MELBOURNE: Australia’s energy regulator is telling consumers that the coming offer of free midday electricity is not an automatic bill cut for every household, and that savings will depend on whether people can move some of their electricity use into the designated hours. The Australian Energy Regulator’s guidance says the new Solar Sharer Offer will sit within the Default Market Offer framework from July 1, giving eligible households access to three hours of free power in the middle of the day while keeping other charges subject to regulation.
The scheme will apply in New South Wales, South Australia and South East Queensland, the regions covered by the Default Market Offer, and only to residential customers with smart meters. The free electricity window will be available to households whether they own or rent and whether or not they have rooftop solar. Customers will be able to use as much as 24 kilowatt-hours during the daily free period, a level the framework treats as roughly equivalent to a day’s electricity use for a five-person household.
Retailers with more than 1,000 customers across the Default Market Offer regions will be required to provide the new tariff as an opt-in standing offer. The regulator has set fixed free-use windows of 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in New South Wales and South East Queensland, and 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. in South Australia, with times applying year-round in local time. Retailers will not be allowed to choose different free-power periods for the standing offer.
Opt-in structure and tariff safeguards
The regulator’s fact sheet says households cannot be moved onto the Solar Sharer Offer by default. Customers must actively agree to take it up, and the tariff cannot be used when a customer is rolled onto a deemed contract or transferred at the end of a contract term. Outside the free window, charges will remain regulated under the new framework, and the offer will also include a reasonable-usage charge for electricity consumed above the 24 kilowatt-hour cap during the free period.
The regulator has also said the offer may not suit all households, even though it is designed to create savings opportunities for people able to shift demand to midday. Under the current Better Bills Guideline, retailers must consider the Solar Sharer Offer when checking whether a customer could be on a better deal, but that assessment is based on the previous 12 months of usage history. It does not assume a customer will change behaviour to make greater use of the free hours.
Rollout timetable and consumer guidance
The Australian Energy Regulator published retailer guidance on March 12 and has said its draft Default Market Offer determination for 2026-27 will be released on March 19 for consultation, with the final decision due by May 26. The wider reforms will take effect on July 1. The federal government has said the Solar Sharer Offer was introduced through changes to the Default Market Offer, which sets standing-offer protections and acts as the benchmark price retailers use when comparing market offers.
For consumers, the regulator’s position is that the new tariff should be read as a regulated option tied to usage patterns rather than as universally free electricity. The Default Market Offer remains a safeguard for people who do not switch to a market plan, while the Solar Sharer Offer adds a time-of-use option aimed at shifting demand into the middle of the day when solar generation is strongest. That makes timing, meter eligibility and household consumption habits central to whether the offer reduces bills. – By Content Syndication Services.