Have you ever wondered how life will be without electricity? Think of the mountains of cloth to wash every weekend, or the dishes at the end of every day? What about preserving left overs or even preparing bulk food ahead of time?
There’s so much that has been simplified in our daily lives all thanks to electricity. But like everything in life, it is an opportunity cost. You give up something to gain another; in this case it is you pay some amount of money to enjoy the benefits of electricity.
With electricity, you can do your laundry without stress, do the dishes and prepare your meals in record time. Life is simplified and a lot more can be achieved in record time. However, over time, the cost of electricity has kept on rising and people are now looking for ways to cut down this cost.
This brings up the issue of getting the best electricity price or best strømpris like Norwegian consumers will call it. Therefore, in this article, we will explore the benefits of electricity and how to assess cheap supply of it.
Understanding Electricity Pricing
Electricity pricing is usually affected by the cost of financing, building, maintaining and operating electricity grids and power plants. Other factors also include return on investment for shareholders and owners of the electricity company.
These factors are explained further below:-
Power Plant Cost
It goes without saying that every power plant needs money for successful operation. These include the cost of constructing the plant, maintaining it and cost of daily operations.
Systems for Transmission and Distribution
Every electricity company has systems that connect their power plant with the end consumer. These systems have to be constructed and maintained; these and the operational costs also require money. These costs are not specific at all times because some unforeseen circumstances might arise that will require money to take care of.
some of these circumstances include adverse weather conditions or accidents.
Fuel Prices
Power plants use fuel (natural and petroleum) for their operations and these also cost some good money. When demand for electricity is high in some areas, the price of fuel goes up. Additionally, some places experience constraints of supply or even a total disruption due to extreme weather or damage to the transportation and delivery system of an electricity company.
It goes without saying therefore that the costlier fuel price is, the higher the cost of generating electricity. This increased cost therefore translates to higher tariffs and service charges for the consumer.
Weather Conditions
Adverse weather conditions can make the demand for cooling and heating to go up and when this happens electricity usage also increases. This increased demand also pushes up the price of electricity and fuel.
Furthermore, there are small scale hydropower generating plants that rely on snow and rain to generate power. Some others also rely on favourable wind speeds.
In these instances, any form of deviation from favourable weather will cause a decrease in the amount of electricity that can be generated. This in turn will invariably lead to an increase in pricing for the consumer.
How to Find Best Electricity Price for you
We took time to explain some of the key factors that affect electricity pricing and some of you may be wondering why we did that. Knowing the things that affect the final price that your electricity supplier charges you can help you make an informed decision.
Take for example the issue of weather as a key component that affects energy price; you can look out for power companies that are not strictly reliant on weather elements such as water, snow, sun or wind to generate power. With such a company, you can rest assured that no adverse weather can affect their output and as such, you the consumer will not have to bear the brunt.
That being said however, there are simpler ways that you can find the best electricity price for you and we will discuss them below:-
Comparison Shopping
Whenever you want to buy a product or service online, one of the best things you can do for yourself is comparison shopping. This is the process of visiting as many sites as possible and comparing the goods and services that they offer and the price at which they offer it.
The same thing is applicable to getting the best price for electricity. Visit as many electricity suppliers as possible and check out their services and the price they offer. A simple way that you can do this is by checking out online comparison sites.
These online comparison sites are designed to help consumers check out as many suppliers as possible and find the best offer for them. All you need to do is input your passcode on the site and information about your energy usage and current supplier. Once this is done, you will get a list of energy companies that can give you a better deal than you currently have.
The advantages of using online comparison sites are ease of use and speed of search plus the fact that you do not have to contact suppliers one after the other. Additionally, with these sites, there is the possibility of getting great deals.
Visit the Websites of Energy Regulators
There are some countries that have energy regulators that are government approved. These regulators have websites and part of what they do on their site is to give information on the different electricity suppliers under their jurisdiction.
You can rest assured that any information you get on these sites are reliable and trustworthy. So if their analysis pegs a supplier as the cheapest one in your region, you can bet that they truly are.
Some of these sites even include customer reviews which is pure gold when it comes to researching a company to engage their services or buy products from. With these reviews, you have an idea about the reputation of the company and the type of service they offer.
Get Recommendations from Family and Friends
One of the most powerful and fastest marketing tool is word of mouth. People will always talk about a company that gave them excellent service. A satisfied customer is a company’s greatest ambassador. So when looking to switch electricity suppliers, one of the most reliable sources of information is someone who has used the company.
Ask your family and friends of their experience with their supply and compare with what you are getting. If you are out rightly dissatisfied with your supplier, you can ask them to recommend a good company.
Another place you can get recommendations is by asking on forums and social media groups of people you are familiar with. That way, you are sure of getting real and honest opinion from people that you trust. You can even get options that you never thought of and also discount.
Discuss with your Current Supplier
For consumers who are happy with their current supplier but would appreciate a cheaper rate, you can contact them and ask for a discount. No business will want to lose a long standing customer. So if you have been with a supplier for a long time, you stand a fair chance of negotiating with them for a better deal.
One advantage of discussing with your current supplier is that if they agree to your terms, you will not need to go through the stress of surfing sites to find another supplier. Additionally, you can get a better deal without moving to another company and also have a better relationship with them.
Conclusion
Finally, there are many ways that you can find the best energy rates for you. We have discussed some pertinent facts that you need to know about electricity and how it is priced and also how to go about getting the cheapest deal available. You can ask family and friends for recommendations on companies to check out and finally used.
You can also use online comparison sites that will help you check out many companies as possible in the shortest time possible. While you go shopping for the best rates for you, you can also research ways that you can conserve energy.
Energy conservation is one sure way of reducing your energy bill. You can start the process by changing your daily habits, changing old model appliances to energy saving ones and reducing unnecessary usage of some home appliances.
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