The battery plan is an innovative energy plan that we're offering to home battery systems.
How does The Battery Plan work?
Here's an example:
On Monday morning, you use 2kWh from the grid, before your solar panels start to kick into life.
The rest of your usage is covered with solar, and then your battery starts to charge.
Once the battery is fully charged, you export the remaining solar to the grid. Any solar exported to the grid is credited to you at a rate of $0.033/kWh.
As the evening draws in, your solar covers some of your usage, and then the battery takes over to get you through most of the evening peak.
It doesn't cover all your usage though, and you drawn down 6kWh from the grid.
With The Battery Plan, 5kWh out of the 8kWh you've used from the grid are free that day, and the other 3 kWh are charged at the second tier rate.
Cost breakdown (Citipower example):
Daily charge: $1.84
Unit rate 1 (first 5kWh per day): $0
Unit rate 2 (The rest): $0.23958 * 3kWh = $0.71874
Solar credits: $0.033/kWh
On Tuesday, you use 1kWh from the grid in the morning, then the solar panels kick in.
The rest of your usage is covered by solar, and the battery starts to charge.
Once the battery is fully charged, you export the remaining solar to the grid. Any solar exported to the grid is credited to you at a rate of $0.033/kWh.
As the evening draws in, your solar covers some of your usage, and then the battery takes over to get you through most of the evening peak.
It doesn't cover all your usage though, and you drawn down 2kWh from the grid.
With The Battery Plan, 5kWh out of the 3kWh you've used from the grid are free that day. There's no additional charge today.
Why can't I switch to The Battery Plan online?
Right now, we're keen to talk to customers to make sure that the plan is right for their needs.
We've made it simple for customers to request a callback, so they can schedule a date & time that works for them.
Why is the supply charge so high?
The supply charge covers all metering, environmental schemes, network and distribution charges, along with some of the wholesale costs associated with the 5kWh of energy per day.
I am an existing customer, can I switch to The Battery Plan?
Yes, of course.
Just let one of the team know you want to make the switch via webchat, phone or email.
Why is controlled load not supported?
Right now, it's proving tricky to accomodate controlled load with a set rate.
We're testing with TOU and single rate customers first, to make sure we've got the construct right and it's something customers want, before going wider afield.
Why is it only available in Victoria?
Right now, we're testing it in Victoria, as 99.9% of customers have a smart meter and are on either a single rate or Time of Use tariff.
Other states have more network tariffs to consider, which will make the trial harder to implement and test. In the future, we may open this out to other states too.
Why am I getting charged more than the fixed monthly direct debit?
If your usage exceeds the 5kWh threshold on any given day, then you'll be charged for the extra energy that you've consumed.
Your fixed monthly direct debit takes into account just the 5kWh threshold and the supply to property charges.
Why don't you calculate my solar in the headline price?
If you export any energy back to the grid, you'll start to build up a credit on your account.
The fixed direct debit only takes into account the supply charges and the 5kWh daily usage.
If you find that you're building up too much credit, you can request this as a refund.
We don't take solar into account with regards to the headline price, because it would require a very accurate forecast of your solar export, to ensure you weren't going too far into credit / debit.
How is the 5kWh threshold calculated?
The first 5kWh per day is charged at $0/kWh. Once that threshold is passed on any given day, you'll be charged at the second tier usage rate.
Everyday it resets.
Why don't you show me the detail of how much I've used on the app?
This is something that we might offer later, but right now, we're focussed on developing a plan that home battery owners, like you, want.
I was on a TOU rate, why am I now only on a single rate plan structure?
In order to facilitate the plan construct, we need to move you onto a single rate plan structure.
Can I still refer a friend to The Battery Plan?
Yes you can, when signing up for The Battery Plan, just quote the relevant referral code to the sales agent, and they'll make sure it's reflected for both you and your friend.