It’s Chris here, co-founder and co-CEO of Amber.
We’ve continued to see some highly unusual energy market activity over the last few weeks, so I’m back again to provide some more context on what’s driving this, how we see things playing out, and how Amber customers are protected going forward.
What’s been happening over the past few weeks
As we reach the second half of May, some of the factors we saw in April have intensified and converged to result in continued elevation in wholesale pricing:
- Sanctions against Russia, a major exporter of coal, gas and oil
- Very low wind power across Australia
- Limited export capacity on the Interconnector that sends energy between Vic and NSW
- Even more major coal and gas stations temporarily have gone offline.
A reminder of how you are protected
We all understand that it can be concerning to see consistently high wholesale prices. However, our price protection guarantee means that if Amber customers pay more than the Default Market Offer (DMO) over the FY22 financial year we will refund you the difference.
Over the next few months we are planning to make early payouts on this price guarantee. On a monthly basis we will assess whether each customers has paid over the DMO for the financial year and, if this is the case, we will refund the difference to help smooth over your bills.
Any customers who have paid over the DMO up to early April should have already received an email regarding this.
What you can do
At a time like this, we understand that customers may be looking around at what other energy providers have to offer. It’s important to understand that what’s happening in the energy market is affecting all retailers and many retailers are likely to raise their prices in July, when the new financial year begins.
We’ve seen from experience that over the long run, you’ll be better off on wholesale prices because traditional retailers mark up their yearly usage fees to protect themselves against this price volatility.
Times like this are also when load shifting becomes most important. The more we can use power when there’s a lot of renewable energy in the grid, the less we’ll contribute to coal and gas firms’ record profits at this time. Using more renewable energy today also means more renewable projects getting built in the future, which is the only long-term path away from this fossil-fuel driven volatility.
If you have (or are interested in) solar and battery
This upward pressure on wholesale prices also represents a real opportunity for customers with solar (and battery) as these higher prices mean higher earnings for your exports.
If you have solar coupled with a battery, our SmartShift product provides customers a chance to earn by exporting from their battery when prices are high, to the grid when prices are spiking, while also helping balance the grid. Some of our SmartShift customers are earning $50-$90 a day during these price spikes
You can find out more about our SmartShift program by emailing us at solarandbatteries@amber.com.au or booking a call with one of our team members.
Further ahead
We know some of our customers will be anxious during this time. We just want to reiterate that you’re well protected through our price guarantee and we will be working with you to help you reduce your bills, maximise your earnings, and accelerate the transition to 100% renewables.
Please reach out to us if there’s anything we can do to help in the meantime.
