How to compare electricity plans

Step 1: use the reference price as your yardstick

Every year the regulators set a reference price for each network: the Default Market Offer (DMO) in NSW, South East Queensland and South Australia, and the Victorian Default Offer (VDO) in Victoria. It is the most a retailer can charge a customer on a standing offer, and it is the benchmark retailers must use in advertising. When a plan is described as "15% less than the reference price", it is being measured against the table above.

That gives you a quick filter. If you are on a standing offer, you pay no more than the reference price, but probably more than you need to. But the percentage is calculated on the regulator's assumed usage (3,900 kWh a year on Ausgrid, for example), so it ranks plans fairly only for a home that uses roughly that much at the usual times.

Step 2: compare annual cost, not unit rates

A plan has at least two prices: a daily supply charge, paid whether you use power or not, and a usage rate per kWh. A cheap usage rate can hide an expensive supply charge. On Ausgrid's reference plans, for example, the time-of-use supply charge is 176.41 c/day against 166.23 c/day on the flat rate: $37 a year more before you use a kWh. The time-of-use plan only wins if its usage rates save more than that.

The fix is to add it all up. Take your usage from your last four bills or your smart meter data, multiply by each rate at the times you use power, add 365 days of supply charge, and subtract any feed-in credit. That is what our calculator and the government comparators do for you.

Step 3: flat rate or time of use?

A flat rate charges the same at every hour. Time of use charges more in the late afternoon and evening and less at other times, often much less in the middle of the day. Time of use suits homes that can run appliances, hot water or an EV in the cheap hours, and it punishes homes that use most of their power from about 4pm to 9pm. Windows differ by network: see the time-of-use guide.

Step 4: count the feed-in tariff if you have solar

If you export solar, the feed-in tariff can be worth more than a small difference in usage rates. Regulated minimums have mostly gone: Victoria and South Australia have none, NSW has only a voluntary benchmark, and only regional Queensland has a regulated rate. From 1 July 2026, retailers can cut a feed-in tariff only once every 12 months. See feed-in tariffs by state.

Step 5: be sceptical of conditional discounts

Pay-on-time and direct-debit discounts only count if you never miss. Cost a plan without them, then treat the discount as a bonus. Watch for benefit periods that end: from 1 July 2026, when a plan's benefits expire you cannot be charged more than the reference price, and prices on a market plan can rise at most once every 12 months. That limits the damage, but a plan that was cheap in year one may not be in year two.

Why comparison sites never show every plan

Commercial comparison and switching services earn a fee from the retailers they list, so they show the retailers that pay them. That is legal, but it means "we compared 20 plans" can leave out the cheapest one. We work the same way when a payer is active, which is why we say so on every page and publish who pays us.

The government comparators have no such gap. Energy Made Easy covers NSW, Queensland, South Australia, the ACT and Tasmania; Victorian Energy Compare covers Victoria. Both list every generally available plan at your address and earn nothing. Use them, even if you switch somewhere else.

Read the better offer message on your bill

Your retailer already runs a comparison for you. Outside Victoria, at least every 100 days your bill must carry a message under the heading "Could you save money on another plan?". If your retailer's cheapest generally available plan for you would have cost more than $22 a year less, it must say you could save, and tell you how to switch or compare on Energy Made Easy. An AEMC rule made in September 2025 also requires that message in the emails and summaries that come with a bill, because many people never open the bill itself. It only compares your own retailer's plans, so it is a minimum, not the best you can get.

Where free-power plans fit

The Solar Sharer Offer (NSW, South East Queensland and SA) and Victoria's Midday Power Saver make three hours free every day, up to 24 kWh. They are time-of-use plans with a free window, and the other 21 hours are priced above the time-of-use reference plan. The AER says customers "on competitively priced market offers may not experience lower bills from transferring to the Solar Sharer Offer even if they change their behaviour".

Energy Consumers Australia modelled an Ausgrid home using 20 kWh a day: about $210 a year better off if 20% of its use is in the 3pm-9pm peak, about $320 worse off if 40% is. Compare one the same way as any other plan, at your own usage, and test it in the savings calculator before you opt in. Check whether you can get one with the eligibility checker, and see every retailer's rates in the retailer register.

Then switch

Switching is usually free and does not interrupt your supply. Most market contracts have no exit fee and you get 10 business days to change your mind. Read how to switch electricity provider.

Common questions

What is the best website to compare electricity plans?

The free government comparators: Energy Made Easy (run by the AER) for NSW, Queensland, South Australia, the ACT and Tasmania, and Victorian Energy Compare in Victoria. They list every generally available plan and earn nothing from your choice. Commercial comparison sites, including any we link to, only show retailers they have a deal with.

What does "X% less than the reference price" mean?

Retailers must state their prices as a percentage of the reference price: the Default Market Offer set by the AER in NSW, South East Queensland and South Australia, or the Victorian Default Offer in Victoria. It is a fair way to rank plans for a home that uses the regulator's assumed amount. If you use much more or less, or use most of it in the evening, cost the plan at your own usage.

How often should I compare electricity plans?

At least once a year, and whenever your bill says you could save. Your bill must carry a better offer message at least every 100 days telling you whether your retailer has a plan that would have cost you more than $22 a year less. Also compare when a discount or benefit period ends.

Is a free electricity plan cheaper?

Only if you can move a meaningful share of your use into the free hours. The rates outside the window are higher than the standard time-of-use reference plan, and feed-in tariffs on these plans are usually 0-3c. The AER itself warns that people on well-priced market plans may not save. Check with our savings calculator.

Sources

1. AER, Default Market Offer 2026-27 final determination (annual prices and tariff caps), checked 17 October 2026
2. AER, Default Market Offer 2026-27 information kit, checked 17 October 2026
3. ESC, Victorian Default Offer 2026-27 final decision paper, checked 17 October 2026
4. ACCC, rules for electricity retailers (Electricity Retail Code, reference price comparisons), checked 17 October 2026
5. AER, Better Bills Guideline: key obligations for energy retailers (better offer message), checked 17 October 2026
6. AEMC, Improving the ability to switch to a better offer (final determination), checked 17 October 2026
7. AEMC, Improving consumer confidence in retail energy plans, final determination (from 1 July 2026), checked 17 October 2026
8. AER, Solar Sharer Offer fact sheet (DMO 8 final determination), checked 17 October 2026
9. Energy Consumers Australia, Solar Sharer Offer: how many consumers will sign up, and should they?, checked 17 October 2026
10. Energy Made Easy (AER), the government plan comparator for NSW, QLD, SA, ACT and TAS, checked 17 October 2026
11. Victorian Energy Compare (Victorian Government), checked 17 October 2026