Most energy retailers have released their mandatory “Solar Sharer” free daytime electricity plans to market, but those who failed to meet the July 1 deadline or hiked daily supply charges could face the wrath of regulators.
How Does Solar Sharer Work?
Retailers revealed their new plans for 2026/27, including Solar Sharer plans that offer at least three free hours of power during the day in NSW, SA and South East Queensland.
The free periods cover 11am to 2pm in NSW and south-east Queensland, and midday to 3pm in South Australia.
Companies including Engie, Red Energy, Origin (the owner of SolarQuotes), Dodo, OVO and Sumo all put forward their offers, which consumers will need to opt-in for if they want to take advantage of free daytime electricity.
Some retailers, including AGL and GloBird, were already offering free daytime power plans prior to Solar Sharer.
Battery And EV Owners To Benefit Most
Solar Sharer aims to make better use of the glut of solar power going to waste in the middle of the day by encouraging people to shift energy loads away from peak evening demand periods.
But the scheme could additionally make the most of the massive number of batteries freshly installed across Australia – July 1 also marked the first year of the federal battery rebate, with 457,439 home batteries installed over that period.
SolarQuotes’ resident fact checker Ronald Brakels told the SwitchedOn podcast that Solar Sharer plans could be of particular benefit to battery owners who could charge up with free electricity to use later on when electricity prices are at their peak.
“They’ll charge it for free in the middle of the day, and then the battery will be full early in the afternoon every day. Once you have more people using their own battery power in the evening, the demand for grid electricity drops,” Ronald said.
Ronald also noted that EV owners could also make good use of the free electricity periods, although he noted they would be the most likely to exceed the 24 kWh free electricity cap on Solar Sharer plans. People who own solar only may not be as well-suited to Solar Sharer, since they are already getting free or close to free daytime power, and these plans are expected to feature higher costs elsewhere to balance out the free periods.
We’ll be undertaking a deeper analysis on this and you’ll be able to compare for yourself under changes coming to our electricity plan comparison tool.
EV owners could be one of the bigger beneficiaries from the new plan, as touted in the federal government’s promotional images.
One Of The Biggest Retailers Missed The Deadline
EnergyAustralia – one of the country’s “big three” retailers – however failed to meet the required July 1 start date, and according to the Australian Financial Review is not planning to make the scheme available to customers until September.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen said he was “deeply disappointed” in the company and warned that it may face penalties.
“I make clear to EnergyAustralia publicly and privately my expectation that they comply with the law or they will be dealt with the full force of regulation … EnergyAustralia customers have every right to be aggrieved and every right to switch their business to a business that is compliant with the law,” Bowen said.
Supply Charges Hiked By Some Companies
Energy Australia is not the only retailer in the federal government’s bad books. Although the cost of energy consumption has generally dipped slightly, some customers have reported increases of over 85% to daily supply charges for the coming year for electricity plans (not an issue specific to Solar Sharer offers).
A number of retailers, including EnergyAustralia and the other members of the “big three” in Origin and AGL, hiked the fixed daily supply charge component of bills, despite the Default Market Offer for 2026/27 setting lower benchmark electricity prices.
Bowen has asked the energy regulator and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to investigate companies that have bumped up supply charges at a time when electricity prices were expected to drop.
Retailers pushing up supply charges say the move is driven by regulatory changes that enforce maximum usage and fixed rate fees, rather than the previous setting of retailers being left to determine the allocation of costs between usage and supply charges.
Victoria Launches Its Own Crackdown
As energy companies flip over to new plans, customers who don’t bother checking in on what’s now available are routinely hit with a “loyalty tax” by not being moved over to the best plan available. It is an issue that Victorian regulators are now acting on, imposing a “reasonable price cap” on energy offers that are more than four years old. Retailers will be required to switch customers on such an offer to a lower rate.
Victoria will also be joining the free solar lunch later this year, introducing the Midday Power Saver scheme with three hours of free electricity from 11am to 2pm, starting October 1.
For more, read our summary of Solar Sharer, and our guides on configuring your battery to make the most of free electricity and ensuring you have a powerful enough inverter.
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