The PEA is an ongoing variable adjustment to your electricity bill – adjusting your base rate up or down. It changes on a monthly basis to reflect when you used electricity during the month, and what the wholesale price was at the time you used it as well as your network tariff.
It gives you the opportunity to lower your base rate by reducing the amount of energy you use during higher price periods.
There are a few factors that we use to calculate your monthly PEA, and you can dive into more detail about this calculation here.
At a high level however, we calculate your PEA against:
• the average PEA of Flow Power’s customers (aka the ‘benchmark PEA’)
• when you use your electricity
• the wholesale prices at these times, and
• your network tariffs.
Your PEA is compared to a benchmark that is set by our average customer in your distribution area – so you can see how you’re tracking compared to our other residential customers.
Our current customer benchmark is approximately 1.7c/kWh. This means that on average, our customers have an approximate PEA of 1.7c/kWh when compared against the market.
We regularly review how our customers are tracking and will adjust this benchmark periodically (typically, annually) to reflect the performance of our customers.
If you can beat this benchmark PEA over a billing period, your final usage rate for electricity will be below the base rate. The better you do, the bigger your reduction.
You’ll get prompts in your app on how you can change your behaviour to be more price efficient. This page takes you through how you can set and enable price notifications in the Flow Power app.
Energy efficiency
Energy efficiency refers to reducing the total amount of power used in your home. You can achieve energy efficiency through a range of measures, like installing energy-efficient appliances and lights, and by improving your home’s thermal insulation.
Reducing your overall power consumption is an excellent way to help reduce your energy bill.
Price efficiency
Price efficiency is different to energy efficiency. It refers to how effectively you use energy based on its wholesale price and your network tariff.
The wholesale energy price is more expensive when demand is high – typically in the early morning and late afternoon – and cheaper when demand is low, which often reflects abundant renewable electricity in the grid.
You can achieve price efficiency by moving the bulk of your energy usage to a cheaper (and, typically cleaner) time of day.
When you make price-efficient energy choices, you improve the outcome of your bill. More often than not, you’ll also reduce your reliance on fossil fuel energy.
That’s because the wholesale price of energy tends to be cheaper in the middle of the day when there’s less fossil fuel energy in the grid.
Over time, this approach could help Australia phase out its fossil fuel generators and invest more in cheaper, cleaner energy resources.
That’s a good thing for you. And a good thing for the planet. So naturally we encourage
Using more or your required electricity when the wholesale price of energy is lower will help you become more price efficient.
Factors that contribute to a lower wholesale price include:
In the National Electricity Market (where retailers like Flow Power buy electricity), the wholesale price of electricity changes every five minutes.
These changes reflect the changing supply of and demand for electricity, as businesses and households use more or less electricity throughout the day.
Notably, the wholesale price for electricity is often at its lowest in the middle of the day, when there is lots of renewable energy powering the grid.
Network tariffs are the prices charged by your local distributor, or in other words, the company that owns the electricity poles and wires that connect to your house. Your network tariff will be reflected in your base rate.
Typically, base rates will be slightly lower for time-of-use tariffs when compared to a single rate network tariff.
Your network tariffs can also impact how your PEA is calculated.
If you have a flat (or single) network tariff where the prices are the same throughout the day, it won’t impact how your PEA is calculated. Your PEA will just be calculated based on the wholesale price at the time you use electricity over the month.
If you have a time-of-use tariff, the “peak” and “off peak” rates will impact your PEA. Using more of your electricity during “off-peak” will decrease your PEA, whereas using more electricity at “peak” rates will increase your PEA.
Lastly, if your network tariff includes any demand charges, these will not be factored into a PEA calculation. Instead, they will be billed directly as a separate charge on your account.
If you’re interested in a more in-depth calculation by tariff type, we’ve broken it down here.
No. We don’t factor demand charges into your PEA.
We bill these as a separate charge on your account.
A standing offer is a contract with regulated terms set by the government, that all energy retailers are required to provide. It ensures you continue to receive service in the following circumstances:
You can learn more about standing offers on the Essential Services Commission’s website.
The Default Market Offer (DMO) is a price cap set by energy regulators as the maximum amount energy retailers can change for a standing offer. It also provides a benchmark for energy users to be able to easily compare energy plans.
From 1 July 2019, energy retailers for SA, NSW and south-east QLD are required to offer a DMO for homes and small business customers.
The DMO covers:
You can view our DMO prices here.
The Victorian Default Offer (or VDO for short) is a regulated price, set by the Essential Services Commission, that all energy retailers must offer.
The VDO price is set annually for each electricity distribution zone based on average customers.
It came into place on 1 July 2019 for the following rate types:
You can view our VDO prices here.
The price of your electricity is based on energy industry costs associated with providing electricity to customers.
Price reviews and any subsequent changes typically occur once per financial year.
Note: this is separate to your PEA which varies your base price each month.
We will give you five days’ advance notice of any changes to your electricity price.
We’ll contact you via the primary email address nominated on your account.
There are four elements involved in purchasing and supplying electricity to your house, which we’ve outlined below. Their combined costs make up your electricity rates.
A change in any of these elements can influence a price increase or decrease.
1. Wholesale energy purchase
Energy retailers, like Flow Power, buy electricity from the wholesale market for a specified cost.
2. Network maintenance
Your electricity distributor is the company that owns and maintains the physical poles, wires and metering that deliver electricity to your house.
They will need to regularly invest money in maintaining this infrastructure.
3. Retailer costs and maintenance
Your electricity retailer will also have operational costs they need to pay, including staff salaries and service fees.
4. Retail costs
There may be additional costs depending on the type of plan you’re on. For example, government programs to support renewable energy may incur additional fees.
If your electricity bill extends over a period before and after the rate change, your bill will be split.
Say you are billed on 11 July and a price change comes into effect on 1 July. In this case, we’d charge you the old rate for the electricity consumed in your billing period prior to July 1, and charge you the new rate for the electricity you consumed from 1-11 July.
We’re here to help.
Flow Power’s Hardship Policy means we can help you stagger out your payments through a payment plan or get government support with your payments, among other options. You can read the policy here.
For more information or support, please contact us on 1800 359 797.
If you have any questions, please contact our friendly team.