There are really only two ways to lower a power bill: pay less per unit, or use the units more cleverly. Most advice you’ll read online is the second kind, switch off lights, turn down the aircon. It’s not wrong, it’s just the slow lane. The fast lane is usually the contract.
I’m Joe, I re-quote business power and gas across South East Queensland with Smarta Switch. Below are the nine levers that actually move a commercial bill, ranked roughly from “biggest win, least effort” to “worth doing once you’ve done the rest.” Start at the top.
If you’d rather skip to the part where someone does it for you: upload your last bill and I’ll come back with a real number. We’re paid by the energy retailer when you switch, never by you.
The fast lane: pay less per unit
1. Re-quote your contract across the market
This is the single biggest lever for most businesses, and it takes you about ten minutes. If your contract was signed more than 18 months ago, or worse, has lapsed, you’re very likely paying 8–22% over today’s market. Re-quoting across a panel of retailers, not just ringing your current one, is how you claw that back. Same wires, same poles, same supply. Just a lower number on the invoice. (Here’s how to compare quotes without getting spun.)
2. Stop the silent rollover
If your fixed deal ended and you did nothing, you rolled onto the retailer’s default rate, and that’s almost always the dearest rate they offer. Getting off it is pure saving for zero downside. Set a reminder for 90 days before your contract expires and re-quote then, every time. (The 90-day renewal checklist.)
3. Fix your tariff
Energex puts you on a network tariff based on your size and usage shape, but nobody moves you when your business changes. A site that grew, added equipment or changed hours is often on the wrong structure, paying the wrong shape of bill. Getting your tariff matched to how you actually run can cut a bill without changing a single habit. It’s one of the most overlooked saves there is, because it’s invisible unless someone checks.
4. Get your demand charge under control
If your bill has a kVA or kW demand charge, it’s billed on your single highest power spike in the month, and on a lot of sites it’s 20–40% of the bill. Two things help: making sure you’re on the right demand tariff, and flattening that peak (not switching everything on at once first thing). Shave the spike, shave the charge, every month after. (Demand charges, fully explained.)
5. Check for billing errors
We find a genuine error in roughly 1 in 25 bills we audit, wrong tariff applied, a demand charge miscalculated, an old meter still being charged, an estimate never trued up. Not common, but when it’s there it’s often months of overcharging. Reading the bill line by line is the only way to catch it. (How to read every line on a commercial bill.)
The slow lane: use the units more cleverly
These take more effort and a bit of spend, but they keep paying back.
6. Shift load out of the peak
If you’re on a time-of-use tariff, power costs more in the peak window (typically late afternoon to evening) than off-peak. Running the dishwasher, the cool-room pull-down, charging, heavy equipment, anything you can shift to off-peak or shoulder, comes off the dearer rate. You’re not using less; you’re using it when it’s cheaper.
7. Sort out power factor
Bit technical, but it matters on the right sites: if you run a lot of motors, compressors or refrigeration, poor power factor can inflate your kVA demand and your charge with it. Correction may help when the tariff and measured load support the case, but it needs proper assessment before you buy equipment. (How to screen a power-factor opportunity.)
8. The obvious efficiency stuff
LED lighting, timers and sensors, servicing the aircon and refrigeration so they’re not working harder than they need to, fixing the door seals on the cool-room. None of it is glamorous and none of it is a silver bullet, but on a busy site it quietly trims the kWh every day, and it stacks on top of a sharper contract. Use a business energy audit checklist to rank the work before spending capital.
9. Solar, once the contract’s sorted
Solar can genuinely lower a daytime bill if your usage matches the sun. But do it in the right order: sort the contract first, then size the solar to what’s left. Sizing a system to an inflated, un-optimised bill means you overspend on panels to fix a problem a re-quote would’ve fixed cheaper. (If you’ve already got solar or a battery, read this.)
The order that gets the most for the least
If you do nothing else, do levers 1–4. They cost you almost no money and very little time, and they’re where the big numbers are. The efficiency and solar stuff (6–9) is real, but it’s the polish, don’t spend on panels and power-factor units before you’ve checked you’re even on the right rate.
A quick way to think about it: the contract is the leak; efficiency is the dripping tap. Fix the leak first.
What to do this week
- Find your last bill and your contract end date. Expired or within 90 days? You’re the priority, that’s lever 1 and 2, the biggest wins, available right now.
- Look for a kVA/demand line and your tariff code. If they’re there and you’re not sure they’re right, flag them.
- Pick one slow-lane habit you could start now, shifting one big load off the peak, or booking the aircon service you’ve been putting off.
- Get the contract re-quoted. Upload your bill on this page or email hello@smartaswitch.com.au. I’ll shop our retailer panel, check your tariff and demand setup, and come back with the real saving, usually same day. No cost, no commitment, because we’re paid by the energy retailer when you switch, never by you.
You don’t have to pull all nine levers. Pull the top few and you’ll feel it on the next bill, and you’ll have done in an afternoon what most businesses never get around to at all.
Joe Lawrence, Co-founder, Smarta Switch Australia 0435 642 592 · joe@smartaswitch.com.au