1 April 2026
There's a quiet tax on inertia in Australian electricity. It's called the standing offer, and it's the most expensive way to buy power. If you've never chosen a plan — or if your old plan expired and you did nothing — you're almost certainly paying it.
A standing offer is the default electricity plan your retailer places you on when you don't actively choose one. It's a regulated, published rate that retailers are required to offer — but it's deliberately priced to be uncompetitive.
Think of it as the walk-in price at a hotel. You can always get it, but anyone who books in advance pays far less. The standing offer exists as a safety net, not a good deal.
Plan expiry is the most common path. You signed up for a competitive market offer two years ago, the benefit period ended, and your retailer quietly moved you to a standing offer. They sent a notice — buried in a bill you probably didn't read closely.
Moving house is another trigger. When you call to connect power at a new address, many retailers default you to a standing offer unless you specifically ask for a market offer. In the stress of moving, most people don't.
Inertia accounts for the rest. Some people have been on the same plan for 5 or 10 years. They've never switched, never compared, and never realised there's a better option. The retailers count on this.
According to the AER's Default Market Offer reports, standing offers are typically 15-25% more expensive than the best available market offers. For an average household, that's $400 to $800 per year.
Over five years of inertia, that's $2,000 to $4,000 in unnecessary costs. For the same electricity, from the same wires, to the same house.
Look at your bill. If it says "standing offer," "default offer," or "deemed arrangement" anywhere, you're on one. Some bills don't make it obvious — look for the plan name or type in the fine print on page 2 or 3.
Another clue: if your bill doesn't mention any discount, benefit period, or contract end date, you're likely on a standing offer. Market offers almost always have a benefit period.
Not sure what you're on? Upload your bill to BillDecoder. We identify your plan type, tell you if you're on a standing offer, and show you exactly how much you could save by switching to a competitive market offer in your area.
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