Site gives power to the people

Switchselect.com appears in the press again, this time in Monday's Business Owner's section of the Courier Mail.

FINDING cheap deals on everything from hotel rooms to plane tickets, car rentals, health insurance and even pots of beer – online comparison services are an idea whose time has come.

But for Queenslanders right now, perhaps none is as timely as Switchselect.com.
In spite of last year's deregulation of the state's electricity market, households face across- the-board power bill hikes in line with cost increases borne by generators.

Enter Switchselect, Australia's first "online energy broker" and the brainchild of 20-something entrepreneurs Leon Hayes and Steven Glover.

The South Brisbane-based company gives consumers free real-time comparisons of what different energy suppliers charge, based on a household's unique pattern of energy use.

If customers then wish to switch suppliers, they can do so via the site.
Switchselect thus earns a small administration fee from the winning supplier.

"It's all free information, it's just that customers don't have the time or the desire to find it themselves," co-director Leon Hayes says.

"We've done that for them."

Mr Hayes, 26, and business partner Steven Glover, 29, met while working as recruiters for an agency selling energy supply contracts in the UK.

The UK, which became the world's first deregulated electricity market in 1996, boasts a dozen online energy brokers, the largest of which is listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Messrs Hayes and Glover returned to Australia last year intent on providing a similar service, with their home state on the verge of deregulation.

Having launched on January 17, Switchselect remains the only local service of its kind.
"I guess it's just been about that, who's first to market," Mr Hayes says.
"We believe that we are the market leader and it's now our determination to stay there and keep providing to the public what we said we would."

Initially, the young duo faced "a lot of resistance" from some of the larger energy suppliers deeply committed to their own marketing campaigns, Mr Glover says.
"Some of the bigger companies don't want to be compared and they maybe got a little bit scared because of how successful and user-friendly the site is."

The pair is now confident of having convinced suppliers their comparison service is complete, accurate and up to date.

Switchselect serves all deregulated energy markets nationwide, and also offers information on "green energy" and choosing suppliers with appropriate carbon offsets.