Each year, the costs that determine your electricity tariff: wholesale electricity, network charges (poles and wires), government schemes, and other factors; shift due to economic and market conditions. As a result, we adjust our pricing annually to reflect these changes. Increasingly, it’s the volatility in these costs, rather than just average increases, that significantly impacts electricity prices.
This financial year, Indigo Power offers two distinct plans to help manage these shifts:
Community Energy Hub Plan
Our original tariff plan aims to protect customers by providing stable pricing, minimising exposure to price volatility.
Energy Shapers Plan
This plan features a significant daytime rebate, enabling customers to benefit from market extremes while also protecting them from price extremes.
Energy prices have risen this financial year, but so have opportunities for customers to leverage pricing variations. Customers can take advantage of these opportunities through our new Time-of-Use Feed-in Tariff and the Energy Shaper Solar Sponge Credit/Rebate.
Time-of-Use Feed-in Tariff
We’ve introduced a Time-of-Use feed-in tariff designed to better manage the challenges of excess solar energy exports. This tariff offers variable rates based on when solar energy is exported to the grid, encouraging customers to export electricity when it’s most beneficial for the community and at its highest value.
The Time-of-Use periods vary by region, but all customers will benefit by exporting during late afternoon and early evening hours. The current rates are:
New South Wales
- Endeavour Distribution Area: Peak 13.3 c/kWh, Shoulder 5.4 c/kWh, Off-Peak 2.9 c/kWh
- AusGrid Distribution Area: Peak 15.0 c/kWh, Shoulder 6.4 c/kWh, Off-Peak 2.7 c/kWh
- Essential Energy Distribution Area: Peak 19.0 c/kWh, Shoulder 8.5 c/kWh, Off-Peak 2.0 c/kWh
Victoria (All Distributors)
- Peak 12.0 c/kWh, Shoulder 1.5 c/kWh, Off-Peak 0.0 c/kWh
Why are rates different between states and distributors?
Rates differ because of varying pricing profiles in the New South Wales and Victorian spot markets. Solar exports hold more value in the New South Wales market, and differences in peak timing and duration also affect rates. For example, Essential Energy offers the highest peak rate because its peak window is only from 5pm to 8pm, compared to Victoria’s 4pm to 9pm period.
To see your specific tariffs, visit our website and enter your address. If you’re an existing customer currently on a flat feed-in tariff and would like to switch to a Time-of-Use tariff, contact us and we’ll manage the change for you.
Energy Shapers Daytime Rebate
Due to increasing solar energy production pushing spot prices extremely low, or even negative, during peak solar periods, we’ve increased the daytime rebate within the Energy Shapers plan.
New South Wales Energy Shapers Plan Residential Solar Soak Credit
The following credit is applied for any electricity imported in the solar soak period:
- Endeavour distribution area: 22.28 c/kWh
- AusGrid distribution area: 18.23 c/kWh
- Essential Energy distribution area: 16.42 c/kWh
Victoria Energy Shapers Plan Residential Solar Soak Credit
- A credit of 16.92 c/kWh is applied to electricity imported between 10am and 3pm, year-round.
Business customer rebates are also available. Check your specific credit amount by entering your address on our website.
Maximising your savings
Combining the Time-of-Use feed-in tariff with the Energy Shapers credit can significantly benefit customers able to strategically shift their energy use. Exporting energy during shoulder or peak periods and maximising consumption during high solar production periods can yield material savings. Effective ways to shift electricity consumption include using electric vehicles, home batteries, hot water systems, pool pumps, heat pumps, and reverse-cycle air conditioners during the middle of the day. Many customers may already naturally use energy at these beneficial times, resulting in effortless savings.
Free webinar: Understand the drivers behind electricity pricing
To help our customers better understand electricity pricing and the factors influencing changes in the electricity market, we’re hosting a free webinar presented by Indigo Power analyst Dr Nick Mason-Smith.
Join us on Thursday 24 July at 11:00 am for our insights into the electricity market and practical advice on navigating these changes.
Register here for the webinar.
Ben is Indigo Power’s Managing Director. He has a passion for collaborative initiatives that positively impact our communities. Ben leads our skilled and committed projects team, driving the uptake of community-scale clean energy technologies in communities around Australia.