Most energy brokers are paid a commission by the retailer that wins your contract, built into the rate you pay rather than billed to you. Termina refuses retailer commissions: small businesses pay us a share of what we save them, split 50/50, and nothing if we save nothing.
Termina is an Australian and New Zealand business energy procurement company and energy data platform. Brokers are paid by retailers. We're only paid by you.
Figures as at October 2026.
The retailer does, and you fund it. A broker places your contract with a retailer, and the retailer pays the broker a commission out of the rate it charges you.
The commission is usually built into the cents per kWh you pay. It is not a line on your bill, because it is not a charge to you. It is inside the rate.
Commission is commonly paid across the whole term, so a longer contract is worth more to the broker than a shorter one.
Individual brokers differ, and some disclose their commission openly. The issue is who pays: an adviser paid by the retailer is paid by the company you are negotiating against.
By you, and only from savings we find. We refuse retailer commissions, so no retailer pays us to place you. How our share works depends on the size of your sites.
A 50/50 share of the saving. Every energy broker is paid by the retailer they put you with. We refuse those commissions, so the only way we get paid is a share of what we save you, split 50/50. No saving, no fee. Our fee sits inside your rates rather than arriving as a separate bill.
Measured against the best rate you can get yourself. If you can already get a better rate than the one you are on, that rate becomes the benchmark, and we only share in savings found beyond it.
$0 to join. Every rate we quote is already after our share, so the number you see is the number you get.
Published, in full. No fee to run the tender. Once you switch, 1% of your bill (capped at $80 a month) plus 10% of what we save you.
The whole market, tendered. We put your load in front of the retail market at every renewal.
Who counts as large. In New Zealand, sites on time-of-use metering go to tender. Other sites get an online review every month. See commercial energy procurement.
Every option side by side: Termina pricing.
Brokers and comparison sites are paid by retailers. Termina is paid by its clients.
| Energy broker | Comparison site | Termina | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who pays them | The retailer that wins your contract, as a commission | Retailers, through commissions | You, from a share of the savings found. No retailer commissions |
| Where the money comes from | Inside your unit rate | The retailers they list | Small business: half of what we save you. Large business: 1% of your bill (capped at $80 a month) plus 10% of what we save you |
| Retailers compared | A panel they hold agreements with | The retailers that pay them | The whole market. For large businesses, 37+ retailers tendered at every renewal |
| After you sign | Largely hands-off until you chase them | Nothing. You come back next time | Every contract and renewal date tracked, and small business prices reviewed every month |
Ask four questions. The first two are for whoever arranged your contract, the last two for your retailer.
Not how they are paid: who pays them. If any part of the answer is the retailer, the rate you were given includes a commission.
A percentage is not the same answer. Commission charged per kWh grows with your usage, whatever the rate looked like at signing.
The gap between that rate and yours is what the arrangement costs you.
Commission is commonly paid for the life of the contract, so know who benefits from a longer term before you agree to one.
Contract coming up for renewal? Read what to do when your business energy contract is ending.
On small business plans in New Zealand: if no better rate is found in 12 months, you get $100 off your next bill. The $100 is paid in NZD.
Most are paid a commission by the retailer that wins your contract. The commission is built into the rate the retailer charges you, so it does not appear on your bill as a separate line. Individual brokers differ, and some disclose their commission openly.
You do, indirectly. The retailer pays the broker and recovers it through the rate it quotes you.
No, and anyone saying so is not being straight with you. Commission-free means nobody is paid by the retailer. Termina is paid from a share of what we save you, so there is a cost, and on small business plans it only exists when there is a saving to take it from.
Small business: Every energy broker is paid by the retailer they put you with. We refuse those commissions, so the only way we get paid is a share of what we save you, split 50/50. No saving, no fee. Our fee sits inside your rates rather than arriving as a separate bill. Large business: No fee to run the tender. Once you switch, 1% of your bill (capped at $80 a month) plus 10% of what we save you. See Termina pricing.
On small business plans you pay us nothing. On small business plans in New Zealand: if no better rate is found in 12 months, you get $100 off your next bill. The $100 is paid in NZD. Terms apply. For large businesses, running the tender costs nothing, and our share only starts once you switch.
Usually, yes. Commission is commonly paid across the life of the contract, so a longer term is worth more to whoever arranged it. Weigh a longer term on the rate it locks in, not on the reassurance it offers.
Yes. We refuse retailer commissions in New Zealand too, and the same shares apply. See business electricity in New Zealand.
Brokers are paid by retailers. We're only paid by you. Send us a bill and see what you would save.
