The electricity plan with the highest feed-in tariff is often not the cheapest one for a solar home. What you pay over a year depends on four things working together: the daily supply charge, the price of the electricity you import, how those prices change through the day, and what you earn on exports. In NSW, grid electricity commonly costs 30-45 c/kWh while feed-in tariffs are commonly just a few cents per kWh, so for most solar households the import side of a plan matters more than the export side. Here is how to compare offers properly.

The four parts of a solar household's bill

Why the feed-in rate is not the whole story

Plans with generous feed-in tariffs sometimes carry higher usage rates or supply charges to pay for them. A simple illustration, using made-up round numbers rather than any real offer, shows the effect:

• Plan B pays 3 c/kWh more for exports than Plan A, but charges 3 c/kWh more for imports.
• A home that exports 3,000 kWh and imports 3,000 kWh a year comes out exactly even on either plan.
• A home that exports 2,000 kWh and imports 4,000 kWh a year earns $60 more on exports with Plan B but pays $120 more for imports, so it is $60 a year worse off before any supply charge difference.

The lesson is to cost every plan on your own full year of imports and exports, not on the headline feed-in rate. Your bills show both totals, and your retailer can provide interval data from your smart meter.

Time-of-use windows and your solar hours

Many solar homes with smart meters are on time-of-use pricing, where peak, shoulder and off-peak periods carry different rates. Some plans add a demand charge based on your highest use in a set window. Before you choose, check:

• The exact peak hours, and whether they apply on weekends.
• How much more the peak rate costs than the shoulder and off-peak rates.
• Whether any cheaper midday rate applies, which can suit homes with a battery or flexible loads.
• Whether a demand charge applies, and how it is measured.
• Whether summer and winter windows differ.

If your evenings are heavy with cooking, air-conditioning and entertainment, a flat rate may cost less. If you have moved big loads into daylight and use little in the evening peak, time-of-use pricing can work in your favour.

Demand charges deserve particular care. Instead of pricing only the energy you use, they charge for your highest burst of use, measured over a short interval within a set window, often across the whole billing period. A single hot evening with the oven, air-conditioning and an electric car charger running together can set that charge. Solar rarely helps in the evening peak, but staggering big appliances or letting a battery cover them can.

If you own a battery

• Imports shrink. A battery cuts evening imports, so the peak rate matters less and the supply charge becomes a bigger share of your bill.
• Grid charging. Some plans and battery settings let you top up from the grid in a cheap window, which only pays if the gap between cheap and peak rates is large enough to cover the energy lost in storage.
• VPP plans. A Virtual Power Plant plan lets a retailer or operator use part of your battery when the grid needs it, in return for credits or better rates. Read how much reserve you keep for blackouts and how often the battery can be called on. From 1 July 2026, NSW offers a one-off incentive of up to $1,000 for connecting an existing battery to a VPP; see our guide to NSW incentives and confirm current details on the official NSW Government page before you sign.
• Settings. After switching plans, update the battery's time windows to match the new tariff, or it may charge and discharge at the wrong times.

Reading the Basic Plan Information Document

Retailers publish a Basic Plan Information Document for their plans. It is short and dry, but it holds the details you need. Work through it in this order:

1. Eligibility: whether the plan needs a smart meter, a battery, solar or VPP enrolment.
2. The daily supply charge and every usage rate, with the times each applies.
3. The feed-in tariff, including any caps, tiers or conditions.
4. Discounts and their conditions, plus fees for late payment, paper bills or card payments.
5. Contract length, exit fees and how and when prices can change.
6. The comparison with the government reference price, remembering that it uses a standard usage level and does not reflect your solar exports.

If you would rather not do the arithmetic yourself, the market lists a Retail Electricity Tariff Comparison at $79 and an Electricity Bill Audit at $99, both indicative. And if you are tempted to add panels mainly to earn more from exports, check the value first with our system sizing guide, because extra exports at a low feed-in rate add little.

Next steps

Gather twelve months of bills, note your total imports and exports, and cost two or three plans on those figures rather than on headline rates. Browse bill audits, tariff comparisons and battery optimisation services on the energy market page, where prices are indicative and confirmed before any work goes ahead. If a battery or more solar could change which plan suits you best, request a free assessment from Blue Energy Solar.

Frequently asked questions

How often should I compare electricity plans?

At least once a year, and whenever something changes: new solar, a battery, an electric car, a notice of a price change or the end of a discount period. Retailers must tell you about price changes, but they will not always move you to the plan that best fits your circumstances. A quick yearly comparison using your latest bills is usually enough to catch a plan that has drifted out of line.

Will changing retailer affect my solar system or meter?

Changing retailer normally does not require any change to your panels, inverter or meter; the new retailer simply takes over the account and billing. Check the details, though. A VPP or battery-specific plan may require compatible equipment or new settings, you may lose any benefit tied to your old plan, and you will need to update battery time windows if the tariff periods differ.

What information do I need before comparing plans?

Have twelve months of bills, the National Metering Identifier printed on your bill, your current tariff type and its time windows, and your yearly import and export totals. If you have a battery, note its current operating mode. Interval data from your retailer or monitoring app gives the most accurate comparison, especially for time-of-use and demand tariffs.