What is the best electricity and gas plan for summer?
No plan is the cheapest for every home over summer. It depends on how you use power, and whether you have solar panels or a battery. Here is what changes on Victorian plans in summer, and how to find the cheapest plan for yours.
Do electricity prices change in summer?
Rarely. Most Victorian electricity plans charge the same rates all year. A few change their prices or hours by season.
What changes in summer is how you use power, and what solar panels produce:
- Air conditioning runs in the afternoon and evening. On a time-of-use plan that often lands in the peak, the dearest rate of the day.
- Solar panels export the most in summer, so a plan’s feed-in tariff is worth more.
- A battery fills up from the panels on sunny days, so it covers more of your evening use. The peak rate then matters less.
- A free midday window is worth less to a solar home in summer, because the panels already cover most midday use. The exception is a home with a battery, on a plan with a good evening feed-in: it can fill the battery free at midday and sell the power in the evening.
So the plan that is cheapest over a whole year may not be the cheapest over summer.
Do gas prices change in summer?
On some plans. Some gas plans charge less per MJ in summer than in winter. How common that is depends on your gas network, which your gas bill names as the distributor.
Most homes use far less gas in summer, because the heating is off. The daily supply charge stays the same, so it becomes a bigger share of the bill.
How do I find the cheapest plan for my summer?
Price every plan on your own usage from last summer. Upload your meter data, then choose Summer as the comparison period. Nemity prices each plan on your usage from 1 December to 28 February. Victorian Energy Compare also uses your meter data, but gives one total for a whole year.