Dairy farmers face soaring electricity costs next year with bi-monthly power bills rising by up to 50pc or higher, after a series of price hikes by energy suppliers this year.
One of the best ways to save on your farm electricity bills – and mitigate these price hikes – is to switch supplier and sign up for a new tariff with the lowest unit rate per kWh (day and night) for your farm meter usage.
Farmers only need to sign up once with WeSwitchU.ie as it carries out a review and assessment on all their electricity meters (including house and other farm meters) and processes the switch to the best tariff every year.
The review and assessment checks customers current bills, including unit rates, usage and contract dates, and then shows customers their switch options – including calculations on their savings. After this, the final step is finalising their details and processing their switch to the new supplier.
How much can dairy farmers save?
| No. of cows | Standard rates annual costs (€) | Discounted rates annual costs (€) | Savings (€) | Usage (kWh) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | 7,421 | 3,442 | 3,979 | 24,032 |
| 150 | 13,213 | 6,785 | 6,428 | 43,202 |
| 200 | 19,312 | 9,592 | 9,720 | 62,372 |
From above, dairy farmers with 200 cows are missing out on savings of up to €9,720/year, dairy farmers with 150 cows are missing out on savings of up to €6.428/year and farmers with 100 cows are missing out on savings of up to €3,979/year by failing to switch to the cheapest electricity tariff.
Pitfalls and traps to avoid in the current electricity market
Farmers should avoid retention deals offered by their current supplier, as the unit rates will be higher than what a new customer can get with a new supplier. They should also avoid sales intermediaries acting on behalf of one supplier, as the % discounts offered are lower due to sales commissions.
Something else to look out for is tariffs that apply surcharges above 3,000kWh for day usage and 2,000kWh for night usage (bi-monthly surcharge).
Some farm businesses also get caught out by commercial contracts with attractive headline unit rates, without realising the full impact of other charges applying to their bill. Varying contract lengths, types and exit clauses all need to be carefully considered before signing up to a new supply.
Avoid group deals offered by IFA member benefits as the discounted unit rates offered to members are lower due to sales commissions.
If you are currently in any of the above situations:
How does the electricity market work?
There are 14 energy suppliers in the Irish market and they all compete for new business,
In order to attract new customers they offer big discounts, of up to 40% or more, to entice them to switch.
However, these discounts typically only last 12 months, at which stage your account is bumped onto the supplier’s much higher standard rates unless it is switched again.
So, even though prices are going up, farmers can still save up to 40% or more on the cost of your electricity by moving supplier.
WeSwitchU
Post switch, you do not have to search year-in, year-out for better deals, as WeSwitchU will continue to monitor the market and pursue savings on an annual basis and automatically do the switching for you.
Before your current contract expires, WeSwitchU provide a breakdown of the best deals for your actual usage and automatically switch you to the best tariff every year.
The company also benchmarks your farm’s electricity costs against other farms and look for ways to reduce overall usage.
WeSwitchU is an independent and impartial auto switching service, with the sole objective to save their customers time, money and hassle on their electricity bills. The fee for our service is a small % of the savings we can make on behalf of our customers.
Alternatively, call WeSwitchU on: 087 649 0803 any time up to 10:00p.m to see what they can do to save you money on your electricity bills.
