The Ausgrid electricity network serves Sydney, the Central Coast, Hunter Region and Newcastle. Ausgrid Time Of Use (also known as Flexible or TOU) tariffs have different prices for electricity at different periods of the day. If your household is on a TOU tariff it’s important to know the hours when different peak, shoulder and off-peak rates apply. That way you could shift when you use power to times when it is cheaper to buy electricity from the grid.
Peak period electricity is the most expensive and usually applies during the afternoon and early evening during the week when demand is high.
Off-peak electricity is the cheapest and usually applies overnight and across weekends when demand is the lowest.
Shoulder applies between Peak and Off-Peak times and the cost is lower than peak.
The table below includes a rundown of time of use periods that apply in the Ausgrid network.
Scroll down to view a ranking of the Cheapest Time of Use electricity plans available to homes in the Ausgrid network.
WARNING! Only about half of retailers follow Ausgrid’s reduced Seasonal Time of Use periods. Click here to see which retailers do this – otherwise, you may face up to 600 extra hours of peak tariff period across a year.
Ausgrid (NSW) Electricity Time Of Use Periods (Sydney, Central Coast, Hunter Region and Newcastle)
* DMO/VDO Peak, Shoulder and Off-Peak Usage columns refer to the nominated split of usage between peak, shoulder and off-peak hours for the specified tariff. For tariffs listed, these splits are sourced from either the current Victorian Default Offer, Default Market Offer or based on the AER’s consumption benchmarks.
These time of use usage “splits” are intended to reflect the distribution of electricity usage for the standard peak, shoulder and off-peak hours for each tariff for an average household or business. Households who are able to shift consumption out of peak periods have the potential to reduce the proportion of peak usage and subsequently their overall electricity costs.
Cheapest Time Of Use electricity rates by retailer in New South Wales (Sydney – Ausgrid network)
WARNING! Only about half of retailers follow Ausgrid’s reduced Seasonal Time of Use periods. Click here to see which retailers do this – otherwise, you may face up to 600 extra hours of peak tariff period across a year.
^ Rates shown include GST and all available discounts. Plans are updated weekly from retailer’s Basic Plan Information Documents (BPIDs)
* Reference Price discount refers to the discount off the yearly cost of the Default Market Offer (DMO) for NSW for a household on a flat/anytime rate without controlled load tariff. Discount is calculated based on annual usage of 3,900kWh in Ausgrid (NSW). The DMO reference price discount is a guide (provided by the AER) and does not take into account solar export nor a property’s actual annual usage or when that usage occurs (for time of use plans).
“Market-linked plans” that have their rates tied directly to the wholesale market spot price are not included in the tables above because these rates vary every day and cannot be compared like-for-like with most plans where the published rate is the rate you pay. To view indicative rates and feed-in tariffs published for market-linked plans, please see WATTever’s rates pages for Amber.
– Battery only and Electric Vehicle only plans that require the household to have a battery or EV are not included in the tables above due to the small portion of consumers who qualify for these plans. These plans are still visible on the retailer rates pages.