Compare Electricity Plans in Victoria

The Victorian Default Offer is the benchmark electricity price the Essential Services Commission sets for the state each year. The commission works independently of government and retailers, which is what makes it a fair reference point.

Victoria doesn’t use the Default Market Offer. The Australian Energy Regulator sets that benchmark for New South Wales, south-east Queensland and South Australia. Victoria runs its own, so a DMO figure quoted for a Victorian address is the wrong benchmark.

For 2026-27 the average annual bill on a flat tariff is $1,591. That’s $84 lower than the year before, a drop of five per cent. Those rates hold from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027.

Three terms decide how a Victorian offer is priced:

• Standing offer is the default contract you land on if you never choose a plan. The benchmark caps it.
• Market offer is a competitive plan you sign up for, routinely priced below the benchmark.
• Comparison price: Every offer must state how far above or below the benchmark it sits.

That $1,591 figure is an average across Victoria’s electricity distribution zones. Your zone and your household usage both shift that number. A dollar estimate for your address tells you more than a percentage off the benchmark, which is why an annual check pays for itself.

More than 20 electricity retailers sell power in Victoria. Household names compete against smaller operators such as CovaU and Arcline by RACV, and the cheaper plan is often with a retailer you have never heard of.

GoSwitch compares a panel of energy retailers, including AGL, EnergyAustralia, Alinta Energy, Red Energy, ENGIE, OVO Energy, Powershop, Sumo, Nectr, Dodo, 1st Energy, Kogan Energy, and GloBird Energy. We work from your actual bill rather than an estimate, so the saving you see is the saving you keep.

Your distributor is a different business from your retailer, and you can’t choose it. Distributors own the poles, wires and meters. Your address decides which of the five networks serves you.

• AusNet Services runs the outer northern and eastern suburbs, plus eastern Victoria.
• CitiPower covers the Melbourne CBD and the inner suburbs.
• Jemena serves the northern and north-western suburbs.
• Powercor takes in western Victoria and Melbourne’s western suburbs.
• United Energy covers the Mornington Peninsula and Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs.

Your zone sets your starting price. On the default offer, household usage rates run from 25.96 cents per kilowatt hour in the CitiPower zone up to 31.98 cents in AusNet Services. That’s a gap of 23 per cent before any discount applies. You can’t move zones, but you can change the retailer and the plan sitting on top of them.

Your tariff decides when you’re charged, not only how much. Usage rates move with the clock on some plans and stay flat on others. Most Victorian homes have a smart meter, which makes the timed pricing options possible.

Most Victorian homes sit on one of two structures, with a third rate available for a single dedicated circuit.

• A single-rate tariff charges the same amount at any hour, shown on some bills as anytime or flat rate.
• A time of use tariff splits the day, with peak from 4pm to 9pm, off-peak from 9pm to 11am, and a cheaper solar soak window from 11am to 4pm.
• A controlled load rate applies to one appliance on its own circuit, usually electric hot water, at the lowest rate on your bill.

Every one of those also carries a daily supply charge. That’s a fixed daily fee for staying connected, charged even on days you don’t use electricity.

Prices inside the same zone can vary a lot. In the CitiPower network, for example, peak power costs 38.31 cents, while solar soak pricing drops to 16.59 cents. This means the time you run appliances like your dishwasher matters as much as the plan you pick.

Your usage charges are only part of the story. A low usage rate with a high daily supply charge can still result in a higher bill across the year.

Victoria removed its regulated minimum solar feed-in tariff on 1 July 2025. Retailers now set their own feed-in rates, and the only rule left is that the rate cannot be below zero.

Without a standard baseline to compare against, two solar plans can differ by several cents, and both are still legal.

A generous feed-in rate can still leave you worse off, because retailers often pair strong credits with higher import rates. We weigh your import cost against your export credit, then rank plans on the annual total. If you want a retailer running on more renewable energy, or you are weighing up solar panels and a home battery, tell us and we factor that in too.

Concessions come off after the plan price, so they cut what you pay without changing your plan. Four schemes do most of the work in Victoria:

• The Annual Electricity Concession takes 17.5 per cent off your usage and supply charges, calculated after retailer discounts and solar credits, with the first $171.60 a year excluded.
• The Excess Electricity Concession carries that same 17.5 per cent past $4,038.82 in a year, measured from 1 December 2025, and you apply for it separately.
• The Medical Cooling Concession supports households where a medical condition means someone needs to run cooling harder than most.
• The Utility Relief Grant Scheme pays up to $650 per utility over two years for households in financial hardship, rising to $1,300 where electricity is your only energy source.

Eligibility rests on a Pensioner Concession Card, Health Care Card or Veterans’ Affairs Gold Card. We apply the discount you qualify for to your estimate.

Two schemes have ended, though you may still find them promoted elsewhere. The fifth round of the $100 Power Saving Bonus closed on 31 March 2026. The federal Energy Bill Relief Fund finished on 31 December 2025.

Around two million Victorian households and businesses connect to the natural gas network, more than any other state. That makes bundling gas and electricity into a dual-fuel plan a bigger question here than anywhere else.

A dual-fuel discount is often smaller than the savings you get by choosing the cheapest standalone gas and electricity plans. You still receive a separate gas bill either way, so compare both on their own first.

Keep in mind that newer Victorian homes may be built all-electric under state planning rules, so check which energy connections are available at your address.

You get a 10-business-day cooling-off period to change your mind after you sign up. Most Victorian transfers finish within a few business days once that window closes. Keep a recent bill handy too, because it carries your National Metering Identifier, the number that ties the comparison to your actual meter instead of an estimate.

The comparison itself runs in five steps:

1. Enter your postcode to see the plans available at your address.
2. Answer a few questions about your household, energy usage and solar setup.
3. Review results ranked by estimated annual cost against the benchmark.
4. Check your current plan for exit fees, because some fixed-term contracts charge you to leave early.
5. Pick your plan, and we handle the transfer with your new retailer.

Nothing changes at the property itself. Your power keeps running, and nobody needs to visit or post you paperwork.

Residential customers and small businesses switch energy providers the same way. Trading hours and equipment load change which tariff suits a business, so add those details.

Your retailer must print a Best Offer message on your electricity bill every three months, and on your gas bill every four months. It only appears if switching plans would save you more than $50 a year. Every retailer lists its plans on Victorian Energy Compare. That message still covers one retailer’s own offers, so treat it as a prompt and not an answer.

Your distribution zone is fixed, but the retailer and energy plan you choose are not. Finding the right combination is how you lower your power bills.

Comparing options through us costs you nothing. Retailers pay us a commission when you switch, plan prices are never marked up, and you’re under no obligation to move. That transparent service has earned us an Excellent rating on Trustpilot based on over 14,000 customer reviews.

We compare across New South Wales, Victoria, south-east Queensland, South Australia and the ACT, and we cover gas, internet and health insurance alongside electricity.

To get started, simply add your postcode above. Our energy specialists are based in South Melbourne, so call 1300 107 074 if you’d rather talk to us directly!