Electricity retailer Mojo Power launched today in NSW, promising reduced bills and a radically different way of paying for energy. Simply put, Mojo’s subscription-based service gives you access to wholesale electricity pricing — but can it really save you money, and how does it actually work?
How Does It Work?
The main difference between Mojo and regular retailers is the subscription service, which it calls an ‘EnergyPass’. You pay a flat rate of between $30 and $50 per month for your subscription, which gives you access to the wholesale rates for electricity that will make up the rest of your monthly power bill. You can also opt for an annual subscription, saving a little on the monthly prices.
There are three levels of EnergyPass — the first at $30 gives you access to only the discounted electricity rates. The second $40 tier involves installation of a smart meter to enable you to make use of Mojo’s real-time energy monitoring software, MyMojo. Having a smart meter installed will also let you opt to use time-of-use rates, which means you can get a discounted rate on electricity if you use it in off-peak or shoulder times.
The third tier at $50 gives you access to all of the above plus the phone support network — that’s right, you can’t call the support team unless you’re a premium member, though all members can make use of live chat online or email support. While many people tend to prefer to do most things online these days rather than talking to an actual person, I can imagine it may be inconvenient if you come up against a difficult problem.
Mojo’s wholesale pricing offers a decent discount on kWh rates. While most electricity retailers will charge a bit more than 20c/kWh, Mojo’s single rate tariff offers around 17c/kWh, depending on your distributor. If you have a smart meter and are on a time-of-use rate tariff, you’ll pay around 35c/kWh for peak times, around 10c/kWh for off-peak and 13c/kWh for shoulder periods.
If you have solar panels installed you will most likely get the same feed-in-tariff you’re earning now — 60c/kWh or 20c/kWh for people on the Solar Bonus Scheme (which is ending this year) or 6c/kWh for everyone else.
There’s also a one-time joining fee of $99.
Rates differ for everyone by area, tariff type and individual situation, so to see a more exact estimate for your situation it’s worthwhile checking out Mojo’s online calculators and data sheets.
Who’s It Good For?
The basic premise of Mojo is simple — pay a flat rate for the service and get discounted energy on top of that. This means that the more you already pay on your bill, the more likely you are to save by switching to Mojo. If you already use relatively little energy, however, you may be better off with a company that only charges for the amount you use. This may not be the perfect service for solar users either, as they are likely to have a smaller bill already.
However people with high electricity needs — large families or households, or people with air conditioners or pool pumps to run — will most likely benefit from switching to Mojo’s subscription-based deal. With the $40 and $50 plans offering installation of a smart meter, these plans will also benefit those who were thinking of making the switch to a time-of-use rate tariff — perfect for people who are mindful of their electricity use, or who use home automation and smart appliances to make sure everything runs exactly when they want it to.
The MyMojo monitoring system also puts Mojo ahead of the curve — having a way to track your energy usage in real time is one of the best ways to know exactly how you use your electricity, and you can best save money on it.
How Can I Get It?
“One reason many don’t change their retailer is because they think it is too hard, with 55% of people surveyed saying switching electricity retailer is a complicated process. The reality is it couldn’t be easier; people can go online and sign up in under three minutes,” said Mojo Co-Founder James Myatt. Mojo prides itself on being easy to sign up for — use the online form to choose your account type, enter your details and Mojo will arrange the switch of your account from your existing retailer.
Mojo offers no lock-in contracts or exit fees, with a monthly rather than quarterly bill. There’s also a cooling-off period of ten business days during which you can claim a full refund of any payments made, in case you change your mind.
For more information, or to sign up (for those in NSW), check out Mojo Power’s website.
Comments
7 responses to “Can Mojo’s Subscription-Based Electricity Bills Save You Money?”
This actually looks worthy enough for an investigation/analysis. I mainly pay the electricity bill at home, we have a large family and large house. Winter time it goes beyond $1,000 for the quarter (people in my home aren’t very good at managing electricity, I made them cough up cash last time).
35 cents? Mojo’s website says 20/15/11 for peak/shoulder/off-peak. 30-35 cents is what the other retailers generally charge.
I agree with @nizmo_man, this is an interesting option. Unfortunately, they do not operate in Vic where I live. My recommendation for Vic residents would be used the services of a new startup that recently helped me secure a sweet deal for my business and I did not need to upgrade my meter. Check out their website. It’s not flash but it works http://www.billrepublic.com Good luck finding a better deal everyone 🙂
I like how instead of a connection fee they call it a subscription.
One thing I’ve noticed is that (in my area at least) energy companies aren’t offering off-peak any more, it’s a “use X amount at a reduced rate, rest is a higher rate” option only.
Did the maths for my house. As long as I keep paying my Origin Energy bill on time, any savings that I get from moving to Mojo I lose by having to pay the subscription rate every month. This is for roughly 2k kwh p month.
My rates on Origin must be a little better, but yes that monthly subscription eats into the saving. Plus you still pay a ‘daily usage charge’ (in my case it was 71¢ with Origin, down to 37¢ with Mojo). So you then add, say $30 per month == $1 per day to get a total daily fee of $1.37.
The off peak usage charge is also higher for me (Origin: 6.25¢, Mojo: 7.18¢).
For a quarter’s usage of 2400kWh (plus 500kWh off peak), assuming the $40 plan with the 25% annual discount, I’d save $55 per quarter. On the cheaper plan it’s $80 per quarter, but I figure that a ‘free’ smart meter would be worth it to get an idea whether time-of-day pricing would be better for me.
This all excludes the $99 joining fee – 6 months to make that back in savings.
So not a smash hit for me, but very interesting.
I live in Stanhope Gardens (NSW) my average quarterly bill is around $900 (after discounts from Origin), average usage is 4400kwh per quarter. Just switched to Mojo and given their rates and my current usage I’ll be saving around $100 per quarter. $400 a year – I’m in 🙂