Electricity prices are changing. Here’s what you need to know.

In summary 

From 1 August, Indigo Power prices will change. For many customers, prices should be lower overall, but the outcome will depend on your tariff, usage, meter type, solar exports and network area. You will receive a letter soon which details exactly how these changes impact you.

The wider market is moving in the same direction. The Victorian Default Offer and New South Wales Default Market Offer are generally lower in 2026/27, mainly because wholesale and environmental costs have eased. 

There are some important changes in our pricing: 

A worked AusNet example is included in the blog below to illustrate the overall pattern: daily supply charges increase, but usage rates fall materially, resulting in lower estimated annual bills. 

In full

From 1 August, Indigo Power prices will change. For many customers, prices should be lower overall, but the outcome will depend on your tariff, usage, meter type, solar exports and network area. You will receive a letter soon which details exactly how these changes impact you. 

As we do each year, we’ve prepared this blog to help you understand the changes and what’s driving them. On Thursday 6 August, we are hosting our second annual pricing webinar, where you can learn more and ask any questions you may have.  

The three main factors influencing the price changes are: 

1. The wider market has shifted, with default offer prices generally lower in 2026/27.
2. Indigo Power has updated its own pricing approach, including how we recover fixed costs and manage market risk. 
3. Victoria has some important tariff structure changes, because Victorian electricity networks are starting a new five-year regulatory period. 

The market context: VDO in Victoria and DMO in New South Wales 

The Victorian Default Offer (VDO) and Default Market Offer (DMO) are useful benchmarks for understanding what is happening in electricity prices. 

They are not the same as Indigo Power’s offers, and they will not match every customer’s bill. But they do provide a regulated reference point for the cost of supplying electricity to customers. 

In Victoria, the Essential Services Commission has lowered the average VDO for 2026/27. For residential customers on a flat tariff, the average VDO bill is $84 lower, or five per cent down, compared with 2025/26. For small business customers on a flat tariff, the average VDO bill is $241 lower, or six per cent down. In the AusNet area specifically, where most of our customers live, the VDO reduction is larger: $160 lower for domestic customers and $502 lower for small business customers, based on the VDO’s representative usage assumptions. 

In New South Wales, the AER’s DMO also points in the same general direction. Flat-rate DMO prices are lower across the NSW regions for both residential and small business customers. Wholesale costs are lower in the NSW regions, which is one of the main reasons for the change. 

The broad market context is clear: the regulated benchmarks are generally lower. Our prices should also generally be lower, but the result will vary customer by customer. 

What is changing in Indigo Power pricing 

We have updated our prices, which will go live on August 1 this year. There are a few important changes to our prices and the way we’ve set them. 

First, we have changed our hedging approach. Retailers do not simply buy electricity at one fixed price. We need to manage wholesale market risk, including the risk that prices spike during high-demand periods. Risk management comes at a cost and is recovered in electricity prices. In the past, that risk has mostly been managed through low-risk, high-cost financial hedging.  

We are now starting to manage some of that risk ourselves with our growing fleet of community batteries. 

Community batteries are becoming part of how we manage price risk. They can charge when electricity is lower cost and renewable generation is plentiful, and discharge at times when electricity is more expensive. That does not remove market risk, and it does not mean batteries magically make all prices lower. But it gives us another tool, which is lower cost, to reduce volatility, manage exposure and keep prices as fair and stable as we can. 

Second, we have made a deliberate change to recover more of our costs through the daily supply charge, rather than through usage charges alone. 

Some customers will notice this. In many cases, the daily supply charge is going up, even though the usage rate is coming down. 

We have made this change because different customers use electricity in very different ways. Solar customers, non-solar customers, battery customers, high-usage households and low-usage households all create different costs to supply. 

If too much cost is recovered through usage charges alone, one group of customers can end up subsidising another. For example, we do not want solar customers to receive very sharp pricing that causes us to lose money, and then recover that cost from non-solar customers. That would not be fair. 

Our pricing model is designed to reduce that kind of cross-subsidy. Recovering more fixed costs through the daily supply charge helps improve fairness because it is the one part of the bill where all customers on the same tariff pay the same amount. 

Why feed-in tariffs are lower 

Solar customers will also notice that feed-in tariffs are lower. 

That is because exported energy is worth less in the market, especially during the middle of the day when there is a lot of solar generation. We know this is not welcome news for solar customers. But the same market condition that lowers the value of exports should also reduce the cost of consumption. In simple terms: when energy is worth less, we pay less for exports, but customers should also see that lower energy value reflected in what they pay to use electricity. 

This is one of the reasons we are focused on pricing that rewards customers for using electricity when renewable energy is plentiful, rather than simply exporting more solar at times when the grid already has plenty of it. 

What is changing in Victoria 

Victoria has another layer of change this year. Every five years, electricity network businesses can make structural changes to their network tariffs. Victoria’s network businesses are now entering a new five-year regulatory period, and all Victorian networks have introduced a solar soak period. 

For Indigo Power customers, the most important change is the timing. 

In our Energy Shapers Plan, we previously offered a daytime rebate between 10am and 3pm. The new Victorian network tariff solar soak period runs from 11am to 4pm. We have adjusted our rebate period to match the new network tariff period.  

That matters because the rebate on our Energy Shapers Plan can now be layered on top of a lower network tariff. This should make that five-hour period cheaper for customers who can shift usage into the middle of the day. 

The peak period has also changed in Victoria. The new peak period for most time of use customers will be between 4pm and 9pm. This is good news for customers who see their higher peak usage charges reduce by one hour. 

Our Victorian feed-in tariff times are changing to reflect these tariff changes. The peak feed-in period will remain 4pm to 9pm, but the shoulder and off-peak solar periods have changed in line with the network tariff changes.  

Please check your new rates carefully when you receive them because it is likely that the times of use periods will have changed! 

There are also new Victorian network tariffs that appear better suited to battery customers. We expect to launch new offers from spring based on those tariffs. They are likely to be similar in spirit to the Energy Shapers plan, and we hope they will allow us to offer higher feed-in tariffs for customers who can export at the times the grid values most. 

New South Wales customers 

There are no equivalent structural network tariff changes in New South Wales this year. NSW network businesses began their current regulatory period last financial year. 

What this means in practice: AusNet examples 

The examples below show how the changes work for two standard AusNet flat anytime tariffs: one residential and one small business. We have chosen the AusNet area because it is where most of our customers are, and we have chosen the flat anytime tariff because it is easiest to understand. 

These examples are based on standard usage assumptions and include GST. They do not include solar exports, concessions or other adjustments. Your actual bill will depend on your usage, tariff, meter type, solar exports and network area. 

AusNet residential flat anytime 

Assumption: 4,000 kWh per year 

Item	FY26	FY27	Change
Daily supply charge	138.59 c/day	153.78 c/day	+15.19 c/day
Anytime usage rate	36.74 c/kWh	28.60 c/kWh	-8.14 c/kWh
Estimated annual bill	$1,975.44	$1,705.30	-$270.15 / -13.7%
FY27 AusNet VDO benchmark	—	$1,748.00	Indigo Power estimate is $42.70 or 2% below

In this example, the daily supply charge increases, but the usage rate falls materially. For a customer using 4,000 kWh per year, the estimated annual bill is about $270 lower than last year and about $43 below the FY27 AusNet VDO benchmark. 

AusNet small business flat anytime 

Assumption: 10,000 kWh per year 

Item	FY26	FY27	Change
Daily supply charge	148.22 c/day	185.57 c/day	+37.35 c/day
Anytime usage rate	42.57 c/kWh	28.16 c/kWh	-14.41 c/kWh
Estimated annual bill	$4,798.00	$3,493.33	-$1,304.67 / -27.2%
FY27 AusNet VDO benchmark	—	$3,896.00	Indigo Power estimate is $402.67 below

In this example, the same pattern is clearer. The daily supply charge increases, but the usage rate falls significantly. For a small business using 10,000 kWh per year, the estimated annual bill is about $1,305 lower than last year and about $403 below the FY27 AusNet VDO benchmark. 

What customers should do next? 

When you receive your new rates, please check them carefully. The most important things to look at are: 

• your consumption rates and times; and 

• if you have solar, your feed-in tariff rates and times. 

For many customers, the new prices should be lower overall. But the exact outcome will depend on your own usage and tariff. 

If you have solar, a battery, an electric vehicle or flexible loads like hot water, pool pumps or heat pumps, it is worth paying close attention to the time periods. More and more value will come from using energy when it is cheaper and cleaner, and exporting when the grid values it most. 

If you have any questions, our friendly Beechworth-based team is always happy to help. 

If you are not an Indigo Power customer, check your rates when they go live on August 1 and compare your current electricity plan with ours.