Energy Australia Reviews

Note: EnergyAustralia Home Services Pty Ltd, ABN 43 095 759 881 was approved as a Clean Energy Council (CEC) Approved Solar Retailer on 02 November 2018

Energy Australia is the smallest of Australia's big three electricity retailers with 1.7 million customers. This puts it well behind Origin's 4.3 million and AGL's 3.7 million.

Like Origin and AGL, Energy Australia also installs rooftop solar, but they are well behind in the number of installation reviews has received. As of September 2016 SolarQuotes has received over 400 reviews for Origin Solar, 92 for AGL, and only 53 for Energy Australia Solar. Their average review score is 4.1 out of 5, which is not bad and a little better than either Origin or AGL.

Company History

Energy Australia was founded in 1995 by CLP, a Hong Kong power company formed in 1901 as the China Light & Power Company Syndicate. They own 25% of the Daya Bay Nuclear Plant. That's the one where they accidentally left out 316 pieces of steel rebar when constructing reactor number one, but so far it has worked just fine without it.

Energy Australia was originally called TRUenergy but in 2011 they changed their name. I think it was an improvement, as their old name used to make me wonder who Nergy was and why he was true.

EnergyAustralia Can't Spell

EnergyAustralia’s name is actually one word and not two. I am referring to them as Energy Australia simply because that is what most English speakers, quite reasonably, think they are called. And yes, it is cheeky for someone from SolarQuotes to point this out.

Energy Australia Solar Panels

All the solar panels Energy Australia provides are reliable, tier 1 panels. For their most expensive systems, Energy Australia Solar uses LG solar panels. These are premium tier one panels that are extremely reliable and carry a 12 year product warranty.

If you don’t wish to pay a premium for premium panels, they will install Jinko panels instead, which have a 10 year product warranty.

Both these panels brands come with a 25 year performance warranty, but this is usually of little use to households. (More can be read about solar panel warranties here.)

Energy Australia Inverters

At the time of writing in September 2016, Energy Australia offers Enphase microinverters and Zeversolar string inverters.

Enphase microinverters have an excellent warranty of 10 years and are well suited for installations which have shade issues. Because they help get the most out of each solar panel, they are useful whenever suitable roof space is limited.

Zerversolar inverters are considered to be a good budget inverter and, like the very large majority of inverters, their warranty is for 5 years.

Energy Australia has also installed Fronius and Samil inverters. Fronius inverters are considered to be very high quality and their manufacturer will provide a 10 year warranty for any that are installed and registered in 2016.

Samil inverters are unreliable with installers reporting woeful support in Australia. So it is good that Energy Australia do not install them any more.

Energy Australia Solar Rebate

Any Energy Australia Solar Power system will qualify for the the solar rebate as part of Australia’s Renewable Energy Target. Technically the solar rebate is not actually a rebate, but that is what it is often called. Note the solar rebate will be slightly reduced on the 1st of January and the start of each new year after that.

Energy Australia Solar Rates

If you use Energy Australia as your electricity retailer, they currently offer a solar feed-in tariff of 8.2 cents in South Australia and generally 5.1 cents elsewhere.

Energy Australia Offers A 0% Interest Payment Plan For Up To 5 Years

Currently, Energy Australia says you can purchase a system for nothing up front and zero interest. However, (and you knew there was going to be a “however”, didn't you?), it only applies if you use certain credit cards, it doesn't apply to their lowest cost systems, the credit cards have their own fees and charges, and when the 0% interest period is up you will be charged 24.99% interest on any balance remaining, which is crazy high.

I have no idea what credit card fees and charges may apply, so be sure to check them before accepting this deal.

When a company offers a 0% interest free period it is often a good indication you can bargain for a better price if you agree to pay in full as soon as the system is installed and working.

Energy Australia's Small Print Is Hard To Read

Energy Australia has an asterisk next to their 0% interest offer to indicate there is small print below. Unlike their main text that is black, this print is in grey which makes it difficult to read. This is a violation of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission rules which, unlike the Energy Australia small print, clearly states:

“An advertiser must not make the real terms and conditions of the offer unclear or unreadable by... using text that is too small”.

Claiming the print was not too small to read, just too grey is not acceptable excuse.

I really don't know what they are hoping to achieve by giving people eye strain. I think EnergyAustralia is a company that probably can be trusted, but making their small print hard for middle aged people to read makes them appear dodgy as hell.

Energy Australia Has Paid Massive Fines For Dishonest Conduct

In April 2014 the Federal Court ordered Energy Australia to pay a $1.2 million penalty for unlawful sales tactics after:

“...sales representatives acting on its behalf, made false and misleading representations and engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct…”

In March 2015 Energy Australia was ordered to pay a $1.1 million penalty after telemarketers acting on behalf of Energy Australia signed people up for electricity and gas plans without their permission.

So okay, maybe you can’t trust them 100%.

Energy Australia Owns A Huge Amount Of Fossil Fuel Generating Capacity

Energy Australia is one of the largest owners and operators of fossil fuel generating capacity in the nation. According to their website they own:

Victoria's 1,450 MW Yallourn brown coal power station

NSW's 1,400 MW Mt Piper black coal power station

NSW's 435 MW Tallawarra combined cycle natural gas power station

South Australia's 203 MW Hallett natural gas power station

In addition they also own South Australia’s 230 MW Waterloo Wind Farm and 66 MW Cathedral Rocks Wind Farm.

This means only 5.6% of their generating capacity is renewable. As a result, Energy Australia is one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases in Australia.

Energy Australia Acts Irresponsibly With Regard To Human Safety

Energy Australia says they expect to reduce their emissions 60% by 2050. They also say they will develop new ways to extract and use brown coal. These two things really don't really go together. We can either leave coal in the ground and not release pollutants and greenhouse gases from its use or we can continue to extract and burn coal which kills people. At the very least Energy Australia should be rapidly winding down coal use. To plan to extract more coal endangers lives and is quite simply irresponsible.

Energy Australia Is Likely To Be A Reliable Solar Installer

In my opinion Energy Australia is likely to perform professionally when installing rooftop solar and any system they install is very likely to operate reliably. But I cannot bring myself to recommend them when they are planning to continue the extraction of brown coal in the future.