ActewAGL Review - Need a New Connection?

As the biggest electricity retailer in the Australian Capital Territory, ActewAGL is responsible for providing residential and business customers with electricity and gas. ActewAGL understands the importance of offering electricity advice and solutions to waste less and save more money. In the section below, we have a summary of the ActewAGL electricity plans for residential customers.

ActewAGL’s Standard Plan sounds just like how you’d imagine, standard. The Standard Plan is a straightforward deal that offers customers an ongoing, everyday energy plan with a depth of flexibility.

This plan includes an ongoing contract, standard electricity and gas charges, flexible payment options, e-billing and zero exit fees.

The name of this plan just about sums it up. ActewAGL’s Simple Saver plan is a combination of their lower electricity rates and set-and-forget automatic payments. To be eligible for this plan, customers are required to opt to pay off their electricity bills through EvenPay at sign-up. Features of the Simple Saver plan include a one-year contract term, e-billing, automatic payments through EvenPay and zero exit fees. If you’re looking to save on your electricity, this energy plan can lead to potential savings.s

The figures below are taken from the Alviss Consulting, 2018 Green Electricity Guide Methodology report and indicate ActewAGL’s scores in the 7 areas that make up the 2018 Green Electricity Guide.

ActewAGL scored an 8 in the fossil fuels criteria due to their strong public position against future investments in fossil fuels. They also received a favourable rating of 7.5 for their transparency due to their comprehensive and accessible energy efficiency products and information available to customers via their website.

Even with ActewAGL’s solar export prices being lower than the state average and a lower export rate for the offer with the greatest discount, their solar offer is inequitable. Hence, ActewAGL received a score of 2.5 in the renewable energy criteria.

Their investments in coal power stations and emissions intensity above the NEM average earned them a poor score of 3 for the carbon emissions criteria. Overall, ActewAGL earned a score of 4.9 for how green they are in the 2018 Green Electricity Guide.

In this generation, consumers expect flexibility when it comes to their utilities. ActewAGL understands this and offers various billing and payment options to suit their customer’s flexibility. Let’s look at ActewAGL’s billing and payment options.

With most of their electricity plans, customers can opt to receive their bills in the form of e-bills via email or paper bills through the post so that you won’t get caught out with a late outstanding bill.

Nowadays, customers want the utmost flexibility when it comes to settling outstanding bills. ActewAGL has various flexible payment options to suit your lifestyle. By logging into your account through their website, you can pay off your outstanding electricity bill or make a one-off payment.

Customers can choose to pay via ActewAGL’s EvenPay option, whereby the cost of their yearly electricity and gas bills are split up into even direct debit payments so that you’re paying the same price for every bill.

Customers can also pay via ActewAGL’s FullPay option, whereby the total amount of their electricity bill gets deducted via direct debit on the due date of your bill. BPay and using your credit card to pay via phone are other methods of payment ActewAGL accepts.

Customers that wish to pay their energy bills through the mail can simply do so by posting a cheque with the payment slip. Customers can also pay in person at an Australian Post Office and through CentrePay. Centrepay is a payment method where customers pay off a bill via a regular amount deducted from their Centrelink payment.

Customers can choose between a monthly or quarterly billing frequency to suit their flexibility.

ActewAGL acknowledges the importance of keeping the light on in your home when you fall on hard financial times. With some customers facing trouble paying off their outstanding electricity bills or worrying about having their power disconnected, ActewAGL has various options available to help you out so that you won’t have to worry about your family being in the dark.

Suppose you’re after some extra time to pay off an outstanding electricity bill. In that case, you can simply do that by requesting a payment extension by accessing your account on the ActewAGL website.

ActewAGL’s Staying Connected Program is designed to help those stuck in a financial situation by working with them to develop and implement a personalized and practical solution so that your electricity will always be connected.

This program involves discussing a flexible payment plan that will suit your financial situation and your capacity to pay. Customers will be contacted by an energy expert who has experience dealing with customers in similar situations of financial hardship.

The Staying Connected Program consists of payment assistance vouchers that can help customers access government concession schemes, setting up a personalized payment plan to suit their needs and energy-saving tips to help them decrease their energy expense and increase their energy efficiency.

ActewAGL offers customers several ways to contact them if they are having trouble with their electricity. To speak to one of their energy experts, customers can call them for assistance with their account inquiries, help understand their bills, arrange their move, and get helpful tips to save on your electricity.

Those customers who want to talk in person can drop in anytime to The Energy Bar to speak to one of ActewAGL’s energy experts; no appointment required. Customers can find these energy bars in shopping malls across NSW and ACT open 7 days a week.

Customers can also send them an email or post ActewAGL mail for any assistance with their enquiries.