As part of the State Government’s commitment to electricity pricing reform, a new way for customers to pay for their electricity use was officially launched today in Broome by Energy Minister Ben Wyatt.
MyPower pricing plans are an Australian-first and designed to give customers more control over their energy bills by linking their use of electricity in the peak to a higher fixed charge spread over 12 months and a much lower variable or unit charge. Customers can earn rebates by adapting the way they use electricity to consume less during the peak.
MyPower customers will have a target number of units to use during the peak period of 1pm to 8pm during the peak months of November to April.
The new pricing plans are designed to be used in conjunction with the free Horizon Power app; the app enables customers to monitor their energy use, providing notifications if they are nearing their peak allowance, and enabling them to modify their energy use behaviour to stay within their plan allowance limit.
The objective is to encourage customers to manage their peak (and overall) energy usage and associated charges by modifying their behaviour to either reduce their use at peak times or change their high-use behaviour to off-peak times.
MyPower has been developed based on research conducted in Port Hedland earlier this year, which demonstrated that when given the right incentives and price signals, customers can change their behaviour to use less power during the peak and save money.