Does free power beat your plan?
A free-power plan gives you three hours of free electricity a day and charges more for the other twenty-one. This calculator prices both halves against your own usage, so you can see whether the switch saves money or just moves it around.
Rates and assumptions checked
Worked examples
The same engine as the calculator, run at build time on four households against the 2026-27 reference prices. Illustrations, not your result: most market plans are cheaper than the reference price, which makes the free-power plan look worse.
Sydney, three people, moves nothing
Ausgrid network, the regulator's typical usage pattern, 6,361 kWh a year, currently on the time-of-use reference plan. Changes no habits.
Current plan $2,682 a year, free-power plan $2,682 a year. Exactly the same: the regulator designed it that way.
Sydney, three people, dishwasher, washing and dryer moved to midday
Same home, but runs the dishwasher, one wash a day and three dryer loads a week in the free hours: about 3 kWh a day moved.
Current plan $2,571 a year, free-power plan $2,262 a year. The free-power plan is $309 cheaper.
Brisbane, four people, EV charged at midday
Energex network, 7,682 kWh a year, on the flat-rate reference plan. Charges an EV doing average Australian driving (about 30 km a day) in the free hours: 4.4 kWh a day moved.
Current plan $2,850 a year, free-power plan $2,182 a year. The free-power plan is $667 cheaper.
Adelaide, two people, rooftop solar exporting 3,000 kWh
SA Power Networks, solar home profile, on the time-of-use reference plan with a 4c feed-in tariff. The free-power plan pays 0c for exports. Moves nothing.
Current plan $2,920 a year, free-power plan $3,145 a year. The free-power plan costs $225 more.
How the sums work
- Your annual usage is spread across the 24 hours of an average day using the regulator's own 2026-27 load profile for your network. In Victoria, which has no AER profile, we use the Sydney shape rescaled to the ESC's Victorian reference split.
- Every hour is priced at the rate that applies then. Where a peak only applies in some months (Ausgrid) or on working weekdays (Endeavour), the hour is priced at the average across the year.
- Anything you move comes out of your 4pm to 9am usage, in proportion, and goes into the free hours. The same move applies to your current plan.
- Free usage stops at the daily cap. Above it, the plan's above-cap rate applies.
- Supply charges are added for 365 days and solar exports are credited at each plan's feed-in tariff.
- A difference under $50 a year is reported as too close to call.
- The "someone home" and "rooftop solar" home types are our assumptions: they scale your 9am to 4pm usage by 1.5 and 0.15 respectively.
Common questions
Why would a free electricity plan cost me more?
Because the free hours are three of twenty-four. The regulated free-power plans charge more than the standard time-of-use reference plan for the other hours: 1 to 4 cents per kWh more, by the regulator's design. Most also pay a lower feed-in tariff. If most of your usage is in the evening and you cannot move it, those higher rates can outweigh the free hours.
What does moving usage do in the calculator?
It takes the electricity you tick from your usage between 4pm and 9am, in proportion to when you use it, and puts it in the free hours. The same move is applied to your current plan too, so a time-of-use plan you already have gets the credit for cheaper midday hours. Crediting it only to the free plan would flatter the switch.
I have solar panels. Is free midday power worth it?
Usually less than for a home without solar. Your panels already cover most of your midday usage, so the free window has little to replace, and these plans mostly pay 0 to 3 cents for exports. Choose the rooftop solar home type, enter your annual export and both feed-in tariffs. Homes with a battery or an EV are the exception: they can soak up free grid power, especially on cloudy days.
Can I trust the sums?
Check them. With the regulator's own average household and no change in habits, the calculator reproduces the AER's published 2026-27 annual prices for every NSW, Queensland and SA network to within a dollar, for the flat, time-of-use and Solar Sharer plans. Every rate and assumption is listed in the sources below and every one is editable.
Where do I find my rates?
On your latest bill, or in your plan's Basic Plan Information Document, which your retailer must publish. Usage rates are in cents per kWh and supply in cents per day, including GST. Your bill usually shows average daily usage: multiply it by 365 for the annual figure.
Sources
- AER, Default Market Offer 2026-27 final determination: Solar Sharer Offer and DMO tariff caps, and the half-hourly residential load profiles, checked 17 October 2026
- Victoria Government Gazette S 498, Midday Power Saver Pricing Order 2026, checked 17 October 2026
- ESC, Victorian Default Offer 2026-27 Price Determination (flat and time-of-use tariffs), checked 17 October 2026
- ESC, Victorian Default Offer 2026-27 Final Decision Paper (reference usage split), checked 17 October 2026
- AER, Residential energy consumption benchmarks (Frontier Economics, December 2020), checked 17 October 2026
- EnergyAustralia, appliance running costs (dishwasher, washing machine, dryer, split system), checked 17 October 2026
- ACT Government, hot water energy use (electric storage and heat pump), checked 17 October 2026
- NSW Government, quick facts about EVs (14.4 kWh per 100 km), checked 17 October 2026
- ABS, Survey of Motor Vehicle Use 2020 (11,100 km average per passenger vehicle), checked 17 October 2026