you use. We've linked specific brand guides in the section above. However, as a general guide, we took a sample bill from AGL and broke down each section.
While there is a lot of information to be found on any electricity or gas bill, the main details to check include:
1. Basic information
This is your address, name, plan and other details necessary for your retailer to identify you. Keep this information handy if you're contacting your retailer online or over the phone.
2. Amount due
This is usually shown at the top of your bill. In addition to the total amount, there may be a smaller total listed if there's a pay-on-time discount applied.
3. Due date
This is when payment must be received by for any pay-on-time discounts to apply.
4. Total usage and average daily usage
This will help you compare your usage to other energy plans.
For electricity, your usage is shown in kilowatts per hour (kWh).
For gas, it's shown in megajoules (MJ) for the entire billing period.
5. Electricity supply details
This includes information about your electricity provision, including your address, your energy plan and your meter's unique identification number (NMI = National Meter Identifier). It also has your actual usage listed in kWh.
Gas meters have a Meter Identification Reference Number (MIRN) that serves the same purpose as the NMI.
6. Usage breakdown
This is a detailed breakdown of how you've been charged. It will split your total charge into the supply charge that you must pay for simply being connected to the grid and your actual usage costs.
Your usage rates may be further split into peak and off-peak rates if you're on a time of use tariff, or just peak rates if you're on a flat rate. Discounts are also listed here.
7. Payment options
This is a list of options for how you can pay your bill. It may include options such as direct debit, mail, BPAY, PayPal and cheque.
Enter your usage to compare your bill to other plans on the market.
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