Australia's Solar Sharer scheme backfires with costliest retail rates
Free midday electricity offer becomes most expensive pricing plan as retailers raise rates outside free hours.
What to know
- Solar Sharer—a July 2026 scheme mandating free electricity from 11am–2pm—has become Australia's costliest electricity pricing option, with retailers raising off-peak rates and supply charges to offset free hours.
- On Sydney's Ausgrid network, Solar Sharer users pay 63.69¢/kWh peak and 176.41¢/day supply charge, versus 29.8¢/kWh and 149.6¢/day on competitors' standard plans—costing high-consumption households ~$500+ more annually.
- The scheme was designed to absorb midday solar gluts and help non-solar households (renters, apartment dwellers) share renewable benefits, but dominant 'gentailers' (AGL, Energy Australia, Origin) exploited the framework with regulator approval.
- Energy policy experts note the outcome demonstrates how market structures dominated by vertically integrated generators can subvert policy intent when implementation is left to profit-maximizing firms.
The dispute None evident in provided material. · positions read across 4 posts and comments
The scheme was sabotaged by gentailers exploiting weak policy design and regulatory approval to maximize profits at consumer expense.
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“ah yes, the market efficiency of hyper capitalism running in our fabulous neoliberal paradise...”
MsDropbear42 · Mastodon
“ah yes, the market efficiency of hyper capitalism running in our fabulous neoliberal paradise...”
MsDropbear42, Social media commenter · Mastodon
Chris Bowen Federal Energy MinisterAGL, Energy Australia, Origin Major electricity retailers and generators ('gentailers')Australian Energy Regulator Government market regulator
The record 2 articles and posts · last 30 days
- summary covers to here · Aug 25, 1:08 AM · 1 piece above arrived after
What people are saying 3 voices from 2 sites · best of 4 · verbatim
- Will the government intervene to regulate pricing outside the free hours, or cap overall Solar Sharer costs?
- Can the Australian Energy Regulator be pressured to review and reject the current pricing schedules?
- Should the scheme be redesigned to include price caps or controls on off-peak rates to prevent retailer cost-shifting?
- Aug 30
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Qld owns distribution.. and it kept Ergon Retail (retail electricity sales in regional Queensland) but it sold off Energex retail to both AGL and Origin the best part of 20 years ago (the Full Retail Contestability exercise). The sales generated in excess of $2B at the time. There were a number of other state owned assets sold off in a fire sale…
- Aug 25
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I read the part you posted. And I get what they are saying about the solar sharer offers being shit compared to regular plans. But that red energy offer is still down 50c a day than what I was previously on along with cheaper rates. I just don’t see it as a failure to deliver cheaper prices given that I’m saving money on my power bill and consumer…
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K
So much for 'three hours of free power a day' in Australia. "I reviewed multiple pricing schedules on the government’s Energy Made Easy website and it’s now clear that Solar Sharer pricing has the highest cost for a household of all pricing schedules on offer" https:// reneweconomy.com.au/solar-shar…