Short term electricity account for vacant IP?

Just use it.

The previous retailer will ask 'the resident' to pay for any usage.

The old tenants should have got a final meter read. New tenants will get a meter read when they move in and set up an account.

These meter reads will be done electronically if there is a smart meter

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It's the old mechanical meters.

If they bill the new tenants for it, at least I'll have a reading at both ends, and can calculate what I owe them.

My fear is that they'll come & take the supply fuse to disconnect the power, and then I won't be able to do the things I need to unless I get a generator, or beg for an extension lead from the neighbour who may or may not come to the party.

I have used AGL for work between tenants. You sign up and can cancel anytime you want - no penalties. Had a look just now and all three of their plans say there is 'no fixed term'

I even got a 'sign up' discount too - but it couldn't be used because of the short period I was signed up for.

However, I would just use your normal retailer. Much easier and I'm sure they would have something similar.

Honesty is the best policy here. If you don't connect properly they could disconnect you at an inconvenient time and slow down your work - especially if it requires the mains fuse to be removed / replaced for disconnection / connection.

(I didn’t think anyone in a major city would have an old-style meter these days!)

Originally Posted by commodorenut

I called an "energy retailer" (that I have never used) with an enquiy about it, but they insisted on knowing the address. All they could do was tell me that I would need to go on a 12 month contract.

If you want to keep it all legit and in your name then ask for the retailer's "standing offer" with no fixed contract period.

This will generally be at a higher price than what they'd normally offer but not drastically so (we're talking 10% or 20% not something massive) and shouldn't have any fixed term contract associated with it.

Try whichever retailer the property is currently being supplied through. If they're no help then try AGL or Momentum Energy as I'm pretty sure both will do "no contracts" supply if you just want power. Obviously they won't give you their best price with that arrangement but it will be good enough for what you want.

I inquired into this and the answer was, if there is no name to attach the account for the short period between tenants, then the company carries the cost.
Don't know if it still applies.

I've come back from holidays, and after a quick visit there early this morning, there appears to have been no activity at the 'box, so I'll just plug the supply fuse in & use it.
I have about 3 days worth of work to do, and then it's on the (rental) market again, so not my problem after that - new tenants can sort it out.
I have a "before" photo of the meter, and i'll take an after photo on Saturday when I believe I'll be finished, and ask them to show me their first bill to see what the start reading is.
If they were charged from the end reading of the last tenants, I'll pay them the difference that I used.

Like mentioned above, it won't be a lot - only a pressure washer for a few hours, a grinder for some small jobs, drill, and some lights inside whilst painting.
Oh, and the aircon on a couple of those stinking hot nights when I kept going witht the painting.

When we first bought the house around 2000, it was a long weekend, with settlement the Friday before. We used the power over the weekend, and because the previous occupants were tenants, they did a 'disconnect/reconnect' with their energy company, and first thing Tuesday morning a guy turned up to take the supply fuse. I explained about how we just got the place, and he said I had 3 days to get it up & running in my name. Did that, and it was all good. Lived there for a few years, then it became an IP.

About 10 years ago I moved to where I am now, and had this place vacant for 2 weeks while we got things done (floors sanded, paint etc). After a week, I found I had no power. They had come & removed the supply fuse, and there was a sticker on the box, and a letter under the front door, saying I had to call the energy company to get it connected. Being that it was 10 years back, and prior to the removal of the service monopoly in the area, I figured things may have changed since then, but I was still worried I'd be cut off within a week or so.

But I had a more recent experience with the IP - only a couple of years ago, between 2 tenants, they came & took the supply fuse out of the holder within days of them vacating, and put the empty holder back in, with the seal (crimped lead) fitted, to prevent anyone pulling it out & fitting a new supply fuse, without breaking the seal. I had to get the new tenants to connect the power in their name a few days before moving in, and the power co. came out & refitted a fuse into the holder. I was there at the time, and asked why it was so quick. The guy told me it's because the previous tenant disconnected & reconnected at a new premises, they come & do it to prevent the new tenants getting a free ride for several weeks or a month until they can be bothered to connect the power. Apparently plenty of tenants are like that - holding off getting the power connected until the energy company come knocking, and then pretend they've only been there a few days. It can quickly add up to a few hundred dollars the power co. misses out on.

What got me concerned this time, is the vacating tenant (a family friend for over 20 years) told me she rang them to get the account swapped over to the new place, and they told her they would come out & disconnect the power. She wasn't worried if I used some power while it was under her name, but they did the account (data) swap on the day she moved. A few days later there was a letter in the box saying you have to connect the power within 7 days, or it would be disconnected. That's been 3 weeks now, and I can't say if they've tried or not, as I removed the supply fuse (complete) and put it in the garage. When I've needed the power, I've simply plugged it back in.


As far as the old meters, most of the suburbs I've lived in, and suburbs I have relatives & friends in, are all on the old mechanical (spinning disc) Email meters. Those who opted for solar ended up getting their meters swapped out for digital/smart/TOD metering, but everyone else has been left alone. I know they still read our meter manually, as the clown doing it doesn't close the lid on the power box, and it bangs with the slightest breeze every 3 months...until I close it properly.

Originally Posted by commodorenut

the clown doing it doesn't close the lid on the power box, and it bangs with the slightest breeze every 3 months

You could consider that as a convenient reminder that you're about to receive a bill to be paid.

Very true. It seems the days of getting a bill and having a month to pay it are a thing of the past. I get email bills now, and they seem to only arrive only 8-10 days before the published due date.
I checked some old bills (I wrote the dates on them when they were B-payed), and they gave 3-4 weeks notice of when the payment was due.

Another gripe I have with bills, is for over 10 years I had them neatly spread across quarters. First month of the quarter was council rates, next month water, and last month power - all due near the end of the month. Because I have 2x rates & water, it made for a neat spread, and a fairly consistent amount each month (ie 2x water was a similar total to 2x rates, and used to be similar to power, but alas, it skyrocketed....)

Then in June 2016, the usual 91 day/3 month power bill was only 78 days. Doesn't seem like much difference (only 2 weeks) but then the due date (with the shorter notice too) meant it now fell into the previous month (June) with other large bills, losing that consistency I had. A couple of bills later, they did a "short read" quarter again. My neighbour's theory is that this particular energy company has done that so people who compare bills won't catch on to the shorter billing period, and will be fooled into thinking their "standard" 3 month bill is cheaper than a competitor.
My theory is that instead of the bill being due in mid July 2016, they did the short reads to get them due within June, to bolster the EOFY results.

Originally Posted by commodorenut

I get email bills now, and they seem to only arrive only 8-10 days before the published due date.
I checked some old bills (I wrote the dates on them when they were B-payed), and they gave 3-4 weeks notice of when the payment was due.

Some time back I complained to my suppliers they give too much notice. I only wanted to pay close to the due date and because of the early notice I end up forgetting the payment.

Originally Posted by phild01

Some time back I complained to my suppliers they give too much notice. I only wanted to pay close to the due date and because of the early notice I end up forgetting the payment.

I just schedule the payment through online banking to go through on the due date.

Originally Posted by joynz

I just schedule the payment through online banking to go through on the due date.

Yeah well doing that now.