Every Aussie household is receiving a $300 energy bill rebate from the government to help ease cost-of-living pressures, but there’s an easy way you could more than double your savings. Aussies are paying more than $4 billion in energy loyalty tax by failing to shop around and switch providers.

Households who haven’t switched electricity plans in more than a year are coughing up $238 more annually than customers on newer offers, a recent report by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) revealed. Those on plans that are two or more years old are paying $317 more on average.

Finder personal finance expert Taylor Blackburn told Yahoo Finance households across the country had been grappling with “significant increases” in energy prices over the past few years.

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“The government subsidies have helped, but they give you a false sense of the actual costs,” Blackburn said.

“I personally opened an email to tell me I’d be paying 5 cents more per kilowatt hour and 21 cents more a day for the same plan. That may not seem like much but it would have cost me $300 more a year.”

Finder research found there was a staggering $500 to $700 a year difference between the cheapest and most expensive plans on its database.

Despite this, it found that 85 per cent of people with an energy plan did not regularly switch their provider.

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A third said they were happy with their current services or provider, while 23 per cent said switching seemed like too much of a hassle.

A further 19 per cent said they weren’t sure if a different plan would actually be cheaper.

But with huge savings potentially on offer, Blackburn encouraged Aussies to compare plans and see if they could be getting a better deal.

“Even if you haven't received a notification from your current provider, it's worth comparing plans to ensure you're getting the most competitive rates and benefits,” he said.

What is the $300 energy rebate?

More than 10 million Aussie households will receive a $300 energy rebate over the 2024-2025 financial year.

This is applied as four $75 credits for most households, with the rebates applied each quarter starting in July 2024.

Most households will receive their final two energy rebates from January 1, 2025 and April 1, 2025.