Network Tariff Review on your sites – Look out for potential energy costs savings

Many Shell Energy customers can realise significant cost savings simply by shifting to the right tariff to meet their current business needs and energy usage.

Total cost savings of $7.68 million^ were identified for large business electricity customers and small multi-site business (excluding. Victoria) customers in 2021 through the Shell Energy Network Tariff Optimisation (NTO) program. With the NTO program review process recently completed, information about potential cost savings has been sent to customers via email. If you haven’t already done so, check your inbox to make sure you don’t miss out.

As tariffs and your energy usage patterns change, you may find that your tariff is no longer the right one for your business. The NTO review program is a complimentary, six-monthly review undertaken by Shell Energy to help eligible customers identify the right tariff for your business.

What are Network Tariffs?

Network tariffs are regulated charges set by the network distributor and approved by the industry regulators to cover the cost of building, maintaining and operating the poles and wires to deliver electricity to customers.

These tariffs (also known as network charges) are passed through to large customers, meaning the distributor’s charges are billed to you via your retailer. For our small multi-site business customers, depending on the chosen pricing structure, network charges may either be passed through separately or form part of the retail tariffs and charges.

The tariff applied by the distributor is based on usage levels and patterns but doesn’t always take into account more complex factors affecting site energy usage, and may render it less than ideal from the outset.

Network tariffs—like business operations and energy use—also change over time, meaning the right tariff for your business three years ago may be far from the most cost effective now, and not all distributors are proactive in reassigning tariffs to optimise and align to the customers’ circumstances.

Cracking the network tariff code

Shell Energy recognises the enormous task of attempting to decipher and maintain the optimum tariffs for your business over time, which is why we also see the considerable value-add for investing in this complimentary service for our customers.

Our team of NTO experts analyses business-specific energy data within the complex rules of tariff eligibility, matching your historical use to recommend the most cost-effective tariff available to you. Given that network tariffs comprise on average around 36% of the total energy bill for a large customer, potential savings can be substantial.

I’ve already changed my tariff, does this still apply to me?

You can change your network tariff once each 12 months. Even if you’ve had your tariff reassigned, routine changes to the tariffs themselves mean there is never any harm in reassessing. Network tariffs are regulated by the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) and typically revised by individual network operators every year, but even in instances where the tariff itself hasn’t changed, it’s possible that your business’s energy use has.

How do I get started? 

Our team of experts will do the hard work for you to identify the optimal tariff for your site. Your account manager will email a detailed report of the NTO review (including identified potential cost savings) and recommendations. Should a tariff change be recommended, you simply need to agree to the change and your account manager will do the rest.*

*Important information

Network tariff eligibility requirements apply and changes are at the discretion of the Distributor. Shell Energy does not guarantee that the Distributor will accept a request to change the network tariffs. Our recommendations are based on your business energy consumption for the 12 months from last year to the previous year.

If your business has been impacted by COVID-19, it is important that the recommendations are checked thoroughly as network distributors will only accept one tariff change request per year. If the tariff selection does not reflect your expected usage, you may incur additional charges.

Our review is based on historical usage data and current tariffs. Your historical usage may not be reflective of your future usage and tariff pricing may change. If a network tariff change is approved by the Distributor, you may be locked into the new tariff for a period of time. Please consider future usage before proceeding with the request to change tariffs.

^ Estimated savings identified by Shell Energy’s Network Tariff Review Optimisation program for C&I and SME multi-site (excl. Victoria) customers in the 2021 tariff reviews. Actual savings will vary depending on customer usage and network charges.

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