Just when you thought it was safe to get a solar system on the roof of your house, our energy providers give us a nice little extra Solar Service Charge called the Solar Metering Service Charge, so what is a Solar Service Charge?

I received a letter from AGL yesterday and was pleasantly surprised I was getting “about 40 cents less” change per week in our electricity charges.

Read that line again, as the “per week” part is important.

They make it sound like they are doing a great job for you with a reduction on the front page of the letter and I think most people will only read the front.

Great news AGL, this is until you read the back of your letter and find out the truth of the matter.

Electricity Tariff Charges have come down, but the fixed Supply Charge has gone up.

Solar Service Charge, your Electricity Prices are Going Up

I have just transitioned out of a sales role I had for near on a decade and gone into a new sales role in a different area, this change has only just made me realise, after speaking to a few friends and my Wife that I am in the wrong type of superannuation for where I am currently career wise and business wise, so picking the best superannuation fund for me took a little homework and asking many questions.

I also had insurances that I have been paying for a while outside of the super fund, this is for wage, life and sickness insurances so these need to be addressed too.

When you own your own small business the personal insurance needs are different to when you are working for a company that has work cover.

So these are the things I have to do to transition out of my old business / work and into the new.

• Pick a new good performing super fund to transfer my current super into
• Cancel my current insurances
• Make sure I have the same cover or more with the new insurances
• Fill out all the forms and send them away as needed

[Read more…]