I’m Joe from Smarta Switch in Brisbane. “What kind of contract am I on?” is a question most business owners genuinely can’t answer, and that’s exactly how some end up overpaying for years. There are really only three types. Once you know which one you’re on, you know whether you’re being looked after or quietly milked.
We’re paid by the energy retailer when you switch, never by you.
1. The standing offer (the default, and usually the dearest)
The standing offer is the retailer’s default contract. It’s the rate you land on when you never signed anything, or when a fixed deal expired and you didn’t act. It exists as a fallback so no one is ever left without supply.
The problem: it’s a fallback, not a deal. Standing offers are typically the most expensive option, because there’s no competition behind them, you’re not being won, you’re just being supplied. If nobody at your business has actively chosen an energy plan, there’s a real chance you’re on one of these. (This is the rollover that quietly inflates bills.)
You want to be off a standing offer. Almost always.
2. The market retail contract (where most businesses should be)
A market retail contract is a deal you (or a broker) actively agree with a retailer. It’s the competitive option: sharper rates, chosen terms, and the retailer is actually pricing to win your business.
Within a market contract you’ll choose the shape:
- Fixed rates locked for the term, or variable rates that move with the market. (Fixed vs variable, the honest trade-off.)
- A contract term (often 1 to 3 years).
- Exit fees, renewal terms and any conditions.
This is where most SME sites under roughly 100 MWh a year should live: a market contract, re-quoted across the panel so it’s genuinely competitive, not a standing offer dressed up. (How to compare market quotes properly.)
3. The negotiated C&I contract (for bigger sites)
Once a site uses more than roughly 100 MWh a year, it moves into Commercial & Industrial (C&I) territory, and pricing changes shape entirely.
Instead of picking from published rates, your usage profile goes out to tender: a handful of C&I retailers bid against each other on your actual interval data. The pricing is bespoke, the savings can be larger because of scale, and it’s a different process to an SME quote. (How multi-site and C&I tendering works.)
If you run a big single site or several sites adding up, this is likely your world.
How to tell which one you’re on
Grab your latest bill and check:
- Is there a contract end date? A market or C&I contract has one. No end date, or “expired”? You’ve very likely rolled onto a standing offer (type 1), the dear one.
- Did you or anyone actively sign a deal in the last couple of years? If not, assume standing offer.
- Is your usage over ~100 MWh/year? Then a negotiated C&I contract (type 3) is the right home, not an SME plan.
- Are the rates fixed or variable? That tells you the shape of your market contract.
The single most common, most expensive situation we see: a business that signed a market contract years ago, let it lapse, and has been sitting on the standing offer ever since, paying well above market without realising the contract even ended.
What to do this week
- Find your contract end date (or confirm there isn’t one). That one fact tells you whether you’re on a real deal or the default.
- If it’s expired or missing, you’re probably overpaying on a standing offer, and that’s usually the easiest, biggest fix available.
- Get it checked. Upload your bill on this page or email hello@smartaswitch.com.au. We’ll tell you which contract type you’re actually on, whether it suits your size, and what a competitive deal looks like. No cost, no commitment, because we’re paid by the energy retailer when you switch, never by you.
You don’t need to become an energy expert. You just need to know whether you’re on a chosen deal or a default one, because the default is where the money leaks.
Joe Lawrence, Co-founder, Smarta Switch Australia 0435 642 592 · joe@smartaswitch.com.au