Opinion: Solar Sharer Offer (SSO) Off to a Craptacular Start?

A little while back, I did the math on my energy use situation, eagerly awaiting the roll-out of the government DMO8 mandated Solar Sharer Offer (SSO) which promised three hours of free power in the middle of the day. At long last, 1st July came around, which should mean that pricing from retailers would finally be revealed and the plans ready for signing-up to. A Craptacular Start As an EnergyAustralia customer, I’ve been looking closely at their site since 1st July. Unfortunately, it’s now 10th July and it still says the following when you go to compare plans – If you visit the link they send you to … … you’re unhelpfully told that it’s not available yet and to check back on this website. I thought the government mandated that the providers make the SSO available to their customers with the launch of the new DMO on 1st July – somehow this doesn’t sound right at all! The EnergyMadeEasy page from the government seems to imply that a retailer like EnergyAustralia should be offering the SSO – they’d certainly have more than 1000 customers. So, reluctantly, I’ve temporarily signed over to a Time-of-Use Seasonal tariff while I await their offering simply because their single-rate plan is very unattractive. What about other retailers? I gave AGL a look into and if you use the plan comparison tool, the SSO doesn’t appear there at all. Instead, it’s hidden behind this banner at the bottom – You can find their standing offer prices there if you navigate their PDF documents. No surprises, the standing offer prices are in-line with the government requirements, but there are no discounts on these standing offers. But the kicker? You cannot sign up to the plan online with the advice to phone them on 131 245. That means you’re not eligible for all the “juicy” churn bonuses that you get if you’re signing up to their regular plans. Let’s try Red Energy. I couldn’t find the plan on the comparison tool on the first day and wondered where it could be. A few days later, I spotted…