Simply Energy Review: Is Simply Energy a Good Energy Provider?

Choosing an energy provider can be a headache; between rates and plans, cost, and customer service. If you’re thinking about switching to Simply Energy, it’s important to think about all these factors before making the switch. For all the information about Simply Energy you need to consider, read our Simply Energy review below.

---

Simply Energy review of plans and offers

Simply Energy is a large energy provider in Australia, offering electricity and gas plans to customers in a number of states. Not every plan is available in every state, and certain plans require you to meet eligibility requirements such as membership to rewards programs, but with Simply Energy there is a plan available to everyone.

There are five Simply Energy plans available to Australians; Simply NRMA, Simply Energy Saver, Simply Blue, Simply Movies, and Simply RAA; here you can find a detailed list of what each plan offers and in what state.

See how much you might pay with Simply Energy’s electricity and gas rates

Simply Energy review: Rates, renewables, & customer service

Choosing an energy provider should be more than just how much you can expect to pay. Factors such as how they rate on renewable energy generation and development, customer service and regulation, and how easy it is to manage your energy account should all also play a part in switching energy providers. How does Simply Energy review when compared to other energy providers?

Simply Energy rates and prices

Simply Energy has many plans available to Australians, but some require membership to certain programs for eligibility in order to access the biggest discounts off the reference price. If you don’t have a membership to one of these programs or don’t want to sign up, you can still sign up for Simply Energy Saver which will still give you a discount off the electricity reference price, just less.

Here, you can find a comparison of each state’s Simply Energy Saver discount off the reference price, compared to the cheapest electricity plan available in that state.

Simply Energy in Western Australia If you live in Western Australia, Simply Energy Saver gas plan is among the cheapest gas plans on the market with 45% off usage rates. If you use 7000 units per year in Perth, you can be expected to pay $682 / year. For reference, AGL Set & Forget would have you pay $691/year

As shown, Simply Energy isn’t necessarily the cheapest electricity provider on the market, and if cost is the most important factor when choosing an energy company, you might want to continue comparing plans

Simply Energy & renewables

Choosing an energy provider with a strong stance on green and renewable energy once meant sacrificing low cost electricity in exchange. Now, with more and more cheap, green, energy providers, this no longer is the case. If you’re looking for an energy provider that invests in renewable energy, here is how Simply Energy rates on some important green energy factors.

 Solar energy: Simply Energy offers a competitive solar feed-in-tariff to most of the states they retail electricity in. In addition, while they aren’t a certified solar installer, Simply Energy does work with partner solar panel installers to help customers invest in solar energy.

 Green Electricity Guide: GreenPeace’s 2018 Green Electricity Guide rates Simply Energy with 2 out of 5 stars, citing workplace safety issues, coal power station investments, and lack of carbon offset program (such as GreenPower) as reasons for their low score.

 Renewable generation: Simply Energy is owned by parent company ENGIE, which still generates most of its energy using nonrenewable resources.

Simply Energy customer service

The Annual Market Report by the Australian Energy Regulator details how energy providers within the National Electricity Market have improved or worsened their market share and customer service over the past year. These include looking at metrics such as call time responsiveness and customer complaints. Here is how Simply Energy's customer service changed between 2018-19 and 2019-20.

Simply Energy compares reasonably well to other energy providers in terms of customer call responsiveness. By comparison, in 2019-20:

• AGL answered 80% off calls within 30 seconds and had an average wait time of 34 seconds
• EnergyAustralia answered 66% of calls within 30 seconds, and had an average wait time of 101 seconds
• Origin Energy answered 53% of calls within 30 seconds, and had an average wait time of 145 seconds

The number of customer complaints to Simply Energy, as a proportion to the number of customers, is higher than other large energy providers. Here is how Simply Energy compared to other energy providers in 2019-20:

• While AGL had 41,703 complaints in 2019-20, this is only 3% of their total customers
• EnergyAustralia had 17,806 complaints in 2019-20, which is 2% of their total customers
• Origin Energy received 26,598 complaints in 2019-20, which is 1% of their total number of customers

Simply Energy account management

Simply Energy MyAccount is the energy provider’s online account management service for customers. With Simply Energy MyAccount, customers can:

• Check their electricity and gas usage
• Sign up for direct debit bill payments
• Sign up for ebilling
• See their account balance
• Track solar exports

Simply Energy billing & payments, and financial hardship

Choosing an energy provider with flexible billing and payment options can help make your life easier, by giving you different ways to receive and pay your energy bills. Simply Energy electricity and gas bills can be paid a number of ways, including:

• Online (using PayPal, Post Billpay, or via the Simply Energy website)
• Direct debit
• BPAY
• By phone
• Mail
• In person at any Australian Post Office

Simply Energy also offers help for those struggling to pay their electricity and gas bills, whether short term or long term, by offering:

 One-off bill extension: Customers can extend the due date of their latest Simply Energy electricity or gas bill if they need a little more time to pay by calling 1800 065 475 or speaking to a Simply Energy customer service representative via live chat.

 Fixed payment plans: Simply Energy offers both short-term (between billing cycles) and long-term (spread out over the year) payment plans. You can apply for a payment plan through your SimplyEnergy MyAccount by clicking “Payment Plans” under the “Billing” tab.

 Financial Hardship Program: For customers experiencing long-term financial hardship, Simply Energy can tailor a Hardship Program which includes; a personalized payment plan, advanced bill payments, energy saving tips, information about energy rebates, and referrals to financial counselling services. If you need help with your Simply Energy bills, contact Simply Energy as soon as possible.

Simply Energy reviews and ratings from customers

Many of the larger, well-known energy providers have low customer ratings across the web. This is often because customers are more likely to leave a negative review, rather than a positive one, and these reviews only account for a small percentage of total customers.

Customers on Product Review give Simply Energy 1.4 out of 5 stars, based on 1,206 total reviews. This includes 1,051 one-star reviews. Customers on Product Review cite:

• Difficulty getting in touch with Simply Energy customer service, particularly due to wrong bills or account misinformation
• Bills not being received by customers, who are later hit with a disconnection warning or excessive bills due to the mixup

Out of 39 reviews on TrustPilot, customers give Simply Energy 97% “bad” reviews. Simply Energy customers on TrustPilot say:

• Their new electricity connections weren’t arranged on time when moving into a new home or setting up a new connection
• They were transferred to Simply Energy despite never approving the switch from their previous energy provider