Are you moving into a new house and not sure how to connect the electricity and gas? Don’t worry – we keep everything simples.
Read on to find out about disconnecting and connecting energy utilities when moving houses, how long the process typically takes and what you need to know about electricity and gas when moving interstate.
There are essentially just two steps to connecting and disconnecting the electricity and gas when moving house. You need to organise the disconnection at your old home, and sort out the power at your new place.
Let’s detail what you need to do to connect electricity and gas. Don’t worry, we keep it simples.
It’s also worth noting that you don’t necessarily have to sign up to the same energy provider as your current provider when you relocate. In fact, moving houses can represent a fresh start, and you may even find that switching to a new energy plan is more suitable for your new house and energy usage. You may also find that your current provider doesn’t offer plans for your new address.
You may find that when moving interstate, electricity works a little differently; this is because the energy sector is uniquely regulated between the states and territories.
For example, New South Wales (NSW), Australian Capital Territory (ACT), Victoria (VIC), South Australia (SA) and South East Queensland (QLD) enjoy full retail competition, as the energy sector in these states is deregulated. Deregulation means the government imposes no restrictions on the energy industry, and that you’re free to choose your energy provider.
Full retail competition effectively puts the power of choice in your hands and gives you free rein to switch and compare energy providers.
However, energy regulations differ in regional QLD, and Western Australia (WA). Here, the state and territory governments regulate the energy sector by determining the prices; this means customers can’t choose their energy provider.
In the Northern Territory (NT) and Tasmania (TAS), there is full retail competition, but choices are limited in comparison to other deregulated states.
Whether you move between de-regulated markets, or from a regulated market to a de-regulated market (or vice-versa), you’ll likely find that prices are noticeably different (for better or worse) from where you were previously located.
To find out more about energy regulations across Australia, check out our understanding deregulation page.
You may need to pay an early termination fee for your previous address and/or a connection fee for your new home, depending on your contract. Your provider will include these fees in your next bill. These fees differ between providers and energy plans, so it’s important you check your options and compare energy providers to make the most of your budget.
Electricity bills generally arrive quarterly. So, the first electricity bill you’ll receive after moving will be for the energy you used at your previous address. This bill could take a couple weeks to arrive after you move and will cover the time from the start of the last quarter to the day you disconnected. It’s a similar case for gas bills – except in Victoria where gas bills arrive every two months.
The billing period between different addresses is not necessarily the same. The first bill for your new home could arrive anywhere between 10 to 100 days after you moved in.
So let’s say your billing cycle for your previous home was 1 January to 31 March and you moved into your new home on 10 March. The first bill you’ll receive after moving home is your final bill for your previous home, which covers the period 1 January to 10 March. You’ll receive it sometime in March. Your new home will have a different billing cycle, so let’s say the billing cycle is 1 February to 30 April. In this case, the first bill at your new home will cover the period 10 March to 30 April and you’ll receive the bill sometime in May.
Connecting electricity and gas to a rental property you’re moving into essentially works the same as moving into a new home you’ve bought. The only difference is that some rental properties may include the cost of electricity and gas in your rent payments. This means you only need to organise a disconnection at your old place, as your landlord will sort out the energy connection at the rental property.
Some energy providers may connect your electricity by the next business day, while others may need two or more business days to connect. Gas connections typically take a few days to get sorted out. Both electricity and gas only get connected on business days (so not on a weekend or public holiday). You should contact your provider if you need electricity connected urgently, but you may have to pay a fee to expedite this service.
Alternatively, if you’re moving you can give our team of energy specialists a call or compare energy plans online. We’ll help you see if you could get a better deal from the energy plans available on our comparison service.
Solar panels can help you save money by generating electricity directly from the sun, reducing the amount of power you need from the local grid (where power is wired to your home from power stations). This option also means you can take advantage of feed-in tariffs, where you get paid by your state or territory’s government for the electricity you generate from your solar panels and feed to the grid.
When you tell your energy provider that you’re moving houses, let them know your new home has solar panels; your provider may be able to put you on a new contract with a feed-in tariff.
If you’ve just finished building a home and are moving in, you’ll need to organise connecting the house to the grid (if you haven’t already).
To do this, you’ll need to contact the energy distributor in your area. Energy distributors manage the poles, pipes, network and grid that transports electricity from a power plant to your home.
You can also contact your energy provider and ask them to organise a new connection with your distributor for you.
Don’t know who your distributor is? Your current energy provider can let you know and give you some contact information. You may then need to pay to help cover the cost of extending the grid and connecting your new home, which can take several business days.
Should your new address have gas appliances, like stoves, ovens and water heaters, you’ll also need to get those connected when moving. Here’s what to think about when moving to a house with gas appliances:
There are many reasons why you might consider changing to a new provider when you move houses. For instance:
As the General Manager of Utilities at Compare the Market, Brett Mifsud is our resident expert in energy. He understands that connecting and disconnecting gas and electricity when moving to a new house can feel daunting but he is committed to making the process as easy as possible by educating Australians.
With more than 10 years of experience in the energy sector across energy exploration, production and sales, Brett hopes to change the energy landscape in Australia through comparison services. He holds a Master of Business Process Management from QUT and has led operational and project teams in the energy industry to deliver transformative change across sales, customer service, marketing and energy meter reading and billing. Brett also guest lectures at The University of Queensland.
Whatever your reason for switching, connecting and disconnecting your electricity and gas is a straightforward process. What’s more, you could save big on your power bill by weighing up your options early and changing to a new energy provider when you move into your new house.
Ready to find a competitive plan that could help your budget? Compare energy providers by supply charges, usage charges, discounts and more today.
