Bill Smoothing: About, set up and management
Bill Smoothing spreads your yearly energy costs into even payments. Learn how to get set up, roll over credit, change your payment frequency and more.
What is Bill Smoothing?
Bill Smoothing gives you peace of mind by spreading the year’s estimated electricity and gas costs into predictable, even payments. This helps reduce the stress of unexpected high bills and makes it easier to budget.
For example, if your bills totalled $1200 last year, you’d pay $100 each month of your annual Bill Smoothing cycle.
With Bill Smoothing, you’ll enjoy flexibility. You can choose from monthly, fortnightly or weekly payments and any unused credit can roll over or be refunded. Read full terms
Eligibility, set up and how it works
Bill Smoothing is available to residential and small business customers who don’t have an overdue amount of more than $500 (inc. GST).
Customers who are currently on AGL's Staying Connected Hardship Program or Payment Support Victoria program are not eligible.
Bill Smoothing is easy to set up and you can cancel any time.
- Log in to My Account and select the relevant service.
- Select your name in the top right corner then Account Settings.
- Scroll down to Bill Smoothing and select Edit.
- Choose your payment frequency and select Save.
When you sign up to Bill Smoothing you'll receive a welcome letter or email confirming your instalments and predicted usage (forecast) for the year ahead.
To calculate your first annual Bill Smoothing cycle:
- We look at the payment amounts from your previous billing history. If you don’t have a usage history of 12 months with AGL, we'll use any usage history we have for you plus data from customers or households like yours.
- We use this data to estimate your annual payment amount.
- We divide your annual estimate by your payment frequency (weekly, fortnightly or monthly) to find your recommended Bill Smoothing payment amount.
After your first annual cycle on Bill Smoothing, your next forecast will look at the previous 12 months’ data only.
When you're on Bill Smoothing, you'll receive both review letters and bills.
We’ll send review letters twice yearly in line with your billing cycle. They'll detail how your energy use is tracking against our prediction. If your actual energy use is different to our prediction, the review letter will show how your payments can adjust to match your usage.
Your bill includes details about your usage charges, fees, discounts and concessions.
Managing Bill Smoothing
If you’ve paid for more energy than you’ve used, your account will be in credit. You can rollover your credit at any six-month review by contacting us or through My Account.
To rollover your credit in My Account:
- Under Bill Smoothing, select the bill you want to review
- Select the fuel type that has your Bill Smoothing arrangement and follow the prompts.
A credit balance will not be a factor when calculating a renewed Bill Smoothing payment amount.
If you need help to rollover your credit, contact us.
You can request a credit refund by logging in My Account or the AGL app and using the chat icon to chat with us. Learn more about requesting a credit refund.
You can change your payment frequency to weekly, fortnightly or monthly based on what works for you. You can do this anytime by contacting us, or after a Bill Smoothing review in My Account.
We may change your payment amount if your actual usage differs from our estimate. If this happens, we’ll let you know in writing to expect a change, your new payment amount and when it will start.
If you've recently received a Bill Smoothing review, you can review and select your recommended payment amount and change your payment frequency in My Account.
To keep payments predictable, we set:
- monthly payments on the same date per month within the first 28 days of the month
- weekly and fortnightly payments on the same day of the week.
Setting up Direct Debit with Bill Smoothing is the best way to make your billing easy. Your payment amount is deducted from your nominated bank account at your nominated payment date.
When you have Direct Debit set up, make sure your account has enough funds for the bill amount to be paid. Bank transaction fees and Government taxes may also apply.
To set up a Direct Debit for your energy bill using your nominated savings, cheque, credit card or PayPal account, log in to My Account.
For credit card payments, we only accept Visa and Mastercard. A payment processing fee may apply (GST inclusive).
Learn more about Payment options.
If you're unable to make an upcoming payment, we can help you stay on track by applying a payment break or holiday.
If you miss a payment without notifying us, your arrangement might be cancelled.
Check your Bill Smoothing details and payments online in My Account, the AGL app or by contacting us.
To let us know you're unable to make a payment, contact us.
You can take one month off your Bill Smoothing payments each year. We’ll smooth that amount over the remaining months of your annual cycle.
If you have weekly Bill Smoothing payments, you can take four weeks off individually or consecutively.
It’s up to you when and how you’d like to take your payment holiday. To arrange a Bill Smoothing payment holiday, contact us.
If you're on Bill Smoothing and moving home, we’ll create a new Bill Smoothing account for your new address, with a new forecast to improve the accuracy of your recommended payment amounts.
On your move out date for your current address, we’ll cancel Bill Smoothing for that account.
To let us know you're moving home, contact us.
Ending Bill Smoothing
If you no longer wish to pay via Bill Smoothing, contact us at least three business days before the due date of your next Bill Smoothing payment.
Your Bill Smoothing could be cancelled for a number of reasons like missed payments or an outstanding debt. We'll send you a letter to let you know if your Bill Smoothing has been cancelled.
Upon cancellation, you’ll need to pay any outstanding amount. If your account is in credit, you'll be eligible for a refund.
If your Bill Smoothing has been cancelled and you’d like to set it up again, contact us.
Towards the end of each annual Bill Smoothing cycle, we compare your annual energy usage against our forecast. If your actual energy use was higher than we predicted, we may ask you to make a one-off payment to get your outstanding balance to nil.
If there's no outstanding amount or your account is in credit, your Bill Smoothing will automatically renew for the new year.
As part of your annual review, you'll also get a confirmation letter or email for your next year of Bill Smoothing. This letter will outline the year ahead with your new forecast, payment amount and nominated payment frequency.
