Time Of Use Periods by Electricity Network

Last Updated on April 17, 2024 by David Hiley

Time Of Use PeriodsTime Of Use (also known as Flexible or TOU) tariffs have different prices for electricity at different periods of the day. By understanding these time periods you can make decisions to shift when you use power to hours when it is cheaper to buy electricity from the grid. For those on TOU tariffs, it’s important to know the hours that different peak, shoulder and off-peak rates apply. 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 applies during peak solar hours and/or overnight and across weekends when demand is the lowest. Shoulder applies in some states between Peak and Off-Peak times and the cost is lower than peak. To make it easy for you to know the Time Of Use periods that apply at your location, we’ve included a rundown of all major electricity networks across Australia for residential customers.

Want to see the Cheapest Time of Use rates?

Click here for a ranking of the Cheapest Residential Time of Use rates

Want to know how to switch between tariffs?

WATTever’s Guide to Changing tariffs covers the rules and how to go about switching tariffs.
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* 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 and businesses 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.

Time of Use hours displayed are the periods published by each network. Individual retailers may offer different time of use hours – please review the factsheets.

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WATTever compares over 45 energy retailers including AGL, 1st Energy, ActewAGL, Alinta Energy, Amber, Ampol Energy, Blue NRG, CovaU, Diamond Energy, dodo, Energy Australia, Energy Locals, ENGIE, loBird Energy, Kogan Energy, Lumo Energy, nectr, Origin Energy, OVO energy, Powershop, ReAmped Energy, Red Energy, Sumo Power and Tango Energy.