Origin Energy

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Who is Origin Energy?

What makes Origin Energy special?

Where is Origin Energy available?

What plans does Origin Energy offer?

How much does Origin Energy cost?

What solar options does Origin Energy offer?

Frequently asked questions

Where can I compare energy plans?

Long story short

Origin Energy is Australia’s largest energy retailer

Origin Energy supplies more than 25% of Australia’s energy needs, making it the biggest of Australia’s ‘Big Three’ energy providers.

Origin Energy powers 30% of the east coast

With 4.2 million energy accounts, Origin Energy meets 30% of the east coast’s energy needs with a mix of gas, solar, and hydropower generation.

Use flexible payment plans and avoid bill shock

You can plan your bill payments your way with weekly, fortnightly, or monthly options and consistent bill amounts, so seasonal energy usage don’t catch you off guard.

Save on energy costs with Origin’s solar options

With an Origin Energy solar plan, you can save on electricity costs and get paid for any excess solar-generated energy your home produces.

Who is Origin Energy?

Origin Energy is one of Australia’s ‘Big Three’ energy providers. It is largely owned by another household name, AustralianSuper – one of their biggest shareholders.  

2000 was a landmark year for a lot of reasons: the Sydney Olympics lived up to the hype, GST appeared on our receipts and Bardot sang their way to the top with a young Sophie Monk. It was also when Origin Energy flew the nest of its parent company Boral to take on Australia’s competitive energy market. 

Given it only took a little over 10 years for them to be Australia’s largest energy company, it’s fair to say Origin Energy did just fine. In fact, today it boasts 4.2 million electric, gas and LPG customer accounts and being able to meet 30% of the east coast’s energy needs. 

As well as being a favoured energy retailer, it also has its own generation capabilities including multiple gas-fired stations, two solar parks and a hydropower station to help meet electricity demand. Origin Energy has also expanded its global network and supplies liquified natural gas (LNG) to countries in Asia through their partner Australia Pacific LNG. 

What makes Origin Energy special?

Slash bills and win with Origin Spike

Smart electricity use can be a great way to save money. But what if there was an additional incentive to get you switching off lights and changing your habits?  

With Origin Spike, you can take part in SpikeHour challenges where you try to use as little energy as possible. If you beat your forecasted energy usage, you can enter the monthly prize draw plus earn Watts, which you can redeem as PayPal cash or gift cards for places like Kmart, Myer and Bunnings.¹For more information, see Origin Energy – Origin Spike Even if you don’t win or beat your challenge by all that much, you’re helping reduce the demand on the electricity grid at peak times while learning electricity-saving habits you can put into place any time of the day.  

To try a SpikeHour challenge for yourself, you need an Origin Energy electricity plan and a smart meter. 

Be more in control with payment plans

If there’s one thing the average energy consumer dreads, it’s a hefty energy bill that can come with seasonal energy consumption. Think cranking up the heat during those long winter evenings or blasting the aircon all through a muggy summer. It can feel like playing a high-stakes game of roulette. 

Instead, what if you knew exactly how much you’re going to pay for your energy usage, and you also get to decide when you’ll pay it? Origin lets you do exactly that with their payment plans. 

Here’s how it works: 

• You set up a payment plan using your Origin account on the website or mobile app.
• You pay instalments at regular intervals based on your preference – weekly, fortnightly or monthly.
• Each instalment is an average estimation of your past usage and predicted usage over the next year.
• With the consistent bill amounts, you can worry less about seasonal fluctuations in your energy bills.  

In other words – bye bye, bill shock! 

Choose more ways to go green

Origin Energy has long supported green and sustainable energy, whether they’re producing it, selling it or promoting industry change. For instance, in 2015, they became the first Australian company and the first energy company to commit to the seven targets to reduce emissions across their business, as outlined by the We Mean Business global climate action coalition. Origin Energy followed this up in 2017 with a commitment to halve their emissions by 2032, along with later declaring they want to reach net zero by 2050.  

To achieve these lofty goals, Origin Energy sought out to bring more renewables into their generation mix, as well as give customers like you the opportunity to decarbonise and choose green energy. 

Today, Origin Energy is a leading provider of GreenPower, a government-accredited program that enables them to offset energy usage by feeding the grid with renewable energy. For an additional charge, you can opt to offset your energy usage with 25%, 50% or 100% GreenPower. What’s in it for you? Just the satisfaction of knowing that you’re doing your bit to help the planet we call home.  

Where is Origin Energy available?

If you live in QLD, the ACT, NSW, Victoria or SA, iSelect can help you compare plans available through Origin Energy. 

What plans does Origin Energy offer?

If you want to power your home with Origin Energy gas or electricity, they have a range of plan options. While these plans can differ in features, they do come with a set of baseline offerings including: 

• variable energy rates
• zero exit fees
• no lock-in contracts
• carbon-offset add-ons 

Of course, the energy market regularly changes, so not all plans will always be available. However, you can see a selection of what Origin Energy has to offer at any given time through iSelect. 

How much does Origin Energy cost?

With lots of plans offering variable rates that are dependent on the energy market, getting an exact number when estimating your Origin Energy bill can be a little tricky. Pricing will also vary depending on your location and distributor.  

You can get an idea of what to expect when it comes time to pay your Origin Energy electricity bill if you use benchmark or reference prices, like the Default Market Offer (DMO) or, if you’re a resident of Victoria, the Victorian Default Offer (VDO). Keep in mind, many Origin Energy electricity plans are often priced lower than the DMO or VDO. 

You can also use our convenient online energy plan comparison tool to check out which plans are available at your address and find out how much you might be able to save by switching to Origin Energy.   

What solar options does Origin Energy offer?

The sun might be giving away energy for free but that doesn’t mean you have to. If you have a solar energy system at your house, you can get paid for your solar-generated electricity plus get the security of a basic Origin Energy electricity plan for cloudy days and nighttime. 

A solar electricity plan can seem like a bright idea especially when you consider feed-in tariffs. It’s how much you get paid for any electricity you feed back to the grid through your solar system. Just keep in mind what credit you could earn can vary depending on what Origin Energy plan you’re on and where you’re located. There might also be eligibility requirements or export limits to consider too. 

Partner tip:

You can end up with considerable savings on your electricity bill if you plan to use the bulk of your electricity during off-peak times. These are ‘low demand’ periods often decided by your distributor when energy costs are the cheapest – say, outside 9am to 9pm on weekdays. If you already have an Origin Energy plan, look under New charges and credits on your Origin Energy electricity bill to get into the specifics of peak and off-peak charges. But keep in mind, this only works only if you have a meter that’s configured to the time-of-use tariff. 

Frequently asked questions

Where can I compare energy plans?

If you think you’re onto a good thing with Origin Energy or you want to see how other energy retailers stack up against them, iSelect can help. Whether you use our online comparison tool or call a comparison expert on 1800 664 532, we can take you through a selection of different energy plans and retailers to see what gives you better value or is better suited to your needs and budget.