Cold storage energy broker: the flattest load in South East Queensland
A refrigerated store runs compressors 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and electricity is usually the single biggest line in the operating budget. That flat load factor is the best hand anyone on this list holds at a tender, so accepting an incumbent renewal without a competing bid is expensive.
What a cold storage facility bill actually looks like.
Before anyone can tell you whether you are overpaying, they have to know how your site actually uses power. These are the numbers we start from on a cold storage facility, and the ones we check yours against first.
The tariff that usually wins: Bid-tendered C&I with a capacity demand review, the flat 24/7 load factor is what wins the bid
Where the bill goes wrong for cold storage and refrigerated facilities.
compressors carrying the site every hour of the year, with no off-peak dip to price against
capacity demand reserved for plant that has since been upgraded or changed
summer ambient pushing the refrigeration plant and the demand charge up together
an incumbent renewal signed every year without a single competing bid
What a switch looks like on a cold storage facility.
An illustration, not a promise. Your number depends entirely on what you are paying now, which is the whole reason we read the bill first.
Assumptions: SEQ refrigerated storage facility, ~1,200 MWh/yr, moved from an incumbent renewal to a tendered C&I contract
What we look for in a retailer for cold storage and refrigerated facilities.
No retailer gets a default answer from us. On a cold storage facility site, these are the things that decide which one actually wins on your numbers.
- A retailer that will actually price the tariff these sites need: Bid-tendered C&I with a capacity demand review, the flat 24/7 load factor is what wins the bid.
- Appetite for a 400,000 kWh to 3,000,000 kWh a year load. At this size retailers price on tender against your interval data, not off a rate card, so we want retailers who'll actually bid.
- A soft demand rate, not just a sharp c/kWh. At 200–900 kVA the demand charge can move the annual bill more than the energy rate does.
- No gas to bundle on most of these sites, so the electricity rate and the demand charge have to win on their own merit.
- How their pricing copes with compressors carrying the site every hour of the year, with no off-peak dip to price against.
- How their pricing copes with capacity demand reserved for plant that has since been upgraded or changed.
- How their pricing copes with summer ambient pushing the refrigeration plant and the demand charge up together.
- How their pricing copes with an incumbent renewal signed every year without a single competing bid.
- Contract length, and what happens at the end of it: the exit fee, the notice window and the evergreen rollover rate you land on if nobody moves.
- If you run more than one site, whether they'll price the whole portfolio or only want the big meters.
We're paid by the energy retailer when you switch, never by you, and the commission is printed in c/kWh next to every offer. How we choose a retailer.
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Cold storage facility energy, common questions
What's a capacity demand reservation and is mine wrong?
Capacity demand is the maximum kVA your site can draw, set at fitout. Many sites have it set 50–100% higher than they actually use, which inflates every demand-charge invoice. We review and apply for a reduction where it pays.
Am I a C&I or SME customer?
Roughly: above 100 MWh/year electricity, you're commercial-and-industrial (C&I) and quotes come via tender from a different retailer panel. Below 100 MWh, you're SME and quoted off published rates. We figure out which side of the line you're on and quote to the right panel.
What does a C&I tender look like?
We collect your interval meter data, usually 12 months of it, package it as a request for bid, and put it to the retailers on our panel who can price a load of your size and shape. They bid against each other rather than against a rate card. You get an apples-to-apples comparison on a single sheet, with our commission shown in c/kWh next to every offer.
Will my power get cut off when I switch?
No. Switching retailers doesn't touch the wires or your meter. Same poles, same wires, same network operator (Energex for nearly all SEQ). You just get a different name on your invoice, and a better number.
How long does a switch take?
Typical SEQ small-business switch: 10–20 business days from signing the Letter of Authority. We send the LoA, you sign, we lodge with the new retailer, they handle the meter-data hand-off with the network. Your old contract ends, the new one starts.
What's a demand charge and why is mine so high?
Demand charges are the highest 15- or 30-minute usage peak in the month, multiplied by a $/kVA rate. If you've got AC cycling on at the same time as kitchen equipment, that peak compounds. The fix is usually a tariff that prices demand more fairly, or moving you off demand-tariffs altogether if your usage is too small to need them.
Am I on the right small-business tariff?
Probably not. Retailers don't migrate you automatically when better tariffs become available. We look at your usage profile, your peak demand, and your trading hours, then map you to the tariff your bill actually wants.
We're paid by the energy retailer when you switch, never by you.
When we move your account to a new retailer, that retailer pays us a commission, partly upfront, partly as a trail while you're with them. Your rate is your rate. There's no markup, no broker fee on your invoice, no monthly subscription.
We disclose the commission existence on every quote. If you want to know the exact dollar amount on a deal, ask. We'll tell you.
This is why we win on transparency: we'd rather show you the maths than dress up the savings.
Cold storage facility owner? Send the bill, we'll quote it
Drop your most recent electricity or gas bill. I'll come back with what your retailer panel can do, in plain English, usually same day.
- Send us one recent bill, or let us get it from your retailer.
- Sign a one page authority so we can ask retailers for prices.
- See every offer that comes back, with our commission on each one.
Takes about ninety seconds. Haven't got the bill handy? We will get it from your current retailer for you.
Ready to see what your panel can do?
Send us your bill, we'll come back with real numbers, not a sales call.