Members Energy

Bill Shocker – This is a warning to anyone considering Members Energy. Suggest you avoid. Since joining Members Energy there have been a number of incidents which have caused emotions to change. Extremely Happy The on-boarding process went quite smoothly. It was a recommendation from by our battery supplier South Australia Batteries (now Solar Battery Group)… Read more

to join Members Energy as they were a virtual power plant, and they would provide benefits of battery storage and maximise returns. This decision was bearing fruit as my bills from April to August produced an overall credit of $506.72. Then a letter was received advising that there had been errors in their billing system and that I had been over credited for my solar trading. The bill was adjusted in the next month by $287.18. This incidentally coincided with the credit received from the Government. The euphoria led to making recommendations to others to join Members Energy a decision which was completely misguided by the bill errors. Unhappy An offer was made by Solar Battery Group to increase the capacity of my storage. Based upon the earnings received from Members Energy this offer was accepted. Upon receiving bills from Members Energy it was noted that the Solar Trading Credits were greatly reduced. Members Energy were contacted and were unable to provide a full explanation advising to refer the matter to the company which optimized the batteries and provided the trading platform. After many months it seemed that the batteries were not on the correct trading platform. Extremely Unhappy A bill was then received an amount which wiped out all credits and billed an additional $934.05. The bill went from a credit of $580.98 to a debit of $934.05 in one month. Members Energy advised that there had been a billing oversight and they had failed to bill usage. It should be noted that the bills received were not regular and were received on a number of occasions upon request. Transparency This is a company that espouses Transparency yet their Trading Credits and Billing system appear to be veiled in mystery. It should also be noted that a Co-Founder of Members Energy is also an executive at the Solar Battery Group.

I wrote to members Members Energy providing them with a transcript of my review and advisg them I would publish after 48 hours. They contact me and confirm that my review is factually correct. They did ask me if there was anything they could do to remedy my complaint and stop my review. I have already paid the reduced bull and have left them for another provider. They did ask for more time to see if they could provide me with remedies they are prepared to put in place so that I could add to my review however this has not eventuated. My strong recommendation is to avoid this company.

Untrustworthy….Rip off – Last bill with Members Energy $151 Switched to another provider $36 Should have done this 12 months ago when I suspected this was “scamish”

Absolute CRAP! ALL LIES – This company charges $1 a day in membership fees for cheaper rates and the rates are NOT cheaper at all. My bill has never been this high with any previous providers. They also only charge the solar battery during peak hours with no concessions. Customer service is below average. They also threatened to cut off my supply (which is illegal) when I was $80 short of paying my bill. $80?! Are they going to go broke over $80? What scumbags.

These people are crooks – This company charges $30 a month on top of the standard payment for no discernible service. Their feed in tariff is lower and the electricity charges are higher than the company that I am now with. Unfortunately they do not do what they purport to do, that is even out the electricity supply in a 24 hour period. The idea might’ve sounded good at the beginning but I am fully disillusioned now.

Run away as fast as you can – When we signed up with Members Energy it was part of the pilot programme and we like a lot of others were told it would pay 80c per kWh feed in tariff. This never happened, it took months initially to even get the plan in operation. All that happened was our battery was drained overnight and paid a pittance and then charged off the grid in the… Read more

morning at peak rates. We were with them for a bit less than 3 months from October 2020 till mid January 2021 and for that privilege we went from having negative bill to paying them the privilege of $103, granted not a huge amount, however, since leaving them we have not had a power bill to pay for 12 months, in fact just received the latest bill from current provider and our credit balance is actually increasing. Great sales pitch at the beginning, but that's all it is, never happened as promised. After sales service was non existent, phone calls very rarely returned. My advice is NEVER become involved with Members Energy. These so called VPP plans are currently a waste of time and as someone stated previously, if we are all winners then who foots the bill to pay all the winners. All gambling involves more losers than winners.

Worst company – The worst company. I have left messages via email and phone, no one has contacted me. After four months I have changed providers. Be warned,this company are great at signing you up but terrible after that. I am still waiting for someone to contact me after four weeks.

Good customer service, garbage plan – So, the main issue is the value the membership fee on top of the service charge compared to how much it yields. If you had mega producing setup and it output upwards of 50 or 60KWh it may be worth it. I feed in around 15KWh / d and I never recover $30/m fee… avoid.

Not really for Members – The company charges you a premium rate to charge your battery from the grid at weird hours, however they do not pay a premium rate when discharging power back to the grid. In fact, they pay you nothing for this, rather you pay them for the privilege of storing power that they sell back to the grid at a profit to themselves, not you. Battery &… Read more

software are confirmed as working correctly. It's Members Energy that have been the huge disappointment.

In addition to which, while waiting for them to explain, they will charge you a late fee on a disputed invoice.

After raising this with this Ombudsman & a lot of unanswered questions remaining unanswered, the matter was closed with the Ombudsman.

The last bill was the final straw & we've left Members Energy, they really aren't there for you, ie., last bill showed we paid Members Energy $34.00 to be able to sell every on the market, received $0.61 in market credits. I rang the company to ensure I was reading the bill correctly & they confirmed my understanding was correct.

Maybe they should be called Executives Energy? They're the only ones who have benefited.

They fill up your battery at your expense – Bills have tripled. Appears they are charging my battery at off peak rates ($0.23) and discharging at ($0.06) appears to be at their benefit but not the customers. Is this a Scam?was charged $35/month for the privilege. Have raised with ombudsman but members energy have gone silent.

If you like being mislead into paying more and getting less back, then this is the company for you! – From the start we had issues with this provider. We were part of the pilot program for a virtual power plant and were told we'd get 50-70c feed in tarrif for participation. This never happened. Our first bill was 3 times more than our previous provider and the so called great feed in tariffs are non existent. I was told that, come summer we would… Read more

see the benefits, but I can't afford to wait and I hardly think it will make up for the $200 a month EXTRA that it costs to stay with them.

The terrible company ever – I have had 2x electricity bills from this company and I have 13.2klw system and 2 x batteries and my electricity bill doubled, I’m telling you guys DO NOT GET SUCKED IN. And i bet I get that same computerised message saying sorry, and you have sent me a private message. We as customers want personalised service and care , not computer service. Thank you.

Our electricity cost more than doubled after switching to Members Energy – After switching to Members Energy our electricity cost has more than doubled. We bought a battery from Sunbank Solar and subsequently were asked to switch to Members Energy promising that we will get market rate for feed ins, which could be even upto 10 dollars depending on the demand. However actually we got just 0.06cents/unit. Also there is… Read more

change of dollar a day for using the app on top of supply charges, the app is basically waste as we cannot control anything using the app, just only to view the data. During sunny summer months we even had credits with our previous energy supplier, but with Members Energy our monthly electricity bills were higher than quarterly bills with previous supplier. We have now switched back to our previous supplier.

Our energy costs have doubled since we moved to members energy – Prior to moving to Members Energy our average daily usage was 6.5 kWh per day and our bill was around $130. Now with Members Energy, our average daily usage has skyrocketted to 13.6 kWh per day and our bill is approximately $530. It is the most expensive bill we have ever had. We got a .34c trading credit - Whooppee! Our battery was installed… Read more

last June and it took till December till we could sign up with Member's Energy (plan was meant to be available within weeks). I am very disappointed.

COSTS – It has saved me money, I`m extremely happy. I now have a better understanding of the app and know how to read it. i just hope that we get a lot more sunshine Show reply

Taking on the electricity big guns – I am pleasantly surprised by the level of customer service from Members Energy. They are regularly getting in touch with you to see how everything is going or if you have any problems. As far as value goes, overall they have been marginally cheaper than my previous supplier. Show reply

We find the service excellent and are very happy – We have been very pleased with the service and updates we have received from the friendly and experienced Staff. Our Eveready Battery is working well and is of great interest watching its performance on the App. Show reply

Super service and follow-up – Love the service and follow-up. Our transition has been very smooth and profitable. I would recommend swapping over to any future clients. We have found Members Energy very easy to work with! Show reply

Terrible – They talk a good game. However, My short time with this company was a great learning curve. They offer this great deal, that never is given. All you get is the 6 cents flat rate. For this privilege you also get charged an extra $1.10 per day on top of all the other charges. Like most i went from earning money to paying every month for my energy.… Read more

It worked out to be around $170 within the two months alone. I tried to talk to someone but was hung up on when asking some difficult questions apparently. Do your self a favour and stay away.

"Members Fee" of $401.50 per year will never be covered by increased spot market rate! – In theory the idea of this energy company was a good one however the issue is that wholesale market (spot market rate) is trending downwards in Victoria and therefore to be able to receive higher than the 10.2c FiT is going to continue to be less and less likely. For example: I was with them for just over 2 months this year (end of Jan - today)… Read more

and I have only received 14c "trading credit", which is a long way off covering the "Members Fee" of $1.10 per day....which is ON TOP of a supply charge of $0.97! For this "Members Fee" to be covered in my last billing cycle I would need on average oto recieve 22c FiT on the 386kW I fed into the grid...this is NEVER going to happen.

Going into winter where we all have much lower amounts we feed into the grid, how are you ever going to cover the $1.10 per day fee? That is $401.50 that needs to be covered by higher spot rates.

Their previous response blaming the "spot market rate" is correct, however as mentioned this is on a downward trend. There is now 15% of houses in Victoria with solar panels and with people now working from home, there is less demand on energy as large offices are not drawing electricty to cool their buildings on hot days.

Therefore...unless the $401.50 per year members fee is dropped, this will NEVER be viable!

Be sure you have a smart battery... I thought I did and lost over $100 for the learning experience – To start with, I thought I had an Alpha ESS battery that will work with Evergen software. Instead I had a Smile battery that did not have the smarts to pair with Evergen. Sadly for me, this took 2 months to be discovered... Previously, I was with AGL Solar Savers and making about $40 a month. My switch to evergen cost me about $50 a month. An… Read more

overall loss of around $90 a month at the time of my change over. Clearly, the Evergen software works for some people, but for me, it was $180 lesson. I finally got to speak with one of the mangers, they finally pointed out my system deficiencies and they offered to return me to AGL. I can't say they acted in bad faith but it was not a good experience for me. With all things, Buyer Beware.

This system is fantastic – I found the members energy system to be perfect for my needs I have saved heaps on my energy bill and found the change over to the new system very easy  Show reply

All aspects of joining Members Energy has been a positive experience – Members Energy has made joining the group a painless positive experience and all aspects of the deal were easily understood. When contacted re several queries the answers and assistance in particular re-connection of power supply due to having a medical device was first class. Show reply

Happy I made the transition to Members Energy – Since making the move to Members Energy from my previous electricity supplier,my solar battery is working much more efficiently.The Evergen(Members Energy) App is also excellent,which allows me to monitor my solar battery supply level,& also how much money I am saving each day on my power bill ! Show reply

Terrible – 6c a kilowatt flat rate despite all the promises plus charge $1 per day for the luxury of looking after your battery. Wrote them a nasty email after going from $250 in positive with AGL to $60 IN NEGATIVE with these Members Energy. Surprise surprise no reply absolute rip...sign at your own peril im going back to AGL and 17c fit. Edit just contacted the energy ombudsman. I have a case number now.

Seems like they are running scared – Looks like they have stopped trying to justify themselves. Because I could not check what was going on for 3 months I assumed that because my battery was charging from the grid overnight that it was doing that so it could take advantage of the "fabulous" feed rates that were promised. The excuses of a mild summer don't add up. We had some stinking… Read more

hot days so why did every single joule of energy I exported earn me just the basic rate of 10.2 cents? My advice to anyone with a battery is not to bother with these VPP's and just find a retailer with a low supply charge and low off-peak rates and use your solar during the day and your battery once the sun goes down. What we have to remember is that in order for you to "win", someone has to "lose" and you can bet that is just other average Joe consumers and not any power company.

1st Bill from Members Energy not happy – 1st bill was $135 for 2mths worth and that’s over summer. My last AGL bill for Dec 20 was $19.00. Just like someone else mentioned not worth the membership fee. Now they can’t or won’t answer my calls or emails. Trying stupidly to hear them out and explain this nonsense of a overpriced bill.

Dodgy! – I was contacted by SunBank Solar group to see if I would be interested in purchasing a battery system and being involved in a pilot program where my exported electricity back into the grid would get a premium feed in tariff of 50-70 cents k/Wh. After nearly 12 months of chasing them up to find out exactly how much the premium feed in tariff would… Read more

be and waiting for them to launch the program, I was finally contacted to transfer my electricity over to Members Energy. My first billing period was from 23rd December to 16th Feb (Summer months) to find out that all my exported electricity back into the grid only made 10.2 cents k/Wh. Even when my battery was exporting electricity back into the grid first thing in the mornings when it was only 50% or lower charged, instead of just saving itself for when we needed the electricity, we were still only receiving 10.2 cents k/Wh. Nowhere near what I was told when I paid for my system! So for the extra $33.46 a month to be with Members Energy, I am $60 worse off compared to what I was getting from my previous provider for the same period and usage etc.

My advice to anyone thinking about buying and signing up with these companies, It is definitely not worth it. They promise and advertise great premium feed in tariff's, but in reality, you only get the same as most other electricity companies, at the extra cost per month for being a customer with them.

Extremely Untrustworthy and Deceitful!

EXCELLENT SERVICE – Customer liaison with Ollie and Damon has been excellent. All questions answered clearly and promptly. The overall impact of Members Energy is too early to gauge as we only really were connected on 25th Feb. 2021. We would like another opportunity to review the company in two months time. Show reply

Members Energy Not delivering on Sales Pitch – I recently signed up to the Members Energy Solar + Battery Members Plan. I was buoyed by the sales pitch of the Members Energy team and even purchased two additional batteries to make the most of storing energy to sell into the market at what Members Energy promote as a superior price. This “superior price” has not eventuated. In the first full… Read more

month of participating in this scheme I received 9cents total in return, almost my entire feed in for the month was at the state prescribed level of 10c per KWH. I called Members Energy to query the infinitesimally small return and was given an explanation that the mild summer, along with COVID effects, had meant the demand for power was down, impacting the market price. I was sold into the scheme in the middle of this mild summer and there was no mention of these trends, in fact significant benefits were heavily promoted. If a 9cent total return during a month in summer is the real outcome this product does not stand up. The cost of accessing the Members Energy potential of higher feed in prices is $1.10 per day, given a summer month (January 2021) return of 9cents, the product simply can’t deliver on its sales pitch.

It has been very good – The only issues I had were your advertising material on first contact was usually about 13Mb in size, not a good idea, needs to be small and fast to load. The second item was your CMS system doesn’t seem to link Pre sales with Technical or in between as I had to repeat some of the stuff I talked about. Interesting ACTEW had a long talk to me about your company, they are either worried, or don’t understand where you fit in. Show reply

Taking back our hard earned power generation and reticulation network – At last we may have movement to honest electricity rates. Australia has the dearest electricity rates in the world, produced by equipment built and paid for by our forefathers, but sold off by politicians to fund whims and obscene salaries in non related activities Let’s hope members network grows as a cooperative in retailing and one day enters power generation. Show reply

Great experience – The transition to members energy was seamless. We have found to website easy to navigate and the app so straight forward. We would highly recommend this program to anyone seeking to get a better deal on their solar generation. Show reply