billing

[shafted]

I was wondering how AGL can charge for "supply" when we have supplied more power than what we actually used?

[Mick5]

Yeah good point but unfortunately it’s the cost passed on from your DNSP to your retailer for the poles and wires infrastructure so regardless of import or export it’s a cost we all have to share to have access to grid supply.

[Lester]

Not only poles and wires charges in your tariff, but daily supply charge of course . . . I believe some charge poles and wires in the tariff, while others put some or all of that into supply charge.

So you put X kwh solar into the grid, used Y kwh from the grid . . . there can be significant differences in the FIT and usage charge, and at various times of day if on a TOU plan tariff, Plus TOU times can vary dramatically between states and regions within states where applicable.

For example here in SA, we have only one DNSP, and the TOU tariffs for peak are 13 hours a day.

Between 0600 and 1000, and between 1500 and midnight, covering ALL the busy times of early morning and the whole mid afternoon through all the evening to midnight.

So the Peak TOU tariff here is 53c/kwh.

The FIT paid in SA is 2c.

So if you solar contribution is to counter just your peak usage, you need to be putting in more than 26x the solar to the grid than you are using by that peak usage . . . next cheapest is Shoulder between 1000 and 1500, that's ~ 27c.

All DNSPs have discrepancies in usage vs FIT, some are only 2.5x, up to what I think is the worse case here in SA as above.

[Starbucks]

That is a great breakdown of the SA situation. The 26:1 ratio for FIT vs. Peak usage is eye-opening and really highlights why self-consumption is the only way to make solar viable now. The discrepancy between states is becoming a huge hurdle for solar owners.

Regards :  Starbucks calorie checker

[Lester]

@Starbucks "really highlights why self-consumption is the only way to make solar viable now"

It's probably been like that in SA for our household since July 2024, when the FIT dropped from 6c to 4c.

For the first 6 months of solar through early 2023/4 summer, we could get small daily ~ 50c credits, even allowing for the supply charge of $1 a day.

This year at 2c I don't think we'll ever get daily credit again, based on recent weeks and fine weather (we had almost no spring, was like winter) we might just cover our power on the best days, with maybe just the daily supply charge always remaining on the bills.

It seems that in SA most of the poles / wires charges are put through on tariff, rather than supply charge, some eastern states have supply charges of up to $2 a day.

Yes, self consumption is becoming more important in Australia, especially in SA with that tariff / fit discrepancy. 

"The discrepancy between states is becoming a huge hurdle for solar owners."

Some states will still do ok, until the pendulum swings more against them.

The whole scenario has led to many solar owners needing to get a battery added, easy to then shift that stored energy to the peak usage times and eliminate grid usage through that costly time of use.

We use a heck of a lot of our solar now during production hours, outside meaningful solar hours, we have it down to almost a flat line tick over usage in all but dinner time peak use (in summer we cover most of that too with DST), so not sure a battery will be cost / benefit positive for us, maybe for the future proofing a little it might be nice.

Will decide early into the first quarter of 2026, as from May1st, the battery rebate will be reduced dramatically.

[NeilC]

@shafted 

AGL do not charge a SUPPLY fee.

AGL is a RETAILER of electricity and only collects the SUPPLY fee on behalf of your supplier.

Your supplier is listed on the first page of your electricity bill near the top under Need Help? /  Faults or emergencies.

Your supplier is the company that supplies the power to your premise via the necessary poles, transformers and such like.

As you can see on your bill, your SUPPLIER is the first contact in the event of faults like loss of power or emergencies such trees falling on power lines.