New Energy Tool Helps Aussies Slash Power Bills

Electricity bills have been quietly climbing over the past decade — by anywhere from $100 to a whopping $850 depending on where you live in Australia. And for a lot of people, that extra cost is really starting to bite.

Take Brisbane mum of two, Daniella. She nearly fell over when she opened her latest power bill — it was over $7000. Naturally, she rang her electricity provider straight away and asked, “What on earth is going on?”

They admitted it was probably a mistake and offered to drop the bill to $1600. But Daniella wasn’t having it — she said the numbers still didn’t add up. So she stood her ground and got A Current Affair involved. Not long after that, the power company wiped the bill entirely, saying yep, it was likely an error after all.

And Daniella’s not alone in feeling the pressure.

With costs rising across the board, more Aussies are turning to services that promise to help them save on power bills. One of the newer options is Hipages Energy, which says it can automatically switch you to a better deal and save you around 20% in the first year.

They use a government-backed data scheme to do it securely, and according to Hipages CEO Roby Sharon-Zipser, the average person could save about $250 a year. Not bad for something you don’t have to think about.

“We do all the flipping, switching, and monitoring,” he said. “Just give us a few details and your recent energy bills, and we’ll take it from there.”

The service is free to use — Hipages just earns a small commission from the energy companies they work with, kind of like a mortgage broker.

There’s even a bonus offer: if they can’t find you a better deal, they’ll make up the difference with gift vouchers, up to $1000.

But there’s a catch — and money-saving expert Joel Gibson says it’s worth knowing. While it can definitely help, the service doesn’t compare every single energy provider out there. It works with a panel of 13, and only switches you to one if they’re part of that group.

So his advice? “Give it a go, but do it with your eyes open.”

Still, with 80% of Aussies not on the cheapest energy plan, it might just be worth a look.