Solar feed-in tariffs

Feed-in tariffs in each state

NSW. IPART sets a benchmark, not a minimum, and retailers do not have to offer it. It cut the all-day range to 3.4-6.5c because wholesale prices are lower when solar is exporting. In May 2026 IPART found retailer flat feed-in offers from 0 to about 12c, and some time-varying ones that pay more from 5pm to 9pm. See comparing electricity in NSW.

Queensland. In the Ergon Energy retail area the QCA regulates the rate: 6.006c for 2026-27, down from 8.66c, reflecting lower energy costs and more export data from digital meters. In South East Queensland retailers set their own. See comparing electricity in Queensland.

South Australia. No minimum since 1 January 2017; retailers set their own rates and structures, including time-of-use feed-in tariffs. See comparing electricity in SA.

Victoria. The ESC no longer sets minimum feed-in tariffs; the last ones applied until 30 June 2025. A retailer's feed-in tariff cannot be below 0c. See comparing electricity in Victoria.

Export charges: two-way network tariffs

Networks can now charge for solar exports above a free threshold and reward exports in the evening. These are network charges billed to your retailer, which decides whether and how to pass them on. They are small, but they push midday feed-in tariffs toward zero.

• Ausgrid: 1.23c per kWh for exports 10am-3pm above about 200 kWh a month, and a 3.85c reward for exports 4pm-9pm. It applies to export-ready customers from July 2025; Ausgrid does not say which financial year the rates are for.
• SA Power Networks (2026-27): with a smart meter, 1.00c per kWh beyond a free allowance of 9 kWh per day exported 10am-4pm; on the opt-in electrify tariff a 13.22c credit for exports 5pm-9pm.
• Endeavour and Essential Energy: IPART confirms both have export tariffs; we have not verified the rates.
• Energex and the Victorian networks: not yet researched.

Why free-power plans pay so little for exports

The Solar Sharer rules say nothing about feed-in tariffs, so each retailer picks its own, and most have picked very little: Ausgrid 0-3c, Energex 0-5c, SA Power Networks 0-3c, CitiPower 0-1.5c across the plans in our register. That is the quiet cost of a free-power plan for a solar home. You get free imports for three hours, at the time your panels are probably covering most of your use anyway, and you may give up most of your export income.

The trade-off, worked through

Here is the same calculator engine the savings calculator uses, run on a Sydney home: 2 people on the Ausgrid network, 5,237 kWh a year from the grid with the regulator's usage pattern reshaped for rooftop solar (our assumption), exporting 3,000 kWh a year. It is on the time-of-use reference plan with a 5c feed-in tariff, inside IPART's benchmark range. We price the Solar Sharer at its maximum rates, with the lowest (0c) and highest (3c) feed-in in our Ausgrid data, with and without moving the dishwasher, a daily warm wash and three dryer loads a week (3.1 kWh a day) into the free hours.

At 5c, 3,000 kWh of exports is worth $150 a year. If this home moves nothing and takes a 0c plan, it is $297 a year worse off. Moving 3.1 kWh a day into the window puts it $12 a year ahead, which is barely worth the switch. On these numbers, a home that moves those loads and exports more than about 3,200 kWh a year loses the saving to the feed-in gap.

The rule of thumb: the more you export and the less you can move, the less a free-power plan suits you. A home with a battery or an EV that can soak up midday power gets more from the free hours, and our guides to batteries and free power and EV plans cover it. Before you switch, run your own exports and feed-in through the calculator.

Rules that protect your feed-in tariff

From 1 July 2026, on a market retail contract, a retailer can reduce energy payments such as feed-in tariffs only once every 12 months. When you switch, the new plan's rate applies from the transfer date, so check it before you agree. Read how to switch electricity provider.