Compare Electricity and Gas in South Australia

In remote areas of the state, electricity is supplied by Cowell Electric Supply as part of the Remote Areas Energy Supplies (RAES) scheme. The government scheme subsidises power bills in remote townships and Aboriginal communities to help bring prices closer to the best gas and electricity provider Adelaide.

Long before it powers your home, electricity is generated, transported and finally sold to you. This takes three separate industries, kilometres of infrastructure and a healthy dose of technology. All of this comes with a cost, which is combined to give you the amount you see on your bill. Read on to find out exactly how electricity reaches your home, and the impact the process has on electricity prices SA.

Electricity Generation in SA

South Australia looks a bit different to other states, with most of its electricity generated through gas rather than coal. The state’s last coal-fired power station closed in 2016. Currently, most of South Australia’s power is generated using natural gas, followed by wind, diesel and solar. 

SA has made huge steps towards green and renewable energy, with wind farms supplying a significant amount of electricity in the right conditions, and over 200,000 homes fitted with PV solar panels. Renewables SA continues to support and encourage the use of renewable energy by encouraging private investment and managing government funding for households and electricity suppliers Adelaide.

South Australia is part of the National Electricity Market (NEM), managed by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO). It is the role of the AEMO to control how much electricity is purchased from each generator and fed into the NEM. This fluctuates depending on demand, which affects the cost of wholesale electricity prices SA. A rise in demand leads to increased prices, which are passed on to customers.

Electricity Distributors in SA

Once electricity has passed from the generators to the network, its first stop is the high-voltage transmission network made up of high voltage wires and transmission towers that transport electricity at between 132,000 and 275,000 volts. This high voltage transmission network is managed by ElectraNet in South Australia. 

Electricity is then converted in substations to around 11,000 volts, ready to be distributed along low voltage poles and wires to ground level transformer stations, street pole transformers and pad mount transformers. Here electricity is reduced a final time to around 240 volts, ready to enter your home or business. This low voltage distribution network is managed by  SA Power Networks.

SA Power Networks distributes electricity to over 860,000 customers through a complex network made up of around 400 zone substations, 647,000 Stobie poles and 88,000 kilometres of power lines.

The cost of running the ElectraNet and SA Power Networks is passed on to consumers by your electricity supplier Adelaide or throughout SA.

In addition, during times of peak demand, electricity can be imported into South Australia through the Murraylink (Riverland) and Heywood (Limestone Coast) electricity interconnectors to ensure a consistent supply of power to the state.

Electricity Retailers in SA

Electricity retailers are responsible for customer account management and billing to supply electricity from the distributor to homes and businesses. Retailers need to charge consumers a tariff to cover the costs of generating, distributing and selling electricity. If the expenses of any of these steps goes up, the retailer will pass the increase on to consumers. 

South Australia may be small but it certainly hasn’t been overlooked by electricity retailers. There are over electricity suppliers Adelaide and SA, each with a variety of plans to suit different energy needs.

The cost of wholesale electricity

Approximately a quarter of electricity prices SA come from the wholesale cost of generating electricity. There are several reasons the wholesale electricity prices can fluctuate and affect how much you pay.

• Transition to renewables. It’s good news for South Australians, with renewable energy working hard to cut the wholesale cost of electricity. Although in other states the transition to renewables has placed a strain on the network, or supply deficits as coal-fired power stations close, in South Australia, the large-scale production of renewable electricity has driven energy prices down.
  
  In daytime hours, when renewable energy generation is at its peak, there is often excess supply, which pushes prices down. This is thanks to the widespread use of residential solar panels and SA’s large wind-powered electricity generators.

• Increase in demand. The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) tracks the price of SA electricity and reports on any 30 minute period that exceeds $5,000 per megawatt-hour (MWh) in the NEM.
  
  AER reports have identified that periods of high prices are caused by an increase in demand for electricity, due to warm temperatures, a reduction in rooftop solar electricity generation and calm conditions reducing wind-powered generation. These factors combine to put an unusually high level of demand on power from the NEM

• Supply limitations. When demand outweighs supply, the wholesale price that retailers have to pay for electricity is forced up. Supply can be limited for several reasons, including outages and network disruption caused by faults or natural events.
  
  Supply issues in South Australia are sometimes further pronounced if there are constraints on the Marraylink and Heywood interconnectors, limiting the ability to increase supply with imported electricity from other states.

Rural and remote areas

In South Australia, most residents are serviced by the same distributor – SA Power Networks. However, in remote areas of the state, Cowell Electric Supply has been contracted by the SA government to operate the generation, distribution and retail services of electricity to the majority of remote townships and Aboriginal communities. 

Cowell Electric Supply, along with three independent operators, provides electricity as part of the government’s Remote Areas Energy Supplies (RAES) scheme. The RAES scheme provides safe, reliable and affordable electricity to homes and businesses in remote areas of the state.

Areas covered by the scheme include Andamooka, Coober Pedy and Yunta. The South Australian government subsidises tariffs for residential and commercial customers in these areas (federal and state government customers pay the full, unsubsidised rate). The subsidies reduce the cost of electricity to match the standing offers of customers in the SA Power Networks areas, for both usage rates and the fixed supply charge.

Whilst the subsidies protect customers from unfairly high energy prices, homes and businesses in these areas are paying more for their electricity as there is no competition and no choice of plans.

Time of Use (ToU) tariffs

Before 1st July 2020, all SA residents paid a flat-rate electricity tariff, meaning electricity was priced the same at all times of the day and night. This meant SA had the most expensive electricity in the country.

Since the introduction of ToU tariffs, customers can now make huge savings by using cheaper power in off-peak times. In South Australia there are three time periods, each with different rates:

• Off-peak – 10am to 3pm
• Shoulder – 1am to 6am
• Peak – 6am to 10am and 3pm to 1am

The off-peak period in the middle of the day is known as the Solar Sponge Time of Use network tariff. It is set at an extremely low rate to encourage customers to use more energy and ‘soak up’ the excess solar energy being supplied to the grid during these hours.

The Default Market Offer (DMO)

The price of electricity in South Australia is protected by the DMO. This is the reference price set by the federal government as part of the national energy legislation and rules to ensure affordable electricity to customers in New South Wales, South-East Queensland and South Australia.

The DMO was introduced in 2018 after a report by the ACCC found that loyal customers were being exploited with expensive ‘standing offers’. The DMO is now the maximum price a retailer can charge. 

The report also found the market was overly confusing, making it hard for customers to effectively compare plans. It is now required that every retailer uses the DMO as a reference price for their market offers, allowing customers to easily compare prices. 

The DMO price is set by the Australian Energy Regulator (AER). They adjust the DMO each year to account for the current market conditions and to reflect the cost of supplying electricity to each distribution area. The DMO can increase as a result of wholesale power or transport going up. If the DMO increases, then your electricity bill will also go up.

As you have read, there are a lot of variables that make up your electricity bill. For transparency, you will see a breakdown of the costs from your electricity supplier Adelaide and SA.

• Wholesale costs – the cost to the retailer for the purchase of wholesale power.
• Network costs – the cost of the transmission and distribution networks. The retailer pays the network operators to supply and maintain the network infrastructure, such as the poles and wires. This price is regulated by the AER and reviewed every five years.
• Retail costs – the retailer’s operating costs, including the cost of connecting customers, account management and customer service.
• Green costs – the cost of the federal government’s Renewable Energy Target (RET) and the South Australian Government’s energy efficiency and solar schemes. The retailer can only charge the actual cost of these initiatives.

Finding the best electricity provider Adelaide means comparing rates, offers and bundles to find the best value combination for your household. You also need to consider non-monetary factors that are important to you, such as green initiatives and customer service to decide who the best gas and electricity provider Adelaide is.

Residents of many regional towns and regions in South Australia have access to the same great deals from the best electricity provider Adelaide. Customers connected through SA Power Networks, which ranges from the far west coast of Eyre Peninsula, north to Leigh Creek and southeast to the Victorian border, have the freedom to choose their own retailers and plan to find the best electricity provider in Adelaide and SA for their needs.