How to choose the right electricity plan

Step 1: Understand your electricity use

Choosing the right retail pricing plan starts with knowing your electricity consumption patterns.

Start by becoming familiar with your existing plan and bill. If you look at your bill and it seems to be written in another language, we feel you. We’ve tried to explain some of the terminology.

✅ Tip: The ideal time to review your bill is when you have 12 months worth of bills with your current set-up (e.g. solar, electric appliances, home battery, EV) so you can accurately see what you use and produce in summer and winter.

Time-of-use vs Flat rate

Time-of-use rates cost less during low-demand hours (midday, midnight, weekends) and more during peak demand hours (breakfast time, weekday evenings). Time-of-use pricing is ideal for households and businesses that can shift high-energy activities—such as running air conditioners, hot water systems, pool pumps, clothes dryers, dishwashers, and charging an EV—to off-peak times to take advantage of lower rates. If you already have a smart meter, it’s possible you’re already on a time-of-use rate.

Flat rates—also known as an ‘anytime tariff’—charge a consistent rate for electricity usage, regardless of the time of day. These plans are typically best for households that use a lot of electricity on weekday afternoons and evenings, cannot shift energy use to off-peak times, and prefer predictable pricing as there are no time-of-use variations.

Controlled load

Controlled load is a good option for people who don’t have solar to run regular appliances like hot water systems.

Controlled load applies only to specific appliances that are connected to a separately metered circuit. Power to these circuits is externally regulated, meaning the appliance can only operate during designated off-peak periods, typically when demand for electricity is lower (overnight or midday). Controlled load helps you save money if you are happy to have certain appliances—such as storage hot water systems and pool pumps—controlled separately to secure you a lower electricity price.

Solar and Feed-in Tariffs

How much electricity are your solar panels producing? To work out how much you are producing each day on average, you can look at your solar inverter app, your smart energy device app, your bills, or input your meter number into a calculator like this one. Make sure you include both summer and winter bills to see the impact of shorter days or shading.

Feed-in Tariffs (FiTs) are not worth much these days, with the average feed-in tariff paying 3-8 cents per kilowatt hour. While some energy retailers might offer higher feed-in tariffs, these are often coupled with higher usage costs that could make your plan more expensive overall.

✅ Tip: Preference an electricity plan with a low usage charge over a high feed-in tariff.

Step 3: Set and save

Soak up your own solar power

In general, the more you use your own free solar, the cheaper your overall bills will be. To do this, try timing some of your high energy use activities during the day. For example, you might set your hot water to heat between 10am and 2pm, or if you are at home, plan to charge your EV at this time.

✅ Tip: If you have solar panels, the best thing you can do is use as much of your own power as you can.

Consider a home battery

Installing a home battery is a great way of storing your solar power for use during peak hours when electricity is more expensive (ie. dinner time). If you already have a home battery or are wondering whether it’s worth getting one, there are a few things to consider:

Are you ready to disconnect your gas?

If you have removed all the gas appliances from your home, you should disconnect the gas to avoid paying the daily gas use charge.