By Steve Hadfield | Updated 23 April 2026
Key Takeaways
- Australian electricity bills rose roughly 37% in the year to February 2026 — mostly because the federal Energy Bill Relief Fund ended 31 December 2025, not because underlying prices jumped that much.
- Neither AGL nor EnergyAustralia is universally cheaper. The winner changes by state, distribution zone, usage level, and whether you have solar.
- The AER's DMO 7 (2025-26) applies in NSW, SA, and SE Queensland and acts as a reference price for both retailers. Most competitive market offers currently sit below the DMO.
- The biggest bill savings usually come from things that have nothing to do with which retailer you're with — tariff type, unclaimed rebates, and solar performance.
- Commercial comparison sites earn commissions when you switch. BillDecoder is paid by customers, not retailers, which is why it can tell you when switching won't help.
Why Your 2026 Bill Looks Different
If your electricity bill jumped in early 2026, you're not imagining it. The Australian Bureau of Statistics recorded roughly a 37% rise in the year to February 2026 — but not because the underlying price of electricity jumped that much. The underlying price rose around 4.9%. The rest came from one thing: the Commonwealth Energy Bill Relief Fund ended on 31 December 2025.
For 18 months before that, most Australian households saw automatic $75 quarterly credits on their electricity bills under a line called "Australian Government Energy Relief." Those credits are gone. There is no direct federal replacement. What remains as of April 2026:
- State and territory concession schemes — still active for eligible households (pensioners, healthcare card holders, low-income households, people with medical conditions). Amounts and eligibility vary by state.
- Hardship programs — all retailers are required by law to offer payment plans and hardship support.
- Targeted federal programs — solar rebates, the Cheaper Home Batteries Program, and the Household Energy Upgrades Fund continue. These are for equipment, not bill credits.
That context matters for any AGL vs EnergyAustralia comparison in 2026. Both retailers now pass their wholesale and network costs through to customers without the federal cushion that was softening bills for the previous 18 months.
How Do AGL and EnergyAustralia Set Their Prices?
Both retailers operate in the National Electricity Market (NEM) across NSW, Victoria, Queensland, and South Australia. In regulated markets, their standing offer prices are capped by the Australian Energy Regulator's Default Market Offer (DMO) in NSW, SA, and SE Queensland, and by the Essential Services Commission's Victorian Default Offer (VDO) in Victoria.
The DMO is reset annually. The current determination — known as DMO 7 — took effect on 1 July 2025. The AER's final determination raised residential reference prices by between 0.5% and 9.7% depending on region. Both AGL and EnergyAustralia can price their market offers above or below these reference prices.
In practice, competitive market offers sit well below the DMO. According to the AER, 90% to 95% of competitive market offers are currently below the DMO reference price, with the cheapest offers running 18% to 27% below. The key point: if you're on a standing offer from either retailer, you're almost certainly overpaying. Check your plan.
Neither retailer publishes a single national rate. Your actual price depends on your distribution zone — the network area determined by your physical address. A customer on Ausgrid's network in eastern Sydney pays different rates than a customer on Endeavour Energy's network in western Sydney, even on the same retailer's plan.
Which One Is Actually Cheaper Right Now?
The honest answer: neither retailer consistently wins across every state, every distribution zone, and every plan type. Rates shift each quarter as both retailers respond to wholesale costs, network charges, and competitive pressure from smaller retailers.
General patterns worth knowing:
- Victoria has the most competitive retail market in Australia. The Victorian Default Offer is lower than the DMO in most zones, and both AGL and EnergyAustralia face strong competition from challenger retailers. Price differences between the two are usually small.
- NSW varies significantly by distribution zone (Ausgrid, Endeavour, Essential). Ausgrid zones — Sydney, Central Coast, Hunter — tend to have the most competitive offers.
- South Australia has the highest DMO reference prices in the NEM. Small percentage differences translate to larger dollar amounts. Worth comparing carefully.
- SE Queensland (Energex zone) sits in between. Both retailers compete closely.
For a personalised comparison using your actual usage, use the AER's Energy Made Easy (or Victorian Energy Compare for VIC). Both are government-run, free, and take no commissions. They compare plans based on your NMI or address plus your actual consumption.
What Charges Should You Actually Compare?
Focusing only on the cents-per-kilowatt-hour rate misses half the picture. Your bill has two main components that both matter:
- Supply charge (daily) — a fixed fee you pay every day for being connected to the grid. Typical range: 80c to $1.50 per day for residential customers, depending on your state and plan. That's $292 to $548 per year before you use a single watt.
- Usage charge (per kWh) — what you pay for the electricity you actually consume. Typical range: 20c to 38c per kWh depending on your plan, location, and tariff structure.
A plan with a low usage rate but a high daily supply charge can cost more than a plan with a slightly higher usage rate and lower supply charge — especially if you're a low-usage household, an apartment dweller, or have solar panels covering most of your daytime consumption.
The single most reliable comparison metric is the estimated annual cost on the Energy Price Fact Sheet (called a Basic Product Information Document, or BPID, in NSW, SA, QLD, TAS, and ACT, and a Victorian Energy Fact Sheet in Victoria). Both retailers must provide this by law. Compare the total annual dollar figure, not the headline discount percentage.
Does Solar Change the AGL vs EnergyAustralia Equation?
Significantly. If you have rooftop solar, the feed-in tariff (FiT) — what the retailer pays you for electricity you export — becomes a major factor in your total bill.
Feed-in tariffs have dropped substantially in recent years as solar uptake has grown and daytime wholesale prices have fallen. Market feed-in rates from major retailers, including AGL and EnergyAustralia, now typically sit in the single-digit cents per kilowatt-hour range, with the specific rate varying by state and plan.
Two things to check on any plan:
- The headline feed-in rate. What they pay per kWh exported.
- Whether there's a cap. Some retailers offer a higher rate for the first 10 kWh exported per day, then drop to a lower rate (or zero) for any excess. If you have a large solar system, a capped high rate can be worse than a lower uncapped rate.
For solar households, the real comparison isn't "which retailer pays more per kWh exported" — it's the total equation. Usage rate times grid consumption, plus supply charge, minus feed-in credits. A retailer offering 2c more on feed-in but charging 4c more on usage is costing you money if you still draw from the grid in the evening.
What About Discounts, Credits, and Lock-in Periods?
Both AGL and EnergyAustralia offer conditional discounts and sign-up credits. Read the fine print on any offer:
- Pay-on-time discounts — a percentage off if you pay by the due date. Miss one payment and the discount typically disappears for that billing cycle. If you regularly miss due dates, these are worthless.
- Sign-up credits — a $50 or $100 credit sounds generous, but over 12 months it's less than $10 per bill. Useful, but shouldn't be the deciding factor.
- Benefit periods — most market offers have a benefit period, often 12 months. After it ends, rates may revert to higher standing offer levels. Set a calendar reminder to review when your benefit period ends.
- Exit fees — some fixed-rate plans charge an exit fee if you leave early. Check before signing up. Both retailers also offer no-lock-in plans.
Beyond Switching: The Bigger Problem With "Free" Comparison
Comparing retailers is one path to savings. It's not the only one, and for many households it isn't the biggest one.
Here's what most bill-comparison advice doesn't mention: nearly every commercial electricity comparison site in Australia earns a commission when customers switch retailers through it. This is legal and disclosed in the fine print, but it creates a structural bias — the site makes more money when you switch to a high-commission retailer than when you don't switch at all. The advice looks free. It isn't.
This matters because switching isn't always the best move. Many households are on a competitive plan already and still overpaying because of issues that switching alone won't fix:
- Wrong tariff type — you might be on a time-of-use tariff when a flat rate would suit your usage pattern better (or vice versa). A commission-funded comparison site has no incentive to flag this, because there's no commission in keeping you put on a better tariff with your current retailer.
- Unclaimed rebates — state government energy rebates and concessions go unclaimed every year. Eligibility varies by state and changes regularly. These aren't retailer products, so they don't generate switching commissions — which is why they rarely feature prominently on commercial comparison sites.
- Solar system underperformance — a faulty inverter or shading issue can slash your solar generation without any obvious sign on your bill. This is an equipment problem, not a retailer problem, and no comparison site is going to catch it.
- Usage timing — running major appliances during peak periods on a time-of-use tariff costs significantly more than off-peak. This is a household behaviour issue, and again, no retailer switch fixes it.
A genuine bill review looks at all of these factors, not just which logo is at the top of your invoice.
So Which One Should You Choose?
There's no universal answer, and anyone giving you one is probably selling something. For most households, the difference between the cheapest AGL and EnergyAustralia market offers is modest — often less than $2 per week. The larger savings usually come from actions that have nothing to do with which retailer you choose.
Before switching, check:
- You're on the right tariff type for your usage pattern (flat rate, time-of-use, or demand)
- You've claimed every state rebate you're eligible for — check your state government's energy assistance page
- If you have solar, that your system is generating and exporting at the levels you'd expect for its size
- You're not still on a standing offer — both retailers' cheapest market offers are well below their standing offer rates
After all of that, if switching still makes sense based on the numbers, switch. But "switch first, check other stuff later" usually leaves money on the table.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is AGL cheaper than EnergyAustralia?
It depends on your state, distribution zone, usage pattern, and plan type. Neither retailer consistently wins across every scenario. For a personalised comparison using your actual usage, use the AER's Energy Made Easy website or (in Victoria) Victorian Energy Compare.
Why did my electricity bill jump so much in 2026?
The Commonwealth Energy Bill Relief Fund ended on 31 December 2025. For 18 months before that, most households received automatic $75 quarterly credits on their bills. Those credits stopped. The underlying electricity price only rose about 4.9% in the year to February 2026 — but stripping out the rebate effect, the total out-of-pocket price rose approximately 37% per ABS data. Your bill didn't get 37% more expensive overnight; the subsidy that was softening it disappeared.
Are there still government energy rebates available in 2026?
The universal federal rebate has ended. State and territory concession schemes remain active for eligible households — typically concession card holders, pensioners, low-income households, and people with medical conditions. Eligibility and amounts vary by state. Check your state government's energy assistance page for current programs.
Do AGL and EnergyAustralia charge the same daily supply fee?
No. Daily supply charges differ between retailers, between plans from the same retailer, and between distribution zones. Typical range is 80c to $1.50 per day for residential customers. Always check the supply charge alongside the usage rate when comparing plans.
How do I compare AGL and EnergyAustralia plans accurately?
Use the government's Energy Made Easy website for plan comparisons — it's government-run, free, and takes no commissions. For a review of what you're currently paying and whether switching is actually the best move for your situation, BillDecoder analyses your bill independently. The difference from commercial comparison sites: BillDecoder is paid by customers, not retailers, which is why it can recommend staying, switching, claiming rebates, fixing solar, or renegotiating — whichever actually helps.
What is the Default Market Offer (DMO) and why does it matter?
The DMO is a maximum price set by the Australian Energy Regulator for standing offer customers in NSW, South Australia, and SE Queensland. The current determination, DMO 7, took effect on 1 July 2025. It acts as a reference price against which retailers must advertise their offers, so customers can compare plans on a consistent basis. If you're on a standing offer, you're paying the DMO cap — almost always more than a competitive market offer.
Can I save money without switching retailers at all?
Yes. Checking your tariff type, claiming state rebates, auditing your solar performance, and shifting major usage to off-peak hours can all reduce your bill without changing providers. Switching is one option, not the only one — and it's the option most heavily promoted because it's the only one that pays commission to comparison sites.
Last updated: April 2026. Based on AER DMO 7 Final Determination (26 May 2025), Commonwealth Energy Bill Relief Fund status per energy.gov.au, and ABS electricity price data to February 2026.