Electricity Plan Comparison
Estimate your annual electricity cost across major retailers by state, using your actual usage. Estimates only — always confirm with the retailer's official Basic Plan Information Document.
Electricity Cost Estimator
Select your state and enter your usage to compare estimated annual costs.
Why This Tool Uses Estimates, Not "Live" Plan Data
✓ Indicative rates benchmarked against AER Default Market Offer, Victorian Default Offer, and published retailer averages — last checked June 2026. Treat as a starting comparison, not a quote.
Unlike currency or crypto prices, there's no free public API that returns live, complete electricity plan data for Australian retailers — that data sits behind comparison platforms like Canstar, Finder, and the government's own Energy Made Easy, which licence or directly collect retailer pricing rather than expose it via an open feed. Building a tool that claimed to be "live" without one of those data relationships would mean either scraping (fragile and likely to break or breach terms) or quietly serving stale numbers labelled as current — both worse outcomes than being upfront that this is an estimate.
What this tool does instead: it uses representative usage and feed-in tariff rates benchmarked against the Australian Energy Regulator's Default Market Offer and Victoria's equivalent Default Offer, which set the reference price retailers are compared against, cross-checked against published averages from comparison sites like Canstar. It's a genuinely useful starting point for understanding the shape of your bill and the ballpark difference between a cheap and expensive plan in your state — not a substitute for checking an actual current quote.
One more honest limitation: the four retailers shown per state are a representative sample, not every available plan, and the rates are state-wide averages rather than figures for your specific distribution zone. Within any one state, the gap between the cheapest and most expensive available plan is often larger than the gap shown here between our sample retailers — which is exactly why a binding, address-specific comparison through the government's own tool matters more than this estimate once you're actually ready to switch.
How Bills Are Calculated
| Component | Unit | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Usage rate | c/kWh | Charged on every kWh you consume from the grid |
| Daily supply charge | c/day | Fixed fee for grid connection, regardless of usage |
| Solar feed-in tariff (FiT) | c/kWh | Credit for electricity you export back to the grid |
← Swipe to see all columns
Worked Example
NSW, 4,200 kWh/year, No Solar
Usage cost: 4,200 kWh × ~30c/kWh ≈ $1,260
Supply charge: 365 days × ~105c/day ≈ $383
Estimated annual total ≈ $1,643Rates vary significantly even within one state, depending on your specific distributor, network zone, and whether you're on a single-rate or time-of-use tariff. For a binding comparison tailored to your address, run your last bill through Energy Made Easy — the free, government-run comparator that does have access to live retailer offer data. If you're weighing up solar as a way to cut these costs structurally rather than just switching retailers, our Solar Savings Calculator is the next step.
Frequently Asked Questions
No — there's no free public API for live Australian electricity retailer pricing. These are indicative estimates benchmarked against AER and Victorian Default Offer reference prices, refreshed periodically rather than in real time. Always confirm with the retailer's current fact sheet before switching.
The usage rate (c/kWh) is charged on the electricity you actually consume. The daily supply charge (c/day) is a fixed fee for being connected to the grid, charged regardless of how much you use.
Energy Made Easy (energymadeeasy.gov.au) is the free, Australian Government-run comparator with access to live, address-specific retailer offers — use it before actually switching providers.
Network distribution costs vary by zone, and competing retailers set their own margins on top within regulated limits. Your specific distributor and tariff type (single-rate vs time-of-use) both affect your actual rate.
No. Solar doesn't change the rate you pay for grid electricity you import — it reduces how much you need to import in the first place, and earns a separate feed-in tariff credit for what you export.
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