How to connect electricity when moving house

Fact Checked

Moving house is stressful: you have to organise removalists, update your details and ensure you’ve set up electricity the moment you walk through the doors of your new home.

Despite what may be your best efforts to avoid your energy company most of the time, you will have to get in contact when you move properties. Fortunately, electricity and gas retailers have generally made this a simple and hassle-free process. Here’s how to get power and gas set up at your new home.

Advertisement

Compare Solar Installer Quotes

Over the last 15 years, SolarQuotes® has steadily built a network of heavily vetted solar installers. Get up to 3 free, no-obligation quotes for solar, batteries, and EV chargers.

Get Quotes Now

Connecting electricity to your property: a quick checklist

Step 1: Check for any exit fees on your existing energy plan

Be sure to check your current electricity or gas deal for any exit fees if you plan on switching providers during your move. This information can be found on the Energy Price Fact Sheet in the ‘plan fees’ tab.

Step 2: Inform your existing provider of your moving-out date

Let your existing provider know that you’re moving in advance. This is to ensure your plan is transferred to your new home on time or your account can be closed on your moving date.

Step 3: Compare electricity or gas plans

If you’re looking for a new electricity or gas plan, compare the best offers at your new address with Canstar Blue’s free comparison tools.

Sign up with your new provider once you’ve decided on your new plan. Make sure your new provider knows your move-in date so you won’t be stuck without power.

Step 4: Ensure safe access to your meter

If possible, ensure there is clear and safe access to the meter at your new property. This will help your energy provider when they are organising a new connection to your home.

Step 5: Read your meter at your old home

Take note of the meter reading at your old home and new home on the move-in/move-out dates to ensure your provider is charging you correctly.

Connecting electricity to a rental property

With a rental, you’ll need to transfer your electricity account details from your current property to the new location.

1. Make sure to confirm with your retailer that the new property is currently connected to the grid. If the property has been vacant for an extended period or is newly built, the power supply may have been switched off. If this is the case, it may take a few extra days to connect, which could incur additional fees.
2. If your new location is connected to the grid, give your retailer a call and share your new address and move-in date; you can also do this online through your retailer’s customer portal.
3. Transferring your account information to a new rental property can typically be done in one day and generally comes with no fees.
4. If you’re sticking with the same electricity retailer, your contract will typically carry over to your new premises. If you live in Queensland, New South Wales or Victoria, you should also check whether you’re moving to another distribution network. If you are, then your current electricity contract cannot be carried over with you when you move.

Energy plans for renters

Renters will be able to pick from the same range of electricity and gas plans as their neighbour who owns their properties. Previously, some retailers, namely Lumo Energy and Momentum Energy, offered renter-specific electricity plans with reduced connection and disconnection fees. However, most of these deals have since been retired for new customers.

Here are some of the cheapest energy plans currently available on our database:

Cheap electricity deals

Connecting electricity to a new property with an existing connection

1. If you are moving to a brand-new property, you’ll need to organise the connection of your utilities. Get in touch with your electricity retailer either over the phone or via the website.
2. Inform them of your upcoming move, your new address and desired connection date. Typically, setting up electricity at a property only requires transferring your account from one address to another. Most major energy providers can generally organise a new connection within three business days.

If you urgently need power, then you can call your provider and ask for an ‘urgent connection’. In some circumstances, you may be eligible for an urgent connection after hours or over the weekend. Urgent connections usually incur additional fees, so it’s best not to leave your energy connections to the last minute. Major retailers have a 13-hundred number you can contact to book a connection as soon as possible.  

Connecting electricity to a newly built property

If your home is newly built, it will need to be connected to the electricity grid for you to access power. This is done by:

1. Submitting a connection application form to the electricity distributor servicing your area.
2. The distributor will then dispatch a technician to your address to first complete the connection and later to install a meter. In most cases, the electrician, builder, or contractor involved in your home’s construction can do this on your behalf before you move in.
3. Your electricity distributor may charge a connection fee ranging between $10 and $100. As this is a distribution charge, the size of the fee will depend on location, not your choice of electricity retailer. However, you’ll still need to pay for connection costs, and the actual process may take several business days – so it’s best to have this finalised before your move date.

Connecting electricity to a new property interstate

If you’re moving to a new property interstate, it is important to consider how the electricity market is regulated or deregulated between them. Which state or territory you move to will determine if you can switch to another energy plan or provider.

In a competitive and price-regulated energy market, energy pricing and competition are controlled and set by the government to protect consumers from overpaying for electricity. In a regulated energy market, you cannot choose your plan or provider.

Currently, Western Australia and regional Queensland are the only states/regions to be competition regulated.

In a competition de-regulated energy market, residents can enjoy full retail competition and can freely choose their ideal energy plans and retailers. Currently, the following states are completely deregulated:

• New South Wales (NSW)
• Australian Capital Territory (ACT)
• Victoria (VIC)
• South Australia (SA)
• South East Queensland (QLD) 

In QLD, NSW and SA, the Default Market Offer (DMO) is a price cap for all standing offers to protect customers from paying too much for electricity. It also acts as a reference price for other market offers to be compared to. A similar scheme exists in Victoria called the Victorian Default Offer (VDO). Customers moving to these states can enjoy some level of price protection and regulations.

Connecting gas to a new house

Connecting natural gas at a new property is similar to electricity:

1. You will need to confirm if you have access to natural gas at the new property first. If the house is on a mains gas network but doesn’t already have the necessary piping to set up a connection, you may be able to organise one for yourself. You may want to weigh up the pros and cons of setting up a gas connection first.
2. all or visit the website of your natural gas retailer and give them the new address and your desired connection date. Retailers will often require between three and five days to set up a new connection – longer if you need a new meter. Natural gas connection fees are between $10 and $50, but possibly more if any work needs to be done to the residency’s gas infrastructure. Once again, this is a distributor charge, meaning you can’t avoid it by switching gas retailers.

How to change electricity providers when moving house

Moving house offers the perfect opportunity to switch electricity or gas providers. Switching energy retailers when organising a moving house electricity connection is very straightforward: simply contact your current retailer and inform them you’d like to close your account on a particular date.

You will continue to receive electricity and/or gas services until the designated date. If you’re moving from a rental property, you don’t need to disconnect the energy supply. Usually, the retailer will automatically transfer the property back to the energy account of the real estate or landlord.

After you’ve cancelled your old plan, sign up at your new address with your new energy retailer, commencing from the date you move in. Make sure you’ve done your research before sign-up so you know which tariff and plan best match your needs.

FAQs about connecting electricity and gas

Image Credit: shisu_ka/Shutterstock.com