New energy retailer set to launch, as Powershop and Kogan join forces

Online retailer kogan.com has added energy to the growing list of products and services it aims to make “more affordable and accessible,” through a deal with fellow digital upstart, Powershop.

Powershop Australia’s New Zealand parent company Meridian Energy said on Monday that the multi-year agreement with the ASX-listed kogan.com would offer “competitive power and gas services” to Australian households via a new brand, called Kogan Energy.

The partnership, Meridian said, would see Powershop supply energy and retail services, while Kogan would be responsible for all sales and marketing activity.

The deal brings yet another name into Australia’s increasingly dynamic retail energy space, and for Powershop, extends that company’s reach to a potentially huge number of customers of Kogan, which offers an ever expanding range of services from insurance, to internet, to travel.

The two companies expect Kogan Energy – which is due to launch by the end of the year – will win customers by using digital efficiency to make it easier and cheaper to buy electricity and gas.

For Powershop, which has pitched itself as a consumer-friendly and tech-savvy alternative to Australia’s incumbent retailers, the deal offers further choice and transparency in a market not renowned for either of those things.

“We generate some of the cleanest and greenest energy in Australia,” said Meridian Energy Australia and Powershop Australia CEO Ed McManus.

“Together with Kogan, we believe we can make a real difference to the energy space by delivering simple, great value, energy offerings through Kogan Energy.”

Kogan adds the new energy services arm to a busy portfolio that includes Kogan Retail, Kogan Marketplace, Kogan Mobile, Kogan Internet, Kogan Insurance, Kogan Money, Kogan Cars and Kogan Travel.

According to the Financial Review, the relatively young company has another three divisions in the pipeline.

Details of Kogan Energy’s retail gas and electricity offerings will be released closer to the new brand’s launch date.

Sophie Vorrath

Sophie is editor of One Step Off The Grid and deputy editor of its sister site, Renew Economy. Sophie has been writing about clean energy for more than a decade.