Tariffs
Electricity tariffs are changing
Wholesale prices in the middle of the day have fallen as solar generation has grown, and retail offers have followed. Network demand charges have not. An offer can be tested against your plant before the contract is signed.
Midday pricing
Wholesale prices now sit close to zero in the middle of the day, and sometimes below it. Offers with midday, super off-peak and sun-following rates have been written around that.
Demand charges
These are still billed on the highest half hour of import in a fixed window each month, at a rate per kVA. The window has not moved, so it now covers the cheapest hours of the day.
What that does to a plant
Moving load into the cheap hours lowers the energy charge and can raise the demand charge. Solar lowers both while it is generating. A battery does either, depending on when it charges and what the demand window is.
How an offer is tested
The plant is built once from your flows, loads and equipment limits, then run under the current contract and under the offer over the same year. The tariff is the only variable between the two runs.
Energy, demand and fixed charges are reported as separate lines, because they move independently and a single total does not show which one moved. The answer is a figure per line, not a percentage of the existing bill.