Manage your energy costs

There are two main ways you can manage the cost of electricity to your business. The first is by ensuring you are on the best tariff and plan for the nature of your business and in particular, maximising financial advantages offered by Time of Use tariff arrangements.

The second is to make the most of opportunities to improve energy efficiency in your operations including the management of network demand charges.

Network tariffs and charges

There are different classes of tariffs depending on whether you draw your power from low or high voltage networks. There are also different categories of tariffs depending on when you use the most power.

Full background on how our network tariffs and charges are set is provided in the Affordability section of our website.

Our Tariff Structure Statement that applies from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2026 makes some significant changes to our tariffs to provide greater choice and control for business customers. Click here to view it now.

For small business customers consuming less than 40MWh per year, we’ve amended our time of use (ToU) tariff by introducing a shorter peak window of 9am to 9pm weekdays. This new tariff is now set as the default for customers upgrading to three-phase power supply and/or installing solar PV.

Any small businesses on the legacy ToU tariffs have been moved onto the new structure. There are no changes for small business customers consuming over 40MWh per year and less than 160MWh per year who are already on a demand tariff.

For large business customers using over 160MWh per year, we measure all demand between 8am and 8pm on weekdays. This provides an incentive for large businesses to, when possible, shift high electricity usage into times when lower tariff prices apply.

Click here to find more information about network charges for large electricity users. Please note that you’ll need to speak with your energy retailer to negotiate any changes to your tariff rates.

Improving workplace energy efficiency

By improving the energy efficiency of your business, you could be helping to reduce your electricity bill. The following are some initiatives you can undertake that may help – but we recommend you seek expert advice to decide the best option for your business. Specialist advisors can help with energy audits and technical support.