What is the average electricity bill in Australia? There is no single number that accurately represents every household. In 2026–27, official residential benchmark or default-offer figures vary materially by state, distribution network, benchmark usage and tariff. For example, the Australian Energy Regulator’s flat-rate Default Market Offer comparison prices run from $1,899 a year in Ausgrid to $2,604 in Essential Energy, while Victoria’s 2026–27 default-offer figures range from $1,481 to $1,748 across its five distribution zones. These are benchmark prices, not predictions of what your household will pay.
The most useful way to compare your own bill is to use the annual or quarterly kWh from your bill, your actual tariff and supply charge, then compare that result with the official benchmark for your area. The HomeBillLab Electricity Bill Calculator lets you do that without assuming one national electricity price.
Table of Contents
2026–27 electricity bill benchmarks by state and network
The table below uses current regulated benchmark or default-offer data where a comparable annual figure is officially published. The benchmark consumption is shown because a $2,000 annual comparison price based on 4,900 kWh is not directly comparable with a $2,000 figure based on 3,900 kWh.
| Jurisdiction / network | 2026–27 annual benchmark | Benchmark usage | What the figure represents |
|---|---|---|---|
| NSW — Ausgrid | A$1,899 | 3,900 kWh | AER flat-rate Default Market Offer comparison price |
| NSW — Endeavour Energy | A$2,328 | 4,900 kWh | AER flat-rate Default Market Offer comparison price |
| NSW — Essential Energy | A$2,604 | 4,600 kWh | AER flat-rate Default Market Offer comparison price |
| South East Queensland — Energex | A$1,988 | 4,600 kWh | AER flat-rate Default Market Offer comparison price |
| South Australia — SA Power Networks | A$2,334 | 4,000 kWh | AER flat-rate Default Market Offer comparison price |
| Victoria — AusNet Services | A$1,748 | 4,000 kWh | Victorian Default Offer compliant annual bill amount |
| Victoria — CitiPower | A$1,481 | 4,000 kWh | Victorian Default Offer compliant annual bill amount |
| Victoria — Jemena | A$1,563 | 4,000 kWh | Victorian Default Offer compliant annual bill amount |
| Victoria — Powercor | A$1,633 | 4,000 kWh | Victorian Default Offer compliant annual bill amount |
| Victoria — United Energy | A$1,529 | 4,000 kWh | Victorian Default Offer compliant annual bill amount |
The NSW, South East Queensland and South Australian figures come from the Australian Energy Regulator’s 2026–27 Default Market Offer. The AER stresses that the DMO is a reference or safety-net price: it is not a cap on the total amount of your bill, because your bill still depends on how much electricity you use. The AER’s final 2026–27 release also notes that market offers can be cheaper than the default offer.
For Victoria, the Essential Services Commission is the state electricity regulator. Its final 2026–27 price determination sets the five domestic zone amounts above at 4,000 kWh annual reference consumption. The simple average of those five zone figures is about A$1,591, but that calculated average should not be treated as the expected bill for a particular Victorian household.
Why an “average electricity bill” can be misleading
Two households in the same suburb can have very different bills even when they are on the same tariff. One may use electric hot water, reverse-cycle heating and an electric vehicle; another may use gas for several end uses. One may have rooftop solar and export credits, while the other imports all its electricity from the grid.
- Usage: the number of kWh imported from the grid is usually the biggest driver.
- Supply charge: a daily fixed charge applies even when usage is low.
- Tariff structure: flat, time-of-use and controlled-load plans can price the same kWh differently.
- Climate and housing: heating and cooling demand differs by region, home size and thermal performance.
- Solar and batteries: self-consumption and export credits change the amount that reaches the final bill.
- Rebates and concessions: government credits can reduce the amount paid without changing underlying consumption.
- Household size and appliances: hot water, dryers, pool pumps, EV charging and other large loads can materially shift annual use.
The Australian Government’s explanation of electricity pricing plans and tariffs separates the usage charge from the daily supply charge and explains why time-of-use and controlled-load pricing can change a household’s outcome. For a bill-specific explanation, see How to Read an Electricity Bill in Australia.
State and territory reference points outside the main DMO table
Not every Australian household sits inside the AER DMO framework. The most reliable comparison is therefore the regulator, government tariff or official comparison service that applies to your location.
Regional Queensland
Regional Queensland has regulated notified prices set by the Queensland Competition Authority. The QCA’s 2026–27 final determination says a typical residential customer on flat-rate Tariff 11 is expected to see a A$151, or 6.9%, decrease from the prior year. The QCA also cautions that the actual bill depends on electricity use and applicable rebates or concessions. That is more useful than importing the South East Queensland Energex benchmark into a regional Queensland property.
Australian Capital Territory
The ACT’s regulated standing-offer prices are updated through the Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission. The ICRC’s 2026–27 recalibration allows ActewAGL regulated standing-offer tariffs to increase by an average of 2.73% from 1 July 2026. Because the ACT also publishes a separate reference-price determination and customers can choose market offers, use the current ACT reference price or your own bill rather than a national average.
Western Australia
Western Australia regulates residential tariffs separately from the National Electricity Market. The WA Government’s household electricity pricing page lists the A1/A2 residential tariff from 1 July 2026 at A$1.1924 per day plus 33.2621 cents per kWh. At an illustrative 4,000 kWh a year, that works out to about A$1,766 before any concessions, credits or other applicable charges. This is a transparent calculation example, not an official “average WA bill”.
Tasmania
Tasmania’s Office of the Tasmanian Economic Regulator lists 2026–27 residential Tariff 31 at 167.6815 cents per day plus 27.9538 cents per kWh. Using 4,000 kWh purely as a common comparison gives about A$1,730 a year. Tariff 31 has availability restrictions, so households should use the tariff that actually applies to their connection rather than treating this example as a statewide average.
Northern Territory
Northern Territory pricing depends on retailer and location. For the specific remote areas where Power and Water retails electricity, its 2026–27 domestic standard-meter tariff is 62.45 cents per day plus 31.6788 cents per kWh. Customers in Darwin, Katherine, Tennant Creek or Alice Springs should check the tariff issued by their retailer rather than applying that remote-customer example to their home.
How to estimate your own annual electricity bill
For a simple flat-rate plan, the basic annual estimate is:
Annual bill ≈ annual usage (kWh) × usage rate (A$/kWh) + 365 × daily supply charge (A$/day)
Suppose a household uses 4,500 kWh a year, pays 31 cents per kWh and has a A$1.10 daily supply charge. The usage component is 4,500 × A$0.31 = A$1,395. The supply component is 365 × A$1.10 = A$401.50. The simplified annual estimate is therefore about A$1,796.50 before solar credits, discounts, concessions, controlled-load charges, fees or other plan-specific items.
This is why the same “average bill” can be unhelpful. A household using 7,000 kWh at that tariff would have a much higher bill, while a lower-use household with rooftop solar could pay much less. The assumptions behind every HomeBillLab example follow the HomeBillLab Methodology.
Benchmark your bill in three steps
- 1. Annualise your usage. Add the kWh from four quarterly bills, two six-month periods, or use the annual usage figure if your retailer provides one.
- 2. Separate rates from usage. Record your usage rate, supply charge, controlled-load rate and any time-of-use periods. If your plan has several rates, do not multiply all annual kWh by one rate.
- 3. Compare like with like. Match your state, distribution network and approximate usage to an official benchmark or comparison service.
For NSW, South East Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT, the Australian Government’s Energy Made Easy service can compare available plans using household details and usage. Victoria uses Victorian Energy Compare instead. Comparing actual offers is usually more useful than chasing a national average.
What the latest retail data tells us
Benchmarks and real bills answer slightly different questions. The DMO and VDO are regulatory reference prices. Retail customers on market offers may pay less, and rebates can temporarily reduce the amount that appears on bills. The ACCC’s June 2026 National Electricity Market report examines actual billing outcomes and notes the effect of government rebates, customer usage and market offers across NSW, Victoria, South Australia and South East Queensland.
That distinction matters when you compare your bill with a friend, a news headline or a state benchmark. A lower bill can reflect lower usage, a better plan, solar exports or a rebate rather than a lower underlying electricity price.
Why your bill may be above the benchmark
- Your household uses more kWh than the benchmark consumption.
- You are on a higher-priced standing or market offer and have not compared plans recently.
- Your heating, cooling or hot-water load is higher than expected.
- You moved to time-of-use pricing but much of your consumption remains in expensive periods.
- A solar system is exporting less or self-consuming differently than in prior years.
- A controlled-load appliance has moved to a different tariff or operating schedule.
- Your comparison figure includes concessions or rebates that your current bill does not.
If the issue appears to be the plan rather than the amount of electricity used, compare your tariff structure with Single Rate vs Time of Use Electricity in Australia. If you want to understand the unit price itself, see How Much Does 1 kWh of Electricity Cost in Australia?.
How to reduce an electricity bill without chasing a misleading average
Start with the parts of the bill you can verify. Compare plans, check whether the supply charge has changed, identify large loads and shift flexible usage when your tariff rewards it. For homes with solar, focus on useful daytime self-consumption rather than assuming every exported kWh has the same value as a kWh you avoid buying from the grid.
For appliances, use measured or labelled kWh where possible. For heating, cooling and hot water, use equipment input and realistic runtime instead of nameplate capacity alone. Small behavioural changes can help, but the biggest savings often come from correcting a poor tariff match, reducing an unusually large load, or upgrading an inefficient high-use appliance when the economics make sense.
Annual benchmark versus quarterly bill
A common mistake is to divide an annual benchmark by four and assume every quarterly bill should be close to that number. Electricity use is often seasonal. A household with electric heating may have a much larger winter bill, while a heavily air-conditioned home can peak in summer. Hot-water demand, school holidays, visitors, EV charging and pool equipment can also change one quarter without meaning the tariff itself has become expensive.
For a better comparison, use four consecutive quarterly bills when possible. Add the total kWh and total amount paid, then separate any one-off rebates or credits that would distort the comparison. If you only have one bill, compare it with the same quarter from the previous year and check whether the billing period has the same number of days. Smart-meter portals can also show whether a jump is concentrated in a particular month or time of day.
Solar makes quarter-to-quarter comparisons even more sensitive. Summer solar generation may reduce grid imports at the same time that cooling demand increases, while winter can bring lower solar output and higher heating loads. This is another reason a state benchmark is best treated as a reference point rather than a target that every quarterly bill should track.
FAQ about Average Electricity Bill in Australia
What is a normal quarterly electricity bill in Australia?
There is no reliable single quarterly figure for Australia. A quarter of an annual benchmark is only a rough arithmetic conversion because electricity use is seasonal. Heating and cooling can make winter or summer quarters much larger than shoulder-season bills.
Which state has the highest average electricity bill?
It depends on the dataset, usage level, network and plan. In the AER’s 2026–27 flat-rate DMO comparison prices, the Essential Energy NSW zone has the highest figure among the five DMO regions shown, but its benchmark usage also differs from other zones. That does not prove every household in that region pays more than every household elsewhere.
Does the benchmark include solar?
The DMO and VDO comparison figures are reference calculations, not personalised solar bills. Your actual bill can be lower if rooftop solar offsets grid imports or earns export credits. Battery behaviour can also shift imports between tariff periods.
Should I compare my bill or my cents-per-kWh rate?
Use both. The c/kWh rate helps compare usage pricing, while the total bill captures supply charges, actual usage, tariff timing, solar credits and other plan items. A plan with a lower usage rate can still cost more overall if its fixed charge or tariff structure is a poor fit.
Bottom line
The best answer to the average electricity bill in Australia is a range of local, usage-labelled benchmarks, not one national number. In 2026–27, official default-offer benchmarks already differ substantially between networks even before household behaviour, solar, rebates and market offers are considered. Use your own annual kWh and tariff in the Electricity Bill Calculator, then compare the result with the official benchmark or comparison service for your state and network. Browse the Electricity Costs & Tariffs hub for related guides.