Account Holders
Will I get my own bill?
Yes. Each apartment or lot and the common services will have an electricity meter and an electricity account with Source. The account holder will be billed for the electricity consumed through that meter in accordance with our standard retail contact.
How often will I be billed?
Sources standard billing cycle is once a month. This is to help you avoid any surprises (“bill shock”) over summer or winter months, when electricity usage peaks with heating or air conditioning usage.
How do I know if I have my own Solar PV system?
When you receive a bill from Source check the tariff used. If it is A2 then you will have your own Solar PV system connected to your account.
If you haven’t received a bill then feel free to contact us with your address and we can let you know the status of your account according to our data base.
If you don’t have an account with Source yet, then you could also try contacting the landlord or property manager if you are renting or the agent who sold you the property. When you ask, make sure to ask does my apartment or lot have its own solar system or does the building have a shared system.
How do I pay my Source bill?
Source have made paying your bills as convenient as possible. You can pay your bills online by logging in to your online customer management system via HotSource™. Here you can view your most current invoice and quickly pay your bill via credit card, BPAY or register for direct debit.
Direct debits we will automatically debit the amount that is due that month on the invoice due date from your nominated bank account or credit card.
Having trouble paying your bill?
At Source we understand that circumstances change and paying bills can sometimes be difficult – we are here to help. If you find yourself in this situation please contact us as soon as possible and we can work together to make it easier to manage your bills and avoid getting into debt.
To help reduce your bills please head to this page for some great advice.
Why is my bill so high?
There are many reasons why your bill may appear higher or different to what you might have expected.
At Source we work incredibly hard to ensure our tariffs are lower (5 per cent to be exact) than the big utilities.
While we enjoy doing a better job than the others in the industry, in supplying you with electricity, we don’t like seeing this precious resource go to waste. So if your bills are big we are here to help and we’ve got a secret weapon – Good Advice and HotSource.
Are there fees associated with paying my bill?
There is a surcharge for payments made by Mastercard, Visa and American Express as listed under our “Fine Print” section under the relevant Standing Offer Tariffs.
To avoid additional fees please utilise any of the other available payment methods.
How do I change my payment details?
Changing your payment details is simple with our online customer account system. Simply head online to HotSource™ and log in to your customer dashboard. On the right hand side click on “payment details” you may make any changes to your payment details here.
What about the strata and common services?
The strata will have an account with Source and will be billed for all of the electricity used in the common areas and services.
Because we manage the solar, the meters and the billing system the strata doesn’t have any headaches regarding maintenance or buying and selling electricity. Lower prices and no headaches – what’s not to like!
If you’re concerned with your common area energy usage, Source will meet with the property manager or the Council of Owners to help identify ways to reduce electricity costs. Simple changes to things like when pool pumps are turned on can save reduce common area costs substantially.
What are supply charges?
The supply charge is a fixed amount charged each day to your account regardless of how much energy you use. It is used to cover some of the fixed costs of the infrastructure required to supply electricity to you including the power stations, power lines and meters. Even if you only use electricity one day a year all of that infrastructure has to be ready on demand.
Electricity used in the South West Interconnected System (“SWIS”), the electricity grid running from Geraldton to Albany and Perth to Kalgoorlie, is not part of the National Electricity Market. Our market is designed to ensure we have enough capacity to meet demand to minimise the risk of any black outs.
In Western Australia we have one of the most challenging electricity networks to manage in Australia for three main reasons:
- Our network covers an area around the size of the UK but with less than 5 per cent of the population. That means a large network of poles and wires with not many people to pay for them.
- We have a great climate for most of the year except in the middle of summer when we have a run of hot days. Suddenly everyone has the air conditioners going flat out both at work and at home resulting in a huge demand for electricity. To ensure we have enough power generation and enough capacity on the power lines to service this peak load means a lot of it is sitting idle for most of the year. Again a rather costly exercise and largely driven by everyone’s use of energy.
- We demand a very high standard of supply with minimal outages and good voltage and frequency control. This means top notch power generation and distribution infrastructure built and maintained by top notch labour on first world salaries. Another rather costly exercise.
One way to understand the fixed supply charge is to think of owning a car. Regardless of if you drive it or not you are still having to pay for registration, insurance and depreciation. You could then say “well I will just hire a car or use uber” but then your variable cost would be far higher and considering most of us do use some electricity every day the current model of supply charges is by far the best outcome.
It is also helpful to put it in context with other household expenses. Our average account is running at about $4 per day (one cup of coffee) including supply charges. Considering most of our accounts would be supplying two or more people in an apartment that is a pretty small cost.
The average household spends more per week on eating out than electricity, more on alcohol than electricity and more on telecommunications than electricity (Source: ABS – we didn’t make it up).
Considering that you rely on electricity to see at night, keep food fresh in the fridge, have a warm shower, keep you cool in summer and warm in winter and enable you to run all of your appliances, computers, tablets, phones and Wifi it’s a pretty good deal.
How do I apply for rebates and concessions?
If you hold an appropriate concession card you may be eligible for the Energy Concession Extension Scheme, administered by the State Goverenment.
Details of eligibility and how to apply are located here:
Apply for the Energy Concession Extension Scheme »
A link to the information you will need to make an application can be found here:
If you wish to make an application please contact us and we will provide you with the details relevant to your electricity account.
Will Source Energy Co. always have cheaper energy?
It is Source Energy Co.’s aim to always be under the gazzetted rate for residential customers. According to relevant regulations we can not charge any more than the gazzetted rate.
Can I move to another retailer?
Yes, but you will need to work with that retailer and Western Power to install a new meter and establish an account with associated fees. While Source Energy Co. is offering a cheaper energy it would be a hard move to justify.
There is an Electric Vehicle charging station at my building, who manages it?
If it is a shared or common charging station it is owned and managed by the strata. Please check with the strata for how to access it and how the electricity used is accounted for.
If it is dedicated to a specific unit owner it is more than likely owned, managed and paid for by that unit owner. However if your are unsure please check with your strata.
I would like my own electric vehicle charging station, how do I arrange this?
Please contact us and we will work with strata to have it installed for you or a shared charging point for your building.