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Electricity prices in the Essential Energy area

Essential Energy looks after the poles and wires in regional and rural NSW. Here's what a household pays for a year there: the Default Market Offer, and every single-rate plan retailers publish, all priced at the same 4,600 kWh.

The default offer

$2,604

A year, for 4,600 kWh, from 1 July 2026. That's $137 less than last year. It's the most a retailer can charge you on a standing offer.

A typical plan

$2,396

That's $208 a year less than the default offer. 83% of 133 plans from 23 retailers cost less than the default offer. The lowest is $1,908.

What every plan costs

Same usage, same area, from $1,908 to $3,176 a year. That's a gap of $1,268 for the same electricity.

$1,904 to $2,0037 plans

$2,004 to $2,1036 plans

$2,104 to $2,2039 plans

$2,204 to $2,30321 plans

$2,304 to $2,40331 plans

$2,404 to $2,50329 plans

$2,504 to $2,60321 plans

$2,604 to $2,7031 plan

$2,704 to $2,8030 plans

$2,804 to $2,9030 plans

$2,904 to $3,0035 plans

$3,004 to $3,1030 plans

$3,104 to $3,2033 plans

Coloured bars are plans that cost less than the default offer of $2,604. 16 plans also offer a discount if you pay on time or by direct debit. We haven't counted it, so they could cost less.

On a time-of-use plan?

Time-of-use plans charge more at busy times, like late afternoon, and less overnight or in the middle of the day. The default offer for one here is $2,530 a year. A typical time-of-use plan is $2,302, and 96% of 227 plans cost less than the default.

Priced with the regulator's own pattern of when a typical household here uses power through the day. If you use more at peak times, you'll pay more than this; if you can move your use to cheaper times, less.

Got a controlled load?

A controlled load is a separate meter for something like an electric hot water system, which only gets power at set times, often overnight, at a lower rate. With one, a typical household here uses 2,000 kWh a year on it, on top of 4,600 kWh for everything else. The default offer for both is $3,059 a year. A typical plan with a controlled load is $2,814, and 91% of 251 plans cost less than the default.

Priced on the plan's flat rate plus its "Controlled Load 1" tariff, the way the regulator works out the default offer.

Never switched? Check your plan

If you moved in and never picked a plan, or haven't changed in years, you may be on a standing offer. A typical standing offer here costs $2,604 a year. Moving to a typical market plan would save about $208 a year, and up to $696 on the lowest-priced plan.

Look at your bill. It must say how your price compares with the DMO: for example, "5% less than the reference price". Higher than the default offer means you could do better.
Compare for free on Energy Made Easy. It's the government's own site, with no commissions. Have your bill handy so it can use your real usage.
Check again each July. That's when the default offer and most prices change.

Look further

Electricity prices in the Ausgrid area
Electricity prices in the Endeavour Energy area
Every network area, and a postcode lookup.

Plans priced at 4,600 kWh a year, including GST and guaranteed discounts, not conditional ones. The main figures are single-rate plans; time-of-use plans and plans with a controlled load are priced separately above. Plans with demand charges aren't priced. Plans as at 16 October 2026. General information, not advice.

Sources: Default Market Offer 2026–27: © Commonwealth of Australia (Australian Energy Regulator), CC BY 4.0; Plans: each retailer's Energy Product Reference Data (Consumer Data Right), via the AER.