AGL Energy Review and Rates

Operating primarily in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, AGL provides its customers with a wide range of electricity and gas services. It has also recently launched in the WA gas market.

“Drawing on over 175 years of experience, AGL serves its customers throughout eastern Australia with meeting their energy requirements, including gas, electricity, solar PV and related products and services,” AGL states of its energy services. “AGL has a diverse power generation portfolio, including base, peaking and intermediate generation plants, spread across traditional thermal generation as well as renewable sources, including hydro, wind, solar, landfill gas and biomass.”

AGL also claims to be “the largest ASX-listed owner, operator and developer of renewable energy generation in the country”.

In this review, Canstar Blue will examine AGL’s electricity plans, rates, discounts and incentives, showing what you can expect to pay if you sign up with the retailer.

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AGL Energy Plans

AGL offers a range of plans for both residential and business customers (providing services for small and medium to large businesses), with customers able to sign up online or by calling the AGL customer service line.

AGL offers discounts off usage charges across most of its plans to customers who pay their bills on time or opt for direct debit payment. In some states, AGL will also give new customers a $25-$50 credit if they sign up online.

Customers additionally have the choice of adding one of AGL’s Green Choice products to their electricity plan, with AGL sourcing power equal to 10, 20 or 100 per cent of their entire household electricity consumption from renewable energy sources, approved under the GreenPower voluntary government accredited program.

AGL’s residential market offer energy plans, which vary state by state, include:

• AGL Savers: A variable rate plan providing customers with a pay on time discount for 12 months (the percentage of which varies state by state but can be as high as 33%). This plan has, at times, come with free electricity in the last month of the contract in some states.
• AGL Savers Home Connect: This product is similarly a 12 month variable rate contract. It includes a slightly smaller discount than the AGL Savers, but makes up for this with the value add of an Amazon Echo smart home device.
• AGL Everyday: This is AGL’s latest addition to its product range. On the face of it, this plan offers the smallest discount, but unlike most other AGL products, the Everyday discount applies to both energy usage and supply charges. In addition, the discount is guaranteed – you won’t lose your discount for paying your bills a little late.
• AGL Set and Forget: A variable rate plan providing customers with a direct debit discount off usage charges for 12 months (the percentage of which varies state by state). This plan was previously only available in QLD and SA, but has now been extended to other states.
• AGL Essentials: Currently only available in Victoria, this plan comes with locked in rates for 12 months, but no conditional discount. There are no exit fees if you cancel the contract early.
• AGL Prepaid: AGL now gives customers in Victoria the opportunity to pay for power in advance, with greater savings on other depending on how much you spend in advance. For example, customers who pay $50 upfront will receive bonus credit of $10. See here for more details.

These plans are consistent for both electricity and gas supply, although conditional discounts can vary significantly and are known to change frequently.

Most AGL market deals have 12 month benefit periods, after which the discount may be lost. AGL also offers standing offer contracts in each state it services, but these plans have no conditional discounts and are usually more expensive than market offers.

A range of different tariff options are available for each of the aforementioned plans (depending on where you live and your meter tyre), including single rate, two rate, time of use, demand and flexible pricing. Unless you have a smart meter installed at your property, you will only have access to single rate tariffs. However, these still include controlled loads.

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AGL Electricity Rates

AGL is generally a competitively-priced electricity retailer, often with some of the biggest discounts on offer in each state. However, consumers should be aware that big discounts do not always result in the cheapest overall prices. Be sure to pay close attention to which plans are available in your area, because the cheapest product in one state may not be the best bet in another state. It’s important to compare rates in energy price factsheets to make sure a large discount isn’t just masking increased rates. AGL’s price factsheets can be found here.

To offer a guide as to where AGL sits among the cheapest energy companies in your state, Canstar Blue regularly compares electricity plans to show what households can expect to pay. The following annual costs for AGL are based on single rate tariffs and average energy consumption figures for five person households based on selected postcodes in each state. Please not that, if a product is currently unavailable, we show most recent plan details but N/A for cost. Use our energy comparison tool above for a specific quote for your suburb.

AGL Electricity Prices Victoria

Costs based on annual usage calculations based on statistics from the AER for a five person household. Costs based on Citipower network as of May 2018.

These costs are for households on the Citipower network in Melbourne. Prices on other distribution networks in Victoria may differ. You can see how AGL compares to other retailers in the state with our electricity cost comparison report for Victoria.

AGL Electricity Prices NSW

Costs based on annual usage calculations based on statistics from the AER for a five person household. Costs based on Ausgrid network as of June 2018.

These costs are for households on the Ausgrid network covering parts of Sydney and northern NSW. Prices for other distribution networks in NSW may differ. Find out how AGL compares to other energy retailers in the state with our NSW electricity cost comparison report.

AGL Electricity Prices QLD

Costs based on annual usage calculations based on statistics from the AER for a five person household. Costs based on Energex network as of April 2018.

These costs are based on the Energex network covering all of Brisbane and South East Queensland. Households in regional Queensland are only supplied by Ergon Energy. See how AGL compares to other electricity retailers in SE Queensland with our cost comparison report.

AGL Electricity Prices SA

Costs based on annual usage calculations based on statistics from the AER for a five person household. Costs based on SA Power network as of April 2018.

These costs apply to households right across Adelaide and South Australia. Find out how AGL compares to other providers with our SA cost comparison report.

Solar Power with AGL

AGL provides a range of solar services for both residential and business customers. Among AGL’s offerings is its solar Smart Plan, which runs separate to a customer’s regular retail electricity contract, with AGL installing the solar system, monitoring it and taking care of maintenance for the duration of the plan.

AGL’s Solar Command tool allows for users to monitor the performance of the system, helping to maximise output efficiency. The company also offers battery storage for solar, with customers interested in a solar system able to get an estimated system size and cost via the AGL website.

AGL Natural Gas

As the ‘Australian Gas Lighting’ company, AGL is arguably one of the oldest and most experienced gas dealers in Australia. AGL sells natural gas across the country, offering a suite of different products with large discounts and competitive rates. AGL’s residential gas plans include:

• AGL Savers
• AGL Set and Forget
• AGL Everday
• AGL Essentials
• AGL Fixed Rate

AGL Set and Forget (natural gas)

Just like its electricity deal counterpart, Set and Forget is AGL’s flagship gas offer. It has variable rates, no exit fees and a large discount on usage charges for customers who pay using direct debit. This deal is available with a 12 month benefit term, after which customers will be reverted to a standard plan unless they recontract.

AGL Savers (natural gas)

AGL Savers rewards customers who pay their bills on time with a discount off gas usage charges, between 5% and 33% depending on where you live. Once again this plan has variable rates and a 12 month benefit period. Customers also have access to a range of billing options and AGL Rewards (depending on your state).

AGL Everyday (natural gas)

The AGL Everyday comes with a small guaranteed discount off both usage and supply charges, making it the ideal plan if you often forget to pay your bill on time and you’re uncomfortable with direct debit. This deal has a one year benefit period, a variable rate, flexible billing options and access to AGL Rewards (depending on your state). This product is available in all states except WA.

AGL Essentials (natural gas)

This is a fixed rate plan, meaning gas prices won’t increase for the one year life of the contract. Customers on AGL Essentials must agree to eBilling and paying via direct debit. This deal is only available to Victorian residents.

AGL Fixed rate (natural gas)

Natural gas customers on this plan have their usage and supply rates fixed for two years. This means that gas prices won’t increase for the life of the contract, helping customers save by sheltering them from rising gas prices. Unlike most fixed rate contracts, AGL won’t lock you in with early termination fees. This product is only available in Western Australia.

AGL Rewards

AGL customers can join the AGL Rewards program, comprising special offers, discounts and benefits at over 1,600 participating businesses nationally, including discounts on a range of popular gift cards, as well as discounted movie tickets, up to 50% off at selected restaurants, discounted travel and accommodation, and reduces prices for certain attractions and theme parks.

AGL also provides its customers the opportunity to collect flybuys shopping rewards program points via a number of different offers. By signing up online, customers can earn 10,000 bonus points straight away.

Billing Options

In terms of invoice payments, AGL offers a range of options, with customers able to pay via the AGL website by either credit card or PayPal, by direct debit, BPay, Post Billpay, or in person at Australia Post offices, and via post by cheque or money order.

AGL’s Bill Smoothing provides for the estimated total cost of a customer’s energy bills for the next year to be spread across equal monthly or fortnightly instalments, with weekly instalments also potentially available for direct debit customers.

Helpful Tools

AGL provides a range of tools for account management, with AGL Energy Online allowing customers to view and monitor their energy usage and bill details, pay their bills, receive bills via email, update personal details and organise a home or small business move. Customers can also manage their account via the AGL Energy app.

My AGL IQ, meanwhile, provides for customers to monitor and manage energy usage, track how much energy is being used, compare energy usage to similar homes (residential accounts only), build a personal energy-saving action plan, complete a home profile to receive more targeted energy saving advice and tips, and set goals and track performance against them.

Is AGL right for me?

As one of Australia’s largest energy companies, AGL is well-resourced to deliver competitive rates and a quality service to its customers. While AGL is not always the cheapest, it is one of few energy retailers with a rewards program and 24/7 phone support, which may provide additional ‘value’ depending on what kind of retailer you’re looking for. Also be aware that AGL’s cheapest deals are typically only available because of large conditional discounts with 12 month benefit periods. If you want to remain with AGL long-term, you may need to make the occasional phone call to ensure you’re still getting its cheapest offer.

AGL can probably be considered a safe bet for anyone wanting a reliable and well-rounded energy service, however, you will probably need to shop around if you’re looking for the cheapest electricity deal possible.

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What do customers think about AGL?

In 2017, energy customers of New South Wales gave AGL 3 out of 5 stars for Overall Customer Satisfaction in our customer satisfaction ratings.

Click here to view how AGL was rated in our South Australian electricity provider ratings.
Click here to view how AGL was rated in our Queensland electricity provider ratings.
Click here to view how AGL was rated in our Victorian electricity provider ratings.