Households in Australia can't easily tell which electricity plan is cheapest for the way they actually use power.
Households on old or default electricity plans
Where it stands
- Sourced (done)
- Kit (done)
- Wanted (next)
- Building
- Solved
How this problem came to be
- Found2 sourcesreneweconomy.com.au, itwire.com
- Quoted4 claimseach checked against its page
- BriefWrittenand what solved looks like
- Market2 signals2.5 million customers
- Kit5 steps24 tools · 6 routes
- People0 want0 live it · 0 would test
The problem, broken down
- Who it hurts
- Households who have stayed on the same plan for years or on the default offer, including people with solar or changing usage.
- The moment
- A quarterly bill after a price rise, with a line saying they could save by switching but no clear answer on which plan fits them.
- What people do today
- People ignore the savings line, call their retailer, or try comparison sites that ask for usage they don't know.
- Why it's unsolved
- Plans differ by tariff type, time of use and discounts, so the cheapest plan depends on a household's own meter data, which most people never see in a usable form.
- What solved looks like
- A household uploads a bill or connects their smart meter data, and gets a ranked list of current plans priced on their real half-hourly use over the last year, with the yearly saving and the steps to switch.
Evidence
Every claim is tied to the source it comes from- 1Customers in default offer regions who move from a standing offer to the median market offer can save between 4% in South Australia and 11% in New South Wales, according to the Australian Energy Regulator's report.
- 2A typical customer moving from the median offer to the lowest offer in their region could save from $200 in Queensland to $420 in South Australia.
- 3The ACCC found 37%, or nearly 2.5 million customers, were paying prices at or above the default offer, and more than 400,000 were paying over 10% above it.
- 4About 27% of residential customers were on their retailer's best plan at some point in 2024-25.
Builders still need to know
Written from the cited sources. Anything they don't say is left as a question, not a guess.
Sources
From a public page with a citation.
- [1]iTWire: ACCC urges households to change electricity plans (Dec 2025)
- [2]RenewEconomy: Bill shock, the up to $420 gap between median plans and lowest deals (Apr 2026)
What the source says, in short
Customers in default offer regions who move from a standing offer to the median market offer can save between 4% in South Australia and 11% in New South Wales, according to the Australian Energy Regulator's report. A typical customer moving from the median offer to the lowest offer in their region could save from $200 in Queensland to $420 in South Australia. The ACCC found 37%, or nearly 2.5 million customers, were paying prices at or above the default offer, and more than 400,000 were paying over 10% above it. About 27% of residential customers were on their retailer's best plan at some point in 2024-25.
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How big this is, from the evidence
- iTWire: ACCC urges households to change electricity plans (Dec 2025) ↗Who it touches · High confidence2.5 million customers“The ACCC found 37%, or nearly 2.5 million customers, were paying prices at or above the default offer, and more than 400,000 were paying over 10% above it.”
- iTWire: ACCC urges households to change electricity plans (Dec 2025) ↗Who it touches · High confidence27% of residential customers“About 27% of residential customers were on their retailer's best plan at some point in 2024-25.”
How these were measured: A figure quoted in the problem's evidence, checked against its source when the brief was written.
For whoever takes this up
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