Hotel and motel energy broker: every room, every night, all summer
Accommodation is one of the few businesses paying to cool rooms nobody is sleeping in. Add pool pumps, hot water and a laundry running overnight and you get a load that swings hard with occupancy and season. We price it off your real interval data instead of an annual average.
What a hotel or motel 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 hotel or motel, and the ones we check yours against first.
The tariff that usually wins: Time-of-use for smaller sites, C&I tender once you clear 100 MWh, with seasonal demand looked at hard
Gas, where the site has it: 300–1,200 GJ/yr for hot water, laundry and the kitchen
Where the bill goes wrong for hotels, motels and accommodation.
room air conditioning running through a Queensland summer whether the room is occupied or not
pool pumps and hot water sitting on a day rate overnight
occupancy swings that make a flat annual estimate wrong in both directions
laundry, kitchen and check-in demand all landing in the same half hour
What a switch looks like on a hotel or motel.
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 60-room motel, ~380 MWh/yr, moved from an SME flat rate to a tendered contract after 12 months of interval data
What we look for in a retailer for hotels, motels and accommodation.
No retailer gets a default answer from us. On a hotel or motel 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: Time-of-use for smaller sites, C&I tender once you clear 100 MWh, with seasonal demand looked at hard.
- Appetite for a 150,000 kWh to 900,000 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 80–350 kVA the demand charge can move the annual bill more than the energy rate does.
- Whether bundling gas (300–1,200 GJ/yr for hot water, laundry and the kitchen) with the electricity actually beats splitting the two across separate retailers. We price it both ways before recommending either.
- How their pricing copes with room air conditioning running through a Queensland summer whether the room is occupied or not.
- How their pricing copes with pool pumps and hot water sitting on a day rate overnight.
- How their pricing copes with occupancy swings that make a flat annual estimate wrong in both directions.
- How their pricing copes with laundry, kitchen and check-in demand all landing in the same half hour.
- 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.
Looking for a hotel or motel energy broker in your suburb?
Not your suburb? See all the SEQ locations we cover.
Hotel or motel energy, common questions
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'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.
Do I need a smart meter to switch?
Not strictly, but it helps. If you've got an interval meter (most commercial sites do), we can pull 12 months of data and quote properly. If you're on an older accumulation meter, we quote off bill totals, still works, just a slightly less precise quote.
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.
Hotel or motel 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.