{"id":98645,"date":"2026-04-02T05:36:38","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T20:06:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=98645"},"modified":"2026-04-02T13:48:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T04:18:24","slug":"how-energy-companies-can-take-away-your-daylight-savings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/how-energy-companies-can-take-away-your-daylight-savings\/","title":{"rendered":"How Energy Companies Can Take Away Your Daylight Savings"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"TOU<\/p>\n

As clocks go back one hour on April 5 across much of Australia, most households will simply enjoy an extra hour of sleep. But for some electricity customers on time-of-use plans, daylight saving can quietly eat into their hard-earned money if their usage isn\u2019t timed just right.<\/p>\n

Recently, ActewAGL customer Nick Ili\u0107 was surprised to find his latest electricity bill was roughly three times higher than expected.<\/p>\n

\u201cI pulled the smart meter data because something didn\u2019t add up,\u201d Nick said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Nick is on a Time-of-Use (TOU) electricity plan, which includes a super off-peak window where electricity is completely free. With solar panels, a battery and EV charging set up to take advantage of those cheaper periods, he typically uses very little grid power during peak times.<\/p>\n

But this bill told a different story \u2014 with peak usage far higher than expected.<\/p>\n

After digging into the data, he found the problem: electricity he had deliberately scheduled for off-peak and free periods was being billed at peak rates.<\/p>\n

Why Are ‘Free’ Hours Being Charged At Peak Rates?<\/h2>\n

The issue comes down to timing \u2014 specifically, how some retailers apply time-of-use tariffs during daylight saving.<\/p>\n

Smart meters across the National Electricity Market record usage in Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST) year-round. They don\u2019t shift when daylight saving starts. But in states that observe daylight saving \u2014 including NSW, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT \u2014 local time moves one hour ahead during summer.<\/p>\n

If tariff windows continue to be applied in AEST without adjusting to local time, those windows effectively shift by an hour for the customer.<\/p>\n

In Nick\u2019s case, that meant usage he had scheduled for midday was being recorded an hour earlier by the meter \u2014 and falling outside the cheaper window.<\/p>\n

\u201cCharging at 12pm was being recorded as 11am peak,\u201d he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Nick was able to demonstrate this by comparing his EV app logs with his retailer\u2019s usage data from the same day.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how the same charging event shows up in the two data sources:<\/p>\n

\"Daily

Charging scheduled at 12pm on 7 March, within the advertised off-peak or free window.<\/p><\/div>\n

In the retailer\u2019s data, the very same event shows up an hour earlier:<\/p>\n

\"Daily

The same usage appears at 11am in the retailer\u2019s data \u2014 outside the cheaper tariff window.<\/p><\/div>\n

A Billing Issue Hidden In Plain Sight<\/h2>\n

Nick\u2019s investigation didn\u2019t stop at usage data \u2014 he went back through the plan details to understand why this was happening.<\/p>\n

He found the plan information inconsistent \u2014 some documents mentioned AEST, while others showed standard clock times with no clear explanation of how daylight saving affected the tariff windows.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy complaint is not primarily about whether the meter records in AEST,\u201d Nick said. \u201cIt\u2019s about the clarity, consistency, and practical adequacy of how this tariff was disclosed.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In his case, the impact was significant \u2014 and it showed up clearly in this summary Nick put together after reviewing his bill:<\/p>\n

\"Power

Despite scheduling usage during free and off-peak periods, peak usage was around 9-10\u00d7 higher than expected.<\/p><\/div>\n

Why It Can Go Unnoticed For Months<\/h2>\n

What makes this issue difficult to spot is that it doesn\u2019t jump out on a standard electricity bill.<\/p>\n

Time-of-use plans group usage into peak, off-peak and other categories, but they don\u2019t usually show exactly when that energy was used.<\/p>\n

In Nick\u2019s case, the mismatch had likely been affecting his billing since daylight saving began in October. But because the shift is only one hour \u2014 and buried inside total usage figures \u2014 it wasn\u2019t immediately obvious.<\/p>\n

It was only when his latest bill looked significantly higher than expected that he dug deeper.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when he turned to interval data \u2014 a detailed breakdown of electricity use over time \u2014 to line up what actually happened.<\/p>\n

\"interval<\/h2>\n

Who Is Responsible For Getting The Timing Right?<\/h2>\n

Nick raised the issue with his retailer ActewAGL, which told him the system was working as designed. The retailer explained that smart meters operate on AEST year-round, and that during daylight saving customers may need to adjust their usage timing accordingly.<\/p>\n

ActewAGL advised Nick that they typically send emails notifying customers ahead of the clocks changing about how it affects the free period, but that Nick had not received it as he had opted out of marketing emails. Nick felt this particular email was not marketing in nature but rather key information that all customers should have been kept up to date on.<\/p>\n

For Nick, the problem isn\u2019t the technical setup \u2014 it\u2019s how this expectation is communicated. Unless a customer already knows to look for it, Nick feels there\u2019s little to suggest they need to proactively shift their timers by an hour during daylight saving.<\/p>\n

\u201cCustomers are effectively required to manually shift their behaviour by one hour\u2026 that is the core issue,\u201d he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He has since escalated the matter and is pursuing it through the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal, arguing that the way the plan is presented can be misleading in practice.<\/p>\n

And this isn\u2019t just a one-off. Retailers don\u2019t all handle daylight saving the same way. Some keep their tariff windows fixed to AEST all year, while others align them with local time. The plans can look identical on the surface, but that one hour difference in how they\u2019re applied can quietly push usage in or out of cheaper periods \u2014 a detail most customers would never think to check.<\/p>\n

ActewAGL advised SolarQuotes that the issue only affects their customers in the ACT (the majority of their customers), as the territory’s distributor Evoenergy does not adjust tariff times to align with daylight saving. They say their NSW customers are not affected.<\/p>\n

“Customers in the ACT on a time-of-use tariff may want to consider aligning their electricity usage pattern to AEST during daylight saving. You can check the times in the standing offer pricing schedule,” a spokesperson for ActewAGL said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The spokesperson added that the ActewAGL website specifies the daylight savings issue and that customers should consider aligning their electricity use to AEST.<\/p>\n

“Information about how tariff times are applied is included in customers\u2019 acceptance packs and on our website… we continue to review how we present this information to ensure it is clear and accessible for customers.” the ActewAGL spokesperson said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

How To Check If You\u2019re Affected<\/h2>\n

This is where things can get a bit tricky \u2014 but you don\u2019t need to dive straight into spreadsheets.<\/p>\n

Nick confirmed the issue using detailed \u201cinterval data\u201d, which breaks electricity use down into small time blocks. It\u2019s precise, but not exactly user-friendly.<\/p>\n

Most customers can spot the same problem much more simply.<\/p>\n

Start by logging into your retailer\u2019s app or online account and looking at your usage graph \u2014 the one that shows how your energy use changes throughout the day.<\/p>\n

Then:<\/p>\n