It’s a rewards plan where you don’t need to do any planning at all

The best thing about the Origin Everyday Rewards Plan is how everyday it really is. You don’t have to change your normal routine, we’ve made earning Everyday Rewards points, super easy. All you need to do is sign up, or switch to, our Everyday Rewards Plan and continue to go about your everyday routine. That’s because every bake-off, blow-dry or binge-watch earns you Everyday Rewards points. 

Want to know what all this points-earnin’ gets you?

With the Origin Everyday Rewards Plan, you’ll get 1 Everyday Rewards point for every dollar (incl. GST) you are charged for your usage and supply.

Watch your points grow and turn into Everyday Rewards dollars off your shopping!* it’s good value that never stops. And as the icing on the cake you just baked, and earned rewards points for, you’ll also receive a great variable rate for 12 months. Sweet!

So, where can you redeem these sweet points?

Every point you earn can be redeemed at a huge range of retailers and service providers including: Woolworths, Everyday Market from Woolworths, BWS, BIG W or participating Caltex Woolworths/EG Australia+ or you could choose to convert your Everyday Rewards points to Qantas Frequent Flyer Points**

So almost everywhere you shop and go, you can score yourself some Everyday Rewards points. 

Well, what are you waiting for? Get out there and start rewarding yourself today.

T&Cs apply. Basic Plan Information Documents are information sheets that contain all the key details about a plan and are available upon request, or at originenergy.com.au/pricing for generally available plans. For VIC and WA customers, fact sheets containing all the key details about the plan are available upon request, or at originenergy.com.au/pricing for generally available plans.

The post How doing everyday stuff can earn you Everyday Rewards appeared first on The Origin Blog.

Picture it: you’ve just settled into your new house. You’ve unpacked all the boxes, you’ve mapped out your morning run and you’ve earmarked your new favourite coffee place.

Then the first rainy day you encounter in your new place, the unthinkable happens: the roof starts leaking right over your teak dining table. Your brain goes right into solution mode. How do you fix the problem? Do you even know any reliable emergency trade services in your new area? And who would take a call at 7am on a rainy Sunday morning anyway?

How does Origin provide emergency home assistance?

Let’s face it, getting reliable emergency trade services can be tricky under ideal circumstances. And emergencies have a habit of tripping you up at the most inconvenient times.

But if you were an Origin Home Support customer, the fix would be easy.

You’d just pick up the phone and call Allianz Global Assistance on 1800 758 350 – the team is available 24/7 – and they’d help you get in touch, and arrange the repairs, with your local emergency trade services.

How does Origin Home Support’s emergency home assistance work?

Origin Home Support is an energy plan that includes a 12-month Allianz Global Assistance Emergency Home Assistance membership. It includes two callouts per year¹ for these ten common household emergencies:

1. Locked out of the house
2. Blackout or power failure
3. Burst tap or showerhead
4. Blocked toilet, drain or pipes
5. Damaged heating or cooling system
6. Damaged roof or guttering causing an internal leak
7. Broken or burst hot water system
8. Gas leak
9. Broken external door or window
10. Burst pipe

The Origin Home Support energy plan comes with an Allianz Global Assistance Emergency Home Assistance membership included. When you sign up, you’ll get a 12-month Allianz Global Assistance Emergency Assistance membership that gives you reassurance for those little (or not so little) home emergencies.

It’ll take you around five minutes to sign up online, and as soon as your energy contract is active, your Emergency Home Assistance membership will also be active. Allianz Global Assistance will send you a welcome pack via post to confirm your membership details.

Origin Home Support’s emergency home assistance when moving house

If you’re moving house, your membership starts on the date your energy plan starts. The best part? You can get all the benefits of the membership as soon as your Origin Home Support starts. You don’t need to wait to use the service as long as your Origin Home Support plan is active.

¹Exclusions, limitations and terms and conditions apply.

The post 10 reasons you may need emergency home assistance appeared first on The Origin Blog.

One of the main things driving up customer prices is a significant increase in the wholesale cost of electricity. This is what retailers like us pay to purchase the electricity we supply to you. Origin, and a number of other retailers, also generate some of their own electricity to provide to customers, and the cost to generate electricity has also gone up. So how are these costs reflected in your energy bill?

Why are prices increasing?

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) recently revealed that the wholesale cost of electricity in the National Electricity Market (NEM) for the first three months of 2022 has increased by 141% compared to the same quarter last year.

Think of the electricity market like the stock market. Different generators (like coal and gas-fired power stations, solar, hydro and wind farms) sell the electricity into the market, and retailers buy it. Just like stocks, the purchase prices go up and down depending on a number of different factors.

After many years of relatively stable electricity prices, with electricity costs in 2021 reaching their lowest in 8 years, we’ve seen a huge increase recently.

Here are some reasons why:

1. A global spike in the price of coal and gas, which is still used to generate most of Australia’s electricity.

This graph shows the global coal price change (in US dollars per tonne) between November 2021 and May 2022:

This one shows international gas prices at record levels, with the Asian Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) price shown in Australian dollars per Gigajoule:

As you can see, the cost of energy is going up all over the world. Europe, in particular, is going through an energy crisis caused (in part) by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The effects are being felt all over the globe – even here in Australia.

2. Adding to these global pressures, locally the supply of electricity has been unstable. Unplanned outages at power stations and extreme weather have meant less electricity is being produced than usual. For example, in May 2022, up to 30% of national coal generation capacity was offline at times.

The combination of all these factors means that the cost of producing electricity has gone up, at the same time there’s been less supply available. High demand, as well as expensive materials (coal) have created a perfect storm for higher prices.

What this means for your bills

At least once every twelve months, energy retailers review and update their prices as the costs to provide energy change. According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) 2021 market report, this is what makes up the average Australian household electricity bill:

• The wholesale cost of electricity (32%)
• Network costs – maintaining the lines, poles and other infrastructure (45%)
• Environmental certificate costs – the costs to meet renewable energy target obligations (10%)
• Retail costs – managing billing, customer service, etc. (10%)
• Retail margin (3%)

With wholesale costs making up over a third of your bill, retailers need to be able to cover some of the price rises we’re seeing on our end. But at the same time being mindful of the cost-of-living pressures already being felt by many people across the community.

Those retailers who can’t cover their operating costs may be forced to close shop, which isn’t beneficial for the industry or for customers as it results in less competition. We’ve already seen this happening in Australia, where some of the smaller retailers have stopped taking on new customers as they simply cannot afford to. Or for existing customers, some have increased prices by as much as 100%.

Rest assured Origin won’t be increasing prices to these levels, but they will be going up for some of our customers. As a larger retailer, we own and operate some of our own electricity generation. That means we’re in a stronger position than some to be more resilient to the ups and downs of the wholesale market. But we are still facing cost pressures due to coal supply issues, and because we only generate enough power for around half our customer’s needs, we are exposed to paying higher market prices for the rest.

The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) recently released the latest Default Market Offer (DMO) that is the maximum price retailers can charge customers on standing offers in New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia from 1 July 2022. According to this decision, prices for households will increase by between 7.2% and 18.3% depending on customer location and tariff, and prices for small businesses will increase by between 5.7% and 19.7%.

The Essential Services Commission (ESC) in Victoria has also announced a price increase to the Victorian Default Offer (VDO) of up to 5% for residential and small business customers in that state from 1 July 2022.

We’ll let you know if your prices are changing

If your prices are changing, we’ll let you know. Our commitment is to provide all of our customers with a fair price for energy that reflects what it costs us to provide energy to you. We’ve lowered prices before and we hope to do so again in the future.

For customers in financial hardship, who may be struggling with their energy bills, we have tailored support available through our Power On program. We strongly encourage anyone in need to contact us so we can help.

We’re also increasing support for our most vulnerable customers and will be protecting everyone in our Power On hardship program from the impact of these price changes.

What can I do to reduce my energy costs?

We have a wide range of energy plans available for your needs, including our Everyday Rewards plan that lets you earn points for every dollar you spend on energy. You can also check to see if you’re eligible for any concessions or rebates on our website.

Our energy savings rewards program Spike is another way we’re helping customers  save energy and earn rewards. Over 71,000 Spike members have already earnt over $3.1M reward points, that can be redeemed for PayPal cash or gift cards.

We also have a range of tips and advice on how customers can use energy efficiently and save money on their energy usage.

And while we’d hate to see you go, Victorian Energy Compare and Energy Made Easy (for customers outside of Victoria) are independent sites that allow you to compare plans across different retailers.

The post Why are energy prices going up? appeared first on The Origin Blog.

How to switch energy providers

Switching energy providers has never been easier, in fact, you can make the switch online in less than 5 minutes and we’ll take care of everything else. Simply compare our electricity and gas plans, choose the plan most beneficial for your household, sign up and we’ll get it sorted.

Switching energy providers won’t interrupt your power supply and you won’t need to contact your old energy supplier to make the switch.

If you’re switching energy suppliers in the process of moving houses you will need to contact your old supplier. Read our moving house guide for more information or book your move online.

What next?

After you’ve followed our simple sign up process, we’ll let you know when your energy supply has been switched over to us.

If you’ve switched to Origin at your current address, that’s it! There’s nothing left for you to do. We’ll get in contact with your previous energy provider and let them know so they can send you your final bill. Your energy supply won’t be interrupted throughout the process.

As mentioned, if you’ve switched over while moving house, you will need to contact your old energy provider and let them know you’ve moved out of your previous property. They will disconnect your old property and send you a final bill.

Once you have an account set up with us, you can head over to the My Account page and register. Through My Account you can see your plan, check usage charges, pay your bills and so much more.

Once you’re an Origin customer you can also manage your energy 24/7 with the ease and convenience of our award-winning mobile app. Monitor your energy usage, pay bills with just one tap and a range of other features we’re continuously adding to and improving on.

Why choose Origin?

Easy-to-understand plans and pricing

With no hidden fees or lock in contracts you can move with confidence. What’s more, you can sign up to Origin in less the 5 minutes online and we’ll take care of the rest. If you have questions about our plans, you can also reach out to a friendly member of our team who will be happy to help.

Bundle and save

Save money on broadband when you have electricity or natural gas with us. Whether you’re an electricity and gas customer or want to be, it gets better for you. Simplify your providers and save money just by bundling your internet and energy with us.

Our customers want flexibility and simplicity and our range of broadband plans are designed with that in mind. Easy-to-understand plans and pricing extends to our broadband plans too with the added choice of unlimited data on our 12 month, 24 month and month-to-month plans. Take a look for yourself and compare our internet plans today.

We’re working to make energy cleaner

We’ve been a leader in renewable energy for over 15 years. In fact we’ve put over a million solar panels on rooftops across Australia, more than any other electricity and gas retailer in Australia.

We want to get energy right for our customers, our community and our planet which is why we’re giving it all we can to make energy more affordable, cleaner, smarter and easier. We like to call it good energy, and we’d love you to be a part of it.

The post Switching your energy to Origin is easy appeared first on The Origin Blog.

Here at Origin, we’re proud to support netball at all levels – and everyone involved. From the youngest players and local club volunteers, right through to the world-class Australian Diamonds.

Over the past year, COVID-19’s had an impact on netball at all levels, from delays to the 2021 professional season, through to the cancellation of local junior competitions. This has also made fundraising more challenging than usual for local clubs in need of money and support.

So, to help make it easier for clubs to raise funds during this difficult time, Origin’s launched a special energy offer exclusive to local netball clubs.

Introducing Origin Go!

Existing or new Origin customers, with an active netball member ID, can earn up to $140 for their club if they sign up to Origin Go for both electricity and gas ($70 for electricity and $70 for gas).

It’s good energy for you and your club!

“The value of sport for local communities cannot be underestimated, and this past year has taken a toll on grassroots clubs around the country,” said Duncan Permezel, General Manager, Retail Sales and Marketing at Origin.

“We hope this offer helps provide meaningful support for local clubs by giving them some much-needed cash they can put back into the club and players”.

Netball Australia Chief Commercial Officer and Acting EGM Events, David Lee, welcomed the offer.

“Local clubs have had a particularly tough year, so it’s great to see this offer from Origin as a way members can support their clubs and netball community in a really tangible way. Whether that’s new balls, uniforms or game day activities, the injection of cash can go a long way for a club at a time when it will genuinely help,” David said.

Want to get involved?

Full T&Cs and details on the Origin Go offer.

Basic Plan Information Documents are available at originenergy.com.au/pricing. For VIC and WA customers, fact sheets are available at originenergy.com.au/pricing.

For clear advice on the right plan for you, contact us on 13 24 61.

The post Netball clubs can score up to $140 when members sign up to Origin Go appeared first on The Origin Blog.