Newcomer steps up gas price war
The price war between WA's competing natural gas retailers has hit fever pitch, with Wesfarmers-backed Kleenheat offering discounts of up to 20 per cent in a bid to lure customers.
More than a year after it entered WA's natural gas market to take on incumbent monopoly Alinta, Kleenheat confirmed it had upped the ante in its bid to seize market share by boosting its discount rates.
Up until recently Kleenheat's headline marketing ploy was to offer new customers 10 per cent off their gas usage charges.
But after lower-than-expected take-up, Kleenheat said it had bumped up the offer as part of efforts to win new customers and chisel more away from Alinta.
The offer comes amid increasingly frantic competition between the retailers as they try to outbid each other for new customers or to hang onto existing ones.
There are about 630,000 natural gas customers in Perth and the South West - mainly comprised of households and small businesses - and Kleenheat said it was now servicing almost 35,000 of them.
Despite this, Kleenheat signalled disappointment with the rate at which it was winning new business.
"We want to continue to offer competition, excellent customer service and savings to Western Australians, but as the new market entrant we need everyone's support to help us achieve this," general manager Mark Gadsby said.
"While we have received very good customer satisfaction ratings, customer numbers are not as strong as we had hoped and we are continuously exploring ways to improve on that, as well as looking for innovative ways to offer our customers the best value."
Alinta declined to comment directly on Kleenheat's tactics or claims it had signed up almost 35,000 customers, although it suggested there had been no corresponding decrease in its own numbers.
Instead, Alinta talked up its own products and offers and the benefits of natural gas, highlighting its low cost compared with electricity.
"We constantly review our offers and products to make sure we continuously offer value," an Alinta spokes- woman said.
"This is not always as simple as a discount, so our offers are not a one-size-fits-all approach."
