Electricity & gas plans

Yes, Powershop does currently offer several carbon neutral energy plans. These energy plans offset the carbon emissions associated with our customers’ usage, and are recognised under the government’s Climate Active Carbon Neutral Standard.

However, now in 2023, we recognise that carbon offsetting is not the end game. We’re in the process of refreshing our energy plans to provide more and flexible options to meet your needs and do our part for the energy transition. Part of that roadmap will mean not all our products will be 100% carbon neutral – this means we won’t offset all the carbon emissions associated with your energy usage.

Yes, you can switch to Powershop if you have been disconnected or there is no supply to your house at the moment. We will arrange for your power to be connected, but a reconnection fee may be charged. However, if you have been disconnected because of an outstanding amount with your existing retailer, they may not allow you to switch until the payment is cleared.

No, unless your property requires substantial work or an after-hours or same day re-connection or a new meter installation. (Special fees do apply in these situations and we will advise you of the costs in advance).

No, your power won't be cut off (unless your current supplier has already informed you of disconnection because of outstanding payment). Switching to Powershop just involves the transfer of information. We won't be touching any equipment affecting your supply.

To ensure we can automatically top up your account if you forget or don't get around to buying power we need to set up a preferred default payment method of either a credit, debit card or bank account details. Direct Debit: By entering your bank account details you are giving us permission to take money out of your account to pay for your power. In addition to ensure that we have the correct bank account details Powershop has a Direct Debit Confirmation Process that works in three steps: We deduct $1 by direct debit from your allocated bank account and include a five-character confirmation code in the reference field. This is to test that we have the right account number for you. We credit the $1 to your Powershop account for future use, and email you with a link to confirm your direct debit. To set up your direct debit check your bank statement, find the five-character code, click on the link in the email and enter the code to confirm we can activate your direct debit.

Before we connect your power at your new home you’ll need to ensure the main switch is in the off position. If you can’t access the property before you move in, contact your real estate agent to get this sorted for you.

Generally, providing we have a verified read from a meter, solar customers can request to be refunded for the credit in their account from solar generation at any time. If the credit is more than $100 we will refund the credit into your nominated account. To apply for a refund, solar customers can call us on 1800 462 668 or email us at info@powershop.com.au.

Powershop can service customers with basic meters. Bills will be based on estimated readings in between actual quarterly meter reads from your meter. Usage estimations can be made more accurate by entering your own meter reads into the Powershop smartphone app or your online account.

Powershop does support solar installations that are configured with a Gross Meter in NSW. Gross Metering does not apply in South East Queensland, Victoria or South Australia.

Details of feed-in and export generation can be found on the monthly Powershop bill email under “Usage.” This amount is based on either a verified read from your meter, or for customers with basic meters, estimation. Powershop will also issue a credit note detailing your solar rebate amount. This credit note is available in the accounts section of your online account or the Powershop app.

Solar customers with smart meters can view their consumption on our Heat Map tools in their online portal. The brighter the square – the more energy your solar is exporting to the grid. If you’ve got a black square in the middle of a sunny day, don’t worry, this just means your solar is being used in your home as it’s generated! Heat Map functionality is currently unavailable for solar customers with basic meters.

Net Metering allows solar customers to be paid for any excess generation that has not been consumed by the household. Gross Metering means all of the solar generation is exported straight to the grid and solar customers are paid for all of their solar generation.

Yes. Customers can manually enter meter usage readings themselves. Read all about it here.

Yes. Powershop customers with basic meters can enter their own feed-in readings. If you do enter your own feed-in reading, we’ll issue your solar rebate as a power credit as usual. However, we cannot refund this power credit to your bank account unless we have an official reading from your distributor.

Solar customers with smart meters can view their consumption on their Feed-In Heat Map tool. This functionality is currently unavailable for solar customers with basic meters.

Details of feed-in and export generation can be found on your monthly bill email under ‘Usage’.

Powershop will also issue a credit note detailing your solar rebate amount. This credit note is available in the ‘Accounts’ section of your online account or mobile app.

You can also see your feed-in in your online account under Usage and then Feed-in Patterns.

Once you’ve got your panels installed, call us on 1800 462 668 so we can make sure you’re all set up and ready to get your Feed-in Tariff.

The Powershop app shows your solar exports on a daily and half hourly basis (as long as you have a smart meter, which most properties with solar do). Learn more about solar insights in the app.

Knowing your solar system and how to use it will help you get the best savings. It can also help you to identify a problem with your panels.

Unless you’re still lucky enough to be receiving a premium Feed-in Tariff, you are generally better off using the electricity your system generates. This is because the energy your PV system is generating is free! The more free energy you can use, the better. If you are able to feed-in what you don’t use and make a few bucks – even better.

Controlled meters measure power use for appliances (usually hot water heating) which the local network company is able to switch off for short periods, for example when the demand on their network is high, or when faults or emergencies happen on their network. Usually there is a discounted rate given by the lines charges for allowing this, which is passed on to the customer. Uncontrolled metering simply means that the local network company has no way of ‘controlling’ or switching off appliances or use measured by that meter.

Kilowatt hours are a way of measuring power consumption. The electricity industry uses kWh to measure how much power you use, as do most companies that manufacture electrical products. When you shop for new electrical appliances, you may notice that most are labelled with both a star rating and the number of kWh the appliance will typically use per year. We measure the power you use every month in kWh.

Peak/off-peak metering involves two separate meters (or two registers on one meter), one of which measures ‘peak’ usage, and one of which measures ‘off-peak’ usage. This is usually beneficial as it allows retailers to measure (and charge lower rates for) your night usage.

A tariff is a pricing structure (in the traditional power retailer sense), determined by the meter set up you have. There are many different names for the various tariffs across the industry. But they will normally indicate a time of use (e.g. Day and Night) or control (e.g. Uncontrolled, Anytime, Economy). Your pricing structure will remain the same if you switch to Powershop.

Smart meters differ from current ‘basic’ meters by being able to measure consumption accurately across very small time periods (down to 1/2 hours) in the one meter. They also have two-way communication abilities to enable remote meter reading, and to enable instructions to be sent to the meter e.g. to remotely disconnect a property (although this functionality is not yet active). If you don't have a smart meter, we can arrange an installation for free in most cases. Fill out the form here.

It's the National Electricity Market (NEM). This is a regulated market and is operated by the Australian Energy Market Operator. Generators sell their power into this market and retailers and large industrial users buy their power directly from it. For more information see the AEMO website.

Your property has a unique National Metering Identifier (NMI) number identifying it on the Australian electricity network. You can find this on your current power bill somewhere under the invoice number. It consists of 10 digits – mostly numbers but it may contain a few letters.

The network companies (also known as distributors) own and look after the power lines that transmit the electricity from the national grid to your property. There are many different network companies in Australia although each company operates a monopoly in its given area.

For more information on fees for services see our schedule of fees.

The cost of your power will differ depending on where you live, how much and when you use electricity, your metering set-up and how much the distributor company in your area charges. If you have more than one meter, you will generally have cheaper power prices as a multiple meter set up means your power company can take advantage of off-peak times and are able to pass these savings on to you.

A single rate tariff is a tariff which applies for the entire day, which means you pay the same rate whatever time of the day you use energy.

All energy retailers in NSW, QLD and SA are required to compare their Market Offer against the Default Market Offer. The Default Market Offer is a maximum annual price that retailers can charge a Standing Offer customer based on an average customers' usage, tariff and distribution area. The Default Market Offer is often referred to as the "Reference Price".

The Victorian Default Offer (VDO) is a maximum electricity price that energy providers can charge Victorians on default offers for power in their area, set by Victoria's Essential Services Commission (ESC). Victorian Default Offer (VDO) is the electricity baseline, all Victorian market offer discounts are referenced against. The VDO applies to both residential customers and small business customers (using less than 40 megawatt hours of electricity annually).

The VDO was established after an independent assessment revealed that Victorians were overpaying for electricity. The offer is in line with Victorian Government's Energy Fairness Plan, which aims to make power accessible and affordable for all Victorians. Simply put, it was established to safeguard you, the customer, and ensure that you always have access to electricity plans that are reasonably priced. The Default Market Offer is a similar programme run by the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) for the energy retail markets in New South Wales, South East Queensland, South Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory (DMO).

No. Gas is billed every two months in VIC and every three in NSW, while electricity is billed monthly. but you can manage and pay for your gas and electricity accounts in our App and online account.

Please contact Powershop's customer care team on 1800 462 668 to add gas to your existing electricity account.

Lastly, fill out the form and you’re good to go! You’re done in less than 5 minutes.

Note: Gas is only available to some Victorian and NSW customers only. But if you would like to know when gas becomes available in your area fill in your details in the form on this page.

Safety first! Do not touch any part of your meter.

We’re currently retailing gas in most of Victoria and part of NSW

You can enter your postcode to see if we offer gas in your area.