Electricity Cost per kWh in Australia 2026: Every State

As at November 2026, the regulated electricity cost per kWh in Australia runs from 24.75 cents (Aurora Energy Tariff 32, Tasmania) to 41.91 cents (SA Power Networks Default Market Offer), including GST. A Sydney (Ausgrid) household on the Default Market Offer pays 33.14c per kWh plus 166.23c a day. A Melbourne (CitiPower) household on the Victorian Default Offer pays 25.96c per kWh plus 121.14c a day. Market offers are usually cheaper than these reference prices.

Key facts

• The Australian Energy Regulator’s 2026-27 Default Market Offer sets a flat residential usage rate of 33.1372c per kWh in Sydney (Ausgrid), 27.9744c per kWh in South East Queensland (Energex) and 41.9103c per kWh in Adelaide (SA Power Networks), all including GST, from 1 July 2026.
• The Essential Services Commission’s 2026-27 Victorian Default Offer sets flat usage rates between 25.96c per kWh (CitiPower) and 31.98c per kWh (AusNet Services) for Victorian homes, from 1 July 2026.
• Synergy’s Home Plan (A1) in Western Australia charges 33.2621c per kWh and 119.24c a day from 1 July 2026, according to the WA Government.
• Aurora Energy’s Tariff 32 in Tasmania charges 24.75c per kWh and 182.00c a day, and Jacana Energy in the Northern Territory charges 31.6788c per kWh and 62.45c a day, both from 1 July 2026.
• Solar Cobber calculation: at 4,000 kWh a year, the all-in cost (usage plus daily supply charge) of the 14 regulated residential flat tariffs we compared ranges from 37.0c to 59.8c per kWh, with a simple average of 45.25c.
• The Australian Energy Regulator says only 8% of households in Default Market Offer regions remain on the default price, and that customers on a median market offer could save 12% to 23% more by moving to the cheapest offer, as at March 2026.

Electricity cost per kWh by state and network (November 2026)

The regulated usage rate for a flat-rate home ranges from 24.75c to 41.91c per kWh, and the simple average across the 14 tariffs below is 31.37c. Every figure in this table is a regulator-set or government-published reference price, not what a particular retailer offers you.

South Australia has the highest regulated usage rate, and Victoria’s CitiPower and Tasmania’s Tariff 32 have the lowest. Cheaper usage rates are not the whole story, because the daily supply charge differs far more.

All figures include GST and apply from 1 July 2026 (the ACT contract rates are effective 31 July 2026). The WA Government page does not label the GST basis of the A1 tariff, so we show it as published. In the Northern Territory the standard residential rate applies to the first 164 kWh a day averaged over the billing period, and usage above that is charged at the business rate; this affects only very large homes. Sources: AER final determination, ESC Victorian Default Offer, WA Government, Aurora Energy, Jacana Energy and EnergyAustralia ACT rates.

Electricity cost per kWh in NSW, Queensland and Victoria

In NSW the regulated flat rate is 33.14c to 35.01c per kWh depending on the network, in South East Queensland it is 27.97c, and in Victoria it is 25.96c to 31.98c. These are the three biggest markets, so they are worth reading side by side.

• NSW: Ausgrid, Endeavour Energy and Essential Energy all sit within 2 cents of each other on usage, but Essential Energy’s daily supply charge of 272.22c is 64% higher than Ausgrid’s 166.23c.
• Queensland: Energex has the lowest Default Market Offer usage rate (27.97c) but the highest supply charge of the three coastal DMO networks (192.02c a day). Regional Queensland outside Energex is not covered by the Default Market Offer; its retailer, Ergon Retail, has regulated prices set by the Queensland Competition Authority.
• Victoria: the five Victorian zones run from 25.96c (CitiPower, Melbourne CBD and inner suburbs) to 31.98c (AusNet Services), and Victoria has the lowest average reference bill of the mainland states, $1,591 a year at 4,000 kWh according to the Essential Services Commission.

Our guide to the Default Market Offer and Victorian Default Offer explains how these reference prices are set, and electricity prices in Australia covers where they are heading.

The daily supply charge is the other half of the price

The daily supply charge ranges from 62.45c a day in the Northern Territory to 272.22c a day in regional NSW, and it is paid whatever you use. A kilowatt hour does not cost the same for a low-usage home as for a high-usage one, because the fixed charge is spread over fewer units.

Regional NSW households pay about $994 a year in supply charges, compared with about $228 a year in the Northern Territory. Our average electricity bill guide shows how much of a bill solar can and cannot remove.

Average electricity price per kWh in Australia: the all-in figure

The all-in cost per kWh, counting both the usage rate and the supply charge at 4,000 kWh a year, ranges from 37.0c to 59.8c across the regulated tariffs, with a simple average of 45.25c. Nobody publishes a single national average that suits every home, so this is a method you can reproduce for your own usage.

Solar Cobber calculation. All-in cost per kWh = (daily supply charge in cents multiplied by 365, plus usage rate in cents multiplied by 4,000 kWh) divided by 4,000 kWh. We used 4,000 kWh a year for every network so the figures are comparable; the AER and ESC use their own usage levels per network (3,900 to 4,900 kWh), so the regulators’ bills in the table below differ slightly for NSW and Queensland.

Regional NSW and Adelaide cost about 58c to 60c per kWh all-in, while Melbourne’s CitiPower area and Darwin cost about 37c. That is a gap of about 60% for the same 4,000 kWh.

Solar Cobber calculation from the November 2026 tariffs above; fixed charge is the supply charge times 365 days. As a cross-check, our CitiPower, Jemena, Powercor and AusNet figures match the annual bills Canstar reports from the ESC’s 2026-27 decision ($1,481, $1,563, $1,633 and $1,748) to within a dollar.

Time-of-use electricity cost per kWh in Victoria

A time-of-use tariff charges different cents per kWh by time of day, and the Victorian Default Offer’s time-of-use rates range from 16.59c in the midday “solar soak” period to 47.64c at the evening peak. If you can run the dishwasher, pool pump and car charger at midday, the same kilowatt hour costs less than half the evening price.

The peak rate in AusNet’s zone is about 2.7 times its solar soak rate (47.64c against 17.59c). In Tasmania, Aurora’s default time-of-use Tariff 93 charges 36.1878c peak (weekdays 7am to 10am and 4pm to 9pm) and 17.0200c off-peak, with a 172.3469c daily supply charge. Our guide to peak and off-peak electricity times lists the periods in every state, and the Solar Sharer Offer guide covers the new free-midday default offers.

What market offers actually charge

Market offers are priced below the regulated reference in most states, but regulators publish the saving as an annual bill, not as a single cents-per-kWh figure. The figures below come from the Australian Energy Regulator’s quarterly retail performance reports and are the best published measure we found.

Across the NECF states, the AER says a customer on the median market offer could save $260 to $466 a year (12% to 23%) by switching to the most competitive offer. As a rough translation, Solar Cobber calculation: 11% off Ausgrid’s $1,899 Default Market Offer bill is about $209 a year, or about 5.4c per kWh at the AER’s 3,900 kWh assumption. Check your own postcode on Energy Made Easy or Victorian Energy Compare, which show the real cents per kWh for current plans.

The Australian Energy Regulator’s own short explainer video shows how the reference price is built up from network, wholesale and retail costs.

How this has changed

Sydney’s Default Market Offer bill rose about 21% in 2023-24, was roughly flat in 2024-25, rose again in 2025-26 and fell 3.4% for 2026-27. Ausgrid is the one network where we could chain the regulator’s own published bills across five years on a comparable (about 3,900 kWh) basis.

Fixed costs matter more than they used to. For 2026-27 the AER allocated fixed costs to the daily supply charge, which is why supply charges stayed high even as usage rates fell. In Victoria, the average reference bill at 4,000 kWh fell from $1,675 in 2025-26 to $1,591 in 2026-27, a drop of about 5%, according to the ESC. Our electricity prices in Australia guide covers the trend and the forecasts.

What a kWh of solar is worth: used at home or exported

A kilowatt hour of rooftop solar used in your own home is worth the retail usage rate you avoid, which is 25c to 42c, whereas the same kilowatt hour exported earns the feed-in tariff, which is typically under 10c. That is the single most important number for sizing a system and for deciding on a battery.

In Western Australia a kilowatt hour used at home is worth about 16 times the 2c midday export rate, while in Tasmania it is worth about 2.7 times the export rate.

Solar Cobber calculation: usage rate divided by export rate, and each rate multiplied by 1,000 kWh. The export rates come from the feed-in rates in our solar feed-in tariff tracker (NSW IPART benchmark, WA DEBS, Jacana, Tasmanian minimum) and, for Queensland and South Australia where retailers set the rate, the ACCC’s finding that median effective feed-in rates were about 1.9c to 4.3c in the September quarter 2025. Victoria and the ACT have no regulated or benchmark rate, so they are not charted.

What it means for your solar or battery decision

Because a kilowatt hour used at home is worth roughly 3 to 20 times an exported one, the size and timing of your usage matters more than the size of the panel array. A household that shifts washing, hot water and car charging into daylight turns 2c exports into 25c to 42c savings. The same maths is why battery payback depends so heavily on how low your feed-in rate is: a battery stores a 2c to 9c export and replaces a 25c to 42c purchase. Our how many solar panels do I need and are solar batteries worth it guides apply these numbers to real households.

To get quotes in your state, browse the solar installer directory or the top 10 solar panel installers. Ask each installer which network tariff your home is on, because the usage rate drives the saving more than the panel price does.

Method and sources

Each figure was read from the regulator or government page in November 2026. The usage rates and daily supply charges for the Default Market Offer regions come from the AER’s final determination for 2026-27 (Figure 2.1, flat rate residential tariff caps, including GST). Victorian figures come from the ESC’s 2026-27 Victorian Default Offer tables (fixed flat tariffs for domestic customers; AusNet is shown at its block rate, which is the same in both blocks). Western Australian figures are from the WA Government’s household electricity pricing page (last updated 14 July 2026). Tasmanian figures are from Aurora Energy’s 2026-27 Standing Offer Tariff Schedule, Northern Territory figures from Jacana Energy’s residential pricing page (valid 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027) and ACT figures from EnergyAustralia’s ACT standard retail contract rates effective 31 July 2026.

Solar Cobber calculations are labelled as such: the all-in cost per kWh at 4,000 kWh, the simple average of 45.25c (not weighted by customer numbers), the Ausgrid 2022-23 figure derived from the AER’s published change, and the used-versus-exported comparisons. We did not open the ICRC’s own price direction for the ACT, so the ACT usage rate is the retailer’s published standard contract rate and the 2.73% average rise reported by the ICRC is not used in any calculation. Market offer figures are the AER’s published ranges; we did not collect individual retailer plan rates.

FAQ

What is the average electricity cost per kWh in Australia?

There is no single official average, but the regulated flat usage rates range from 24.75c to 41.91c per kWh including GST, with a simple average of 31.37c across the 14 tariffs we compared. Counting the daily supply charge at 4,000 kWh a year, the all-in cost averages about 45.25c per kWh. Market offers are usually cheaper than these reference prices.

What is the electricity cost per kWh in NSW?

The regulated flat rate is 33.14c per kWh in Ausgrid’s Sydney area, 33.73c in Endeavour Energy’s area and 35.01c in regional NSW (Essential Energy), plus daily supply charges of 166.23c, 185.14c and 272.22c, all from 1 July 2026. These are the AER’s Default Market Offer caps. Most households pay less on a market offer.

What is the electricity cost per kWh in Queensland?

In South East Queensland the Default Market Offer for Energex is 27.97c per kWh plus 192.02c a day from 1 July 2026. Regional Queensland is priced separately by Ergon Retail under Queensland Competition Authority regulation, so the Energex figure does not apply there.

What is the electricity cost per kWh in Victoria?

The Victorian Default Offer for 2026-27 is 25.96c per kWh in the CitiPower zone, 27.35c in United Energy, 27.47c in Jemena, 28.22c in Powercor and 31.98c in AusNet Services, with supply charges from $1.19 to $1.38 a day. The Essential Services Commission says the average reference bill is $1,591 a year at 4,000 kWh.

Which state has the cheapest electricity per kWh?

On the regulated usage rate alone, Tasmania’s Aurora Tariff 32 is cheapest at 24.75c per kWh, followed by CitiPower in Victoria at 25.96c. Counting the daily supply charge at 4,000 kWh a year, CitiPower (37.0c) and the Northern Territory (37.4c) are cheapest all-in, and regional NSW (59.8c) and Adelaide (58.3c) are the dearest.

Why does the same kWh cost more in South Australia?

South Australia has the highest regulated usage rate at 41.91c per kWh, and it is the only Default Market Offer region where the residential reference bill rose for 2026-27, by 1.4%. We have not broken the 41.91c down into its network and wholesale parts.

Is a solar kWh worth more used at home or exported?

Used at home, it is worth the retail usage rate you avoid, which is 25c to 42c per kWh on regulated tariffs. Exported, it earns the feed-in tariff, which is typically 2c to 9c where a regulated or benchmark rate exists. In Western Australia the midday gap is about 16 to 1.

Do market offers charge less per kWh than the Default Market Offer?

Usually, yes. The AER says moving from the default price to the median market offer saves up to 11% in NSW and about 4% in South Australia, and moving to the cheapest offer saves $431 to $624 a year in DMO regions. Always compare the whole annual cost, not just the usage rate.

Do electricity prices include GST?

The regulated figures in this guide include GST, except that the WA Government’s page does not state the GST basis for the A1 tariff. Check a retailer’s fact sheet to see whether a quoted rate is shown with or without GST before comparing.

Sources

• AER, Default market offer 2026-27 final determination and Information Kit, Default Market Offer 2026-27, May 2026
• AER, Key insights, January to March 2026 retail performance data, June 2026
• AER final determination, Default market offer prices 2023-24 and 2024-25
• Essential Services Commission, Victorian Default Offer 2026-27
• WA Government, household electricity pricing
• Aurora Energy, 2026-27 Standing Offer Tariff Schedule
• Jacana Energy, residential pricing and tariffs and electricity pricing reforms
• EnergyAustralia, ACT standard retail contract rates (July 2026)
• IPART, solar feed-in tariff benchmark
• RenewEconomy, bill shock: the price gap between median plans and the lowest deals (7 April 2026)

About this guide

This guide was written by the Solar Cobber editorial team from independent desk research checked in November 2026. Solar Cobber is a free directory that may earn referral or advertising fees from installers, and commercial relationships never affect our content. This is general information, not financial advice. Prices and rates change, so check the linked regulator page before you decide. To report an error, contact us.