How the Localvolts
Marketplace Works
Localvolts is a new type of energy company operating an open, peer to peer electricity marketplace where you have full control over the purchase and sale of your energy and associated services. You choose your preferred suppliers and customers, and set your own price for energy.
This means you can buy energy from other Australian’s, as well as sell any excess energy that you feed back into the grid. At prices you control!
Your outcomes will depend on your specific energy usage and production profile(s), your preferences, and the market conditions.
Eligible Customers
We are accepting residential customers located in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, and Tasmania.
The Localvolts Marketplace
You access the Localvolts marketplace directly at https://market.localvolts.com or via the Localvolts website. This is where you interact with others to buy and sell electricity, examine your position and transactions, maintain your details, communicate with others and with Localvolts, and examine overall market statistics.
Localvolts marketplace is available to Localvolts’ customers only.
Buying Electricity
You control the price you pay for your energy, when you buy, and who you buy from. We find for you the cheapest energy for every 5-minute period to cover your specific needs while respecting your wishes as expressed by your preferences. Where we don’t find a match, or you use more energy than anticipated, you buy your energy from the wholesale spot market operated by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO).
For periods where you do not set any buy preferences, all of your energy is purchased from the wholesale spot market.
You can choose to buy all or part of your energy from the wholesale spot market.
Set and Forget: You can setup an auto-renewal process where we purchase energy for you on a periodic basis within the preference rules you have determined.
You can modify your set-up and buy preferences at any time.
Selling Electricity
Where you export energy into the grid, you control the sale price of your electricity, when you sell, and who you sell to. You place your offers and we find the buyers willing to accept your energy for every 5-minute period. Where we don’t find a match, or you end up exporting more energy than anticipated, you sell your electricity into the wholesale spot market operated by AEMO.
For periods where you do not make any offers, all of your energy is sold into the wholesale spot market.
You can choose to sell all or part of your energy into the wholesale spot market.
Set and Forget: You can setup an auto-renewal process where your offers are put to the market on a periodic basis.
You can modify your set-up and offers at any time.
Emissions
We track the current and expected emissions content of your energy purchases and sales in real-time so that you always know your carbon footprint. We do this by tracking the real-time power output and the emissions intensities of all generators in the National Electricity Market. Naturally, your carbon footprint is reduced whenever you purchase clean energy from others in the marketplace.
Fees, Rates and Payments
Pass-through Costs and Prices
All prices, costs, and charges are applied on a pass-through basis – we do not add any mark-up.
Allocating AEMO’s Prudential Requirements
AEMO requires all retailers to provide credit support in the form of bank guarantees and cash deposits to cover energy purchases from the wholesale spot market. We will identify the credit support needed to support your energy purchases, and the costs associated with providing that capital to AEMO.
Localvolts Service Fee
We charge a fixed service fee, please see our rates at the end of this document.
Transparency
We display the rates, quantities, and names of the buyers and sellers involved in all transactions.
All-in Rates
We compute your all-in rates to help you understand your true energy costs and earnings.
All-in Rate – Purchases
This rate is calculated as the sum of all costs and charges divided by the total amount of energy purchased over a defined period, in cents/kWh.
All-in Rate – Earnings
This rate is calculated as the sum of all earnings divided by the amount of energy sold over a defined period, in cents/kWh.
Billing
You determine when and how often you receive your bills; subject to receiving at least one bill per month.
Payments
Post-pay
Your bills will be issued with a pay-by date. You must pay your bills by this pay-by date.
You will incur a charge for using Post-pay.
Failure to pay on time
If you fail to pay your bills on time, you may lose your ability to set your buying and selling preferences so that all of your subsequent energy transactions will be at the wholesale spot prices. You will also incur late payment fees.
Meters
No special metering is required to be with us – your existing utility meter will do.
Concession Customers
You will need to request and prove your eligibility in order to benefit from concessions offered by governments.
Leaving us
You can leave us anytime without incurring any exit fees or penalties. We will terminate your matches to buy or sell energy that go beyond your departure date.
Benefits for Members of Certain Community Groups
We have agreements with organisations where their members obtain certain benefits from us.
Community Power Club
Community Power Club is part of Cowan Community Co-op Ltd, ABN 13 324 523 511. Members of this club will receive an on-going credit on their Localvolts electricity bill, provided they remain on Localvolts market retail agreement and pay their bills on time.
Electricity Plan Descriptions on Energy Made Easy
Regulations require all authorised retailers to register their residential electricity plans with Energy Made Easy, a website operated by the Australian Energy Regulator. Registered plans are recorded and displayed in a standard format to enable people to examine and compare competing offers from multiple retailers.
Localvolts’ marketplace does not conform to the standardised structure imposed by Energy Made Easy; hence the information displayed or produced by the Energy Made Easy website regarding Localvolts does not explain our offering.
Description of Localvolts rates and charges
Community Power Club members will receive a credit of 11 cents per day, including GST.
Interest rate: an interest rate of 10.20% per annum is applied in determining Post-pay and Credit support charges.
Late payment fee: a fee of $15 will apply when a bill is not paid in full by the pay-by date. GST is not applied to this fee.
Localvolts service fee: $1.10 per day for each National Meter Identifier (NMI), applied at each 5-minute interval. GST is included.
Join the Localvolts Marketplace
The Localvolts Marketplace is open for residents and businesses in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, or Tasmania.
To join the market, we ask you to submit a registration form. You can do that online, or by downloading our registration pack, and sending us your completed registration form by post or email.
Localvolts is a new type of energy retailer we do not provide you a fixed electricity tariff. Once you are a Localvolts customer you will be able to enter an open electricity marketplace where your outcomes will depend on your energy usage and production profiles, your preferences, and the market. Before you complete this application form you should read the following documents Localvolts-How it Works and Localvolts Market Retail Contract.
To complete the application form you will need your Medicare card for identification purposes and a recent electricity bill or your National Meter Identifier (NMI). If you want to know how Localvolts collect, use and disclose your personal and credit information please read the Localvolts-Privacy and Credit Reporting Policy.
Stay in touch
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