Australia's Electricity Bill Calculator, Rates and Guides

The cheapest plan depends on when you use power, your network zone and whether you have solar. Households that can move washing, dishwashing and EV charging into cheaper hours usually do better on time-of-use plans. The government comparison sites are Energy Made Easy for most states and Victorian Energy Compare in Victoria. Our state pages list the regulated reference price, which is the ceiling a good market offer should sit well under.

The Default Market Offer is the most a retailer can charge a household on a standing offer in NSW, South East Queensland and South Australia. The AER sets it each year as an annual bill at a benchmark usage. For 2026-27 the Ausgrid cap is $1,899 a year at 3,900 kWh, which works out to about 33.14c/kWh plus $1.66 a day. It also acts as the yardstick retailers must compare their offers against.

Multiply your usage in kWh by your rate in cents, then add the daily supply charge for every day in the billing period. For example, 1,000 kWh at 33.14c is $331.40, and 91 days of supply at $1.66 is $151.06, so the quarter comes to about $482. If you have solar, take off your exports multiplied by your feed-in rate. Our bill calculator does this with your state's current rates.

They vary a lot by state. IPART suggests 3.4 to 6.5c/kWh in NSW, regional Queensland has a regulated 6.006c, Tasmania 9.276c and the NT 9.33c, or 18.66c for evening exports with a smart meter. Victoria, South Australia, the ACT and South East Queensland have no regulated minimum, so the rate is whatever your retailer offers. Many retailers now pay less for midday exports than for evening ones.

Each network and plan sets its own times, so check your bill or price fact sheet. On the Victorian Default Offer, for example, peak runs 4pm to 9pm, a cheaper solar soak period runs 11am to 4pm, and off-peak covers 9pm to 11am. Most networks now treat late afternoon and evening as peak. Controlled load circuits for hot water usually run overnight on a separate meter.

Work it out from the power the unit draws, not its cooling capacity. A split system drawing 1.5 kW for six hours uses 9 kWh. At 33c/kWh that is about $3 a day, or roughly $90 a month if you run it daily through summer. Inverter units that hold a steady temperature use far less than units cycling on and off at full power. Our appliance calculator uses your state rate.

It depends on how much solar you export and what you pay for evening power. The Cheaper Home Batteries Program cuts roughly 30% off the cost of the first 14kWh, with smaller discounts above that since 1 May 2026. Batteries pay back fastest where evening rates are high and feed-in rates are low, which describes most of the country now. Our battery calculator models the payback for your state.

Every state has a concession for card holders. For 2026-27 that includes $800 a year in the ACT, $399.47 in Queensland, $377.14 in WA, up to $291.27 in SA, about $673 in Tasmania and up to $1,200 in the NT. NSW pays up to $285 through its Low Income Household Rebate and Victoria takes 17.5% off bills through its annual concession. Most need a Pensioner Concession or Health Care Card.

It is a fixed amount you pay for every day you are connected to the grid, whatever you use. It covers network costs such as poles, wires and meters. In 2026-27 regulated supply charges run from about 62c a day in the NT to $2.72 a day in the Essential Energy area of regional NSW. In a low-usage home it can make up a third or more of the bill.