Is SSO worth it?

Ron0967 — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 22:26:53 GMT

Hey AGL. I'm in NSW, and enquiring about this Solar Sharer Offer (SSO) that's been publicised here in The Hawkesbury.

I am currently on the 'Solar Savers' plan, but still paying an average of $180/month on power. No, I do not have gas on my property.

Is shifting to this SSO plan worth it?

I'm trying to contact you on 131 245 on a Saturday morning and I've been on hold (cos of an 'unusual number of calls' at 8AM!) for almost half an hour now listening to your elevator music. It seems like contacting the dead is easier than contacting you. So I'm here in this forum while waiting.

Please provide a clarification at your earliest convenience.

Thanks.

Re: Is SSO worth it?

Lester — Sat, 04 Jul 2026 02:00:26 GMT

@Ron0967 almost impossible for anyone (inc AGL) to answer that, there are so many variables.

All I can say is you need to look at your own power usage, needs, times of day, how much you can shift to the 3 free hours, and take into account the higher daily supply charge and higher tariffs for other 21 hours a day.

Is all that going to make the 3 free irrelevant, maybe even producing higher bills ??!!

There have been a few SSO threads on the forum recently, one of my answers might help you more, copy pasted here . . .

"Apparently you must call to get onto the SSO offers a power retailer now must at least offer.

Be aware though, to get a SSO you must have / get a smart meter installed and be on a TOU (time of use) plan.

While some can benefit from these SSO's, TOU tariff can be a heavy blow depending on what state / region you are in, your DNSP (electricity provider) tariffs and hours for the various times of use during the day.

It's ALWAYS more costly for power with these SSO's when MOST people need to use power, early in the morning while preparing for work, and especially late pm / evenings for when working families are home and going through the evening heavy power usage routine.

Eg, here in SA, our peak tariffs apply 13 hours a day !!

For me at least on a special plan . . . 0600-1000, and the worst one 1500 to midnight, and that peak tariff now from yesterday is 57.409c / kwh.

If you are home during the day, and you can use a LOT more power when cheaper (up to the limit of 24kwh) with a SSO (Solar Share Offer), 3 hours free power middle of each day coming online, but watch the much higher daily supply charges and higher peak time of day rates.

You must be very frugal with power use outside the 3 free hours, this can't be stated enough.

Be aware of the traps you can fall into with a smart meter, mainly if you are a working family home with a TOU plan, you can only set timers so much, and still use a lot during you local peak time$ of u$e."

If you are on single tariff now, going onto TOU might be a hit for you in other times of use.

I would get your 4 annual bills, and look at each one, how much power you use, when you use it, when you can shift usage to the 3 free hours, and consider all the differences in higher daily supply charge and other times of day higher tariffs . . .

Ron, you can probably start to see it's so complex to actually compare all that properly, even if you are a wizard with spreadsheets.

Re: Is SSO worth it?

Ron0967 — Sat, 04 Jul 2026 02:30:09 GMT

@Lester I managed to speak to one of their CSAs this morning and its all been sorted out.

The insane increase in Peak and Supply Charges isn't enough to offset the 3-hour 'free' window, even if I'm WFH most days with two PCs in-use.

Thanks for your reply.

Consider this thread closed.

Cheers.

topic Is SSO worth it? in Energy Accounts & Plans

Is SSO worth it?

Re: Is SSO worth it?

Re: Is SSO worth it?