Every question we usually get — answered straight.

When we move your account to a new retailer, that retailer pays us a commission — partly upfront, partly as a trail over the life of the contract. We don't charge you a fee, mark up your rate, or add anything to your invoice. Ask us the exact dollar amount on any specific deal — we'll tell you.

No. Switching retailers doesn't touch the wires or your meter. Same poles, same wires, same network operator (Energex for nearly all SEQ). You just get a different name on your invoice — and a better number.

Typical SEQ small-business switch: 10–20 business days from signing the Letter of Authority. We send the LoA, you sign, we lodge with the new retailer, they handle the meter-data hand-off with the network. Your old contract ends, the new one starts.

60–90 days before your current term ends. Don't let it roll over to default rates — those are usually 15–30% higher than what's available on the market. Send us your bill 60 days out and we'll re-quote.

Yes. We can quote now and lodge the switch to take effect at your contract end date. Just send your bill 60–90 days before expiry and we'll have your new contract ready to go.

Not strictly, but it helps. If you've got an interval meter (most commercial sites do), we can pull 12 months of data and quote properly. If you're on an older accumulation meter, we quote off bill totals — still works, just a slightly less precise quote.

Demand charges are the highest 15- or 30-minute usage peak in the month, multiplied by a $/kVA rate. If you've got AC cycling on at the same time as kitchen equipment, that peak compounds. The fix is usually a tariff that prices demand more fairly — or moving you off demand-tariffs altogether if your usage is too small to need them.

Probably not. Retailers don't migrate you automatically when better tariffs become available. We look at your usage profile, your peak demand, and your trading hours, then map you to the tariff your bill actually wants.

Depends on your usage pattern. Cafes open 6am–2pm usually win on flat-rate. Gyms with split 5–9am and 4–8pm windows usually win on TOU. We test both with your real meter data, not a generic assumption.

Three-phase connections at small workshops often get priced like industrial sites by default — when they shouldn't be. We look at your actual demand and connection size and right-size you onto a tariff that matches.

Energy Made Easy compares published residential and small-business plans. For commercial customers — especially anything above a basic small business — published plans don't include the negotiated SME or C&I offers retailers actually quote on. We get those offers.

Typical first-switch saving for an SEQ SME on an out-of-term contract is 8–22%. C&I customers usually see 5–15% off a tender vs an incumbent renewal. We won't promise a number before we see your bill — we'll show you the actual one.

SME panel: Origin Business, AGL Business, Momentum, EnergyAustralia, Powershop, Alinta Business, Shell Energy SME. C&I panel: SmartestEnergy Australia, Shell Energy C&I, AGL C&I, Origin Enterprise. The panel grows as we add accredited partners.

Yes. Most retailers offer GreenPower-backed or LGC-surrendered options. Premium vs standard is usually 5–15% extra. We quote both so you can decide.

Call me. That's the whole point. I'm Joe — I sit between you and the retailer for the life of the contract, not just the switch.

No. Energex sets the distribution (network) charges across SEQ — they're regulated and passed through by every retailer at the same rate. What changes when you switch is the energy and retail margin component, which is where the savings live.

Leave a message any time — Joe rings back first thing the next business day. Genuinely urgent (power supply issue, retailer problem)? Try the mobile direct; if Joe's reachable, he'll pick up.

Roughly: above 100 MWh/year electricity, you're commercial-and-industrial (C&I) and quotes come via tender from a different retailer panel. Below 100 MWh, you're SME and quoted off published rates. We figure out which side of the line you're on and quote to the right panel.

We collect your interval meter data (usually 12 months), package it as a Request-For-Bid, and put it to our C&I panel — SmartestEnergy, Shell Energy C&I, AGL C&I, Origin Enterprise. They bid against each other. You get apples-to-apples comparison on a single sheet.

Yes. We aggregate meter data across all your sites, then tender as a single block. That gets you a better rate than splitting them across multiple SME contracts.

Capacity demand is the maximum kVA your site can draw — set at fitout. Many sites have it set 50–100% higher than they actually use, which inflates every demand-charge invoice. We review and apply for a reduction where it pays.

Yes — Origin, AGL, EnergyAustralia, and Shell Energy can all bundle. Sometimes the bundled discount is real; sometimes splitting them across two retailers wins on price. We test both before recommending.

Yes — natural gas for SEQ commercial sites. AGL, Origin, EnergyAustralia, Shell Energy all quote. Gas tariffs are usually simpler than electricity but renewals are still where the saving lives.

The Letter of Authority gives us permission to act on your behalf with retailers and the network — to request your meter data, get quotes, and execute the switch. It's not a contract, it doesn't bind you to anything, and you can revoke it any time.

Your business name, ABN, meter data, and bill copies stay with Smarta Switch and the retailers we quote with. We don't sell it. We don't share it. Full Privacy Policy on the privacy page — Australian Privacy Principles apply.

Yes. Smarta Switch follows the National Customer Code for Energy Brokers — the voluntary code published by the Energy Charter. It binds us to commission disclosure, transparent quoting, and no-pressure recommendations.