BETTER HABITS
= better prices
Using energy when wholesale prices are low isn’t just good for your wallet. It can also be good for the planet.
That’s why we’ve developed the Price Efficiency Adjustment – or PEA for short.
It’s a unique pricing feature that encourages you to make using energy during these periods a regular part of your day.
It’s your reward for changing your behaviour
While traditional energy retailers often charge you the same energy rates no matter the wholesale price, we pass on some of these savings through the PEA.
It’s our way of rewarding you for adjusting the way you use energy, to help the grid reduce its reliance on fossil fuel energy sources and transition towards more renewable energy sources.
This graph illustrates two different ways your energy use could impact your PEA. It represents a typical day, but wholesale prices and renewable generation can vary based on weather, events and other factors.
The Flow Power app has many useful features that can help you monitor prices and renewables, including prompts on when to power up or down to improve your PEA.
The wholesale price of electricity fluctuates throughout the day, dependent on grid supply (amount of renewables and fossil fuels available) and consumer demand.
Traditional retailers purchase energy at the wholesale price but charge you a fixed price for the energy you use.
We charge a fixed base rate, But unlike typical retailers, we offer you the chance to modify it further depending on how efficiently you use energy in relation to wholesale market prices, which is reflected in your PEA.
We also include 100% GreenPower in your base rate – not an add-on or optional extra.
Wholesale energy is usually cheaper when there’s more renewable energy fueling the grid – for example, when the sun is shining, or the wind’s blowing.
(It can also be cheaper at night, when the wind’s blowing hard.)
The more electricity you use during these lower price periods, the better your PEA.
In this example, this household has used most of their energy in the evening. As a result, they’re likely to receive a positive PEA, which means an increase on the base rate in their electricity bill.
While using some energy during these high price periods isn’t bad, it can add up over time.
In this example, our customer’s managed to shift most of their energy load into the middle of the day. As a result, they’re likely to receive a negative PEA adjustment, which represents a small saving on their monthly bill.
Little things – like scheduling when your dishwasher runs or minimising your electricity use during high price periods – can improve your PEA.
How is the PEA calculated?
The PEA is calculated based on when you use your
electricity, wholesale energy prices, and your network
tariffs. Click below to learn exactly how we do it.
Get into it
Got solar?
We’ve developed a Price Efficiency Adjustment to encourage you to use your home-generated electricity for good.
The Feed-In PEA (or FPEA for short) is an ongoing variable adjustment to your feed-in tariff, that changes to reflect the times of day you exported your home-generated energy to the grid.
The more you’re able to export energy during higher-price periods on the grid, the better your FPEA could be.
Learn more about the Feed-In PEA
Common questions
about the PEA
For Australia to invest in and make renewable energy the norm, we need to reduce our reliance on fossil fuel energy.
This means actively choosing to use more electricity when there’s less fossil fuel supplying the grid. This tends to happen in the middle of the day due to Australia’s incredible amounts of solar generation.
The more we’re able to use electricity during these periods of high renewable energy generation, the more we’ll reduce our reliance on outdated fossil fueled generators.
The more we’re able to reduce this reliance, the more opportunities we’ll create for Australia to invest in renewable energy resources.
That’s why using electricity at the right times is so important to the transition.
The Flow Power app’s here to help. It’ll provide you with personalised, real-time advice on improving your PEA.
You can also use its Energy Forecast feature to see when the price of energy will drop, so you can plan your day or week accordingly.
If you use more of your electricity when wholesale prices are cheaper (typically in the middle of the day when there is more renewable energy feeding the grid), your actions will reduce your PEA and your bill over the month.
On the flip side, if you use more of your electricity when wholesale prices are more expensive, it will increase your PEA and your bill.
If you have a high PEA, there are likely to be opportunities for you to become more price efficient.
By thinking about when you use electricity and changing some habits, it’s possible to reduce your PEA and your bill. Any improvements you make, no matter how small, could lead to better outcomes for your PEA and your bill.
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, you can learn more about how your tariff factors into your PEA calculation.
In the National Electricity Market (where retailers like Flow Power buy electricity), the wholesale price of electricity changes every five minutes.
These changes in wholesale price reflect the changing supply of electricity from generators like wind and solar farms and the fluctuating demand for electricity in the grid as businesses and households use energy 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.
Use your power for good
Help us grow the number of Aussie homes powered by 100% GreenPower.
Sign up to Flow Power via our app.
Have more questions? we’re here to help
There’s no such thing as a stupid question in our eyes. From ‘what’s the BPEA right now’ to ‘how can I check my PEA’, we’re here to provide answers, information and money saving tips.