Understand industry jargon

A 'consumption charge' or 'usage charge' on an energy bill is the cost of how much electricity you’ve used during a billing period.

A supply charge is a fixed daily fee that you pay regardless of how much electricity you use. This charge covers the cost of having your property connected to the electricity grid and maintaining the poles and wires in the network outside your home that keep you connected.

A solar feed-in tariff is the amount you receive for the electricity your solar panels send to the grid (i.e. the electricity you don't use yourself). It is 'money back' so it appears as a negative amount on your bill, reducing your overall costs. 

Many people with solar are unhappy that the feed-in tariffs they receive are lower now than they used to be - but you can still save a lot of money off your bill by using the electricity from your solar yourself instead of sending it to the grid, so solar is still a good way of saving money, especially if you have a battery too.

A National Metering Identifier (NMI) is the unique 10 or 11-digit number for the electricity connection at your address - it will change for each place you live in. 

Energy providers have a hardship program for customers experiencing financial difficulty. Hardship programs:

• Help customers manage their energy bills through payment plans
• Protect eligible customers from energy disconnection (while they're in the hardship program)
• Provide assistance in accessing government rebates and concessions
• May include energy efficiency advice to reduce consumption, and
• Offer more flexible payment options.

All energy retailers in Australia must have a hardship policy approved by the Australian Energy Regulator (AER). 

A demand tariff is an energy plan that charges customers based on their highest rate of electricity use during a specific period, rather than their total consumption. For example, if you're on a demand tariff and you use a lot of energy all at once on one day at peak time, it doesn't matter if for the rest of the month you used very little energy at cheap times, your monthly rate will be set based on the day you used a lot of energy at the expensive time. To be on a demand tariff, you need to have a smart meter. This tariff is often not suitable for household customers, but it can be very good for small businesses who use energy consistently at particular times of day.

A time-of-use tariff offers different electricity prices based on the time of day, week, or season when electricity is used. To be on a time-of-use tariff, you need to have a smart meter, which sends information to your energy provider about what times you are using electricity. Time-of-use tariffs are designed to encourage people to shift their electricity use to times when grid demand is lower. They can be very good for people who work from home, work shifts, or have an energy efficient home (a home that stays cool after you cool it or stays hot after you heat it) but they are not right for everyone.

A time-of-use tariff often has:

• Different rates for peak (highest cost) and off-peak (lowest cost) periods
• Peak periods, which are usually on weekday afternoons/evenings (e.g., 3pm-9pm) when more people are home from work and using energy
• Off-peak periods, which are usually overnight and sometimes weekends when fewer people are home and there is less demand for energy

A "shoulder tariff" refers to a mid-range electricity price between the more expensive peak tariff and the cheaper off-peak tariff. Shoulder periods are normally mid-morning or late evening, bridging the gap between peak and off-peak hours. You normally only see this rate on your energy bill if you are on a 'time-of-use tariff'.

A "flat rate" means you pay the same price for electricity on your bill, no matter when you use it. It’s a consistent price charged at a fixed rate per kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity used. A lot of people like this but if you work from home, work shifts, or have solar and a battery, or you don't need to use so much electricity at the most expensive time of day, you may be better off on a more flexible tariff.

This is a unit of measurement. However, despite the name, it doesn’t mean the number of kilowatts you’re using per hour. 1 kilowatt hour is the amount of energy you’d use if you kept a 1,000-Watt appliance running for an hour. 

But different appliances use different amounts of energy – an alarm clock uses a lot less power than an electric kettle. Here are a few examples:

• A 50-Watt alarm clock would take 20 hours to use 1 kWh
• A 100-Watt light bulb would take 10 hours to rack up 1 kWh
• A 2,000-Watt dishwasher would use 1 kWh in just half an hour

• A kJ (kilojoule) measures energy in a similar way to a kWh (see above). It is used to measure gas. One kilojoule is how much energy is needed to raise the temperature of water weighing 1 kilogram by 1 degree Celsius (complicated much?)
• A MJ (megajoule) also measures gas. 1 MJ is equal to 1000 kJ.

An ‘energy generator’ refers to anybody who produces electricity. In the old days this was just people who ran coal-fired power plants or a hydro-electric dam but now many consumers are also producers of energy because they own solar that gives electricity to the grid. 

An ‘energy network’ is the infrastructure that transports electricity or gas from those who make the energy (generators) to those who use it (consumers). Think of it as the roads and highways of energy. It includes the wires, poles, substations, and pipelines that carry electricity and gas.

Networks can be divided into:

• Transmission networks: High-voltage lines that carry electricity over long distances.
• Distribution networks: Lower-voltage lines that deliver electricity to homes and businesses.
• Gas networks: Deliver gas through pipelines.

If you live in a big apartment block or caravan park, or if you operate a business in a shopping centre or retail park, your energy retailer may also be your landlord or developer and you may not have a choice of who can supply you energy. This is known as an 'embedded network'.

An ‘energy distributor’ owns and operates the local network of poles, wires, or pipes that deliver electricity or gas to homes and businesses. They’re responsible for maintaining the network, fixing faults, and ensuring its reliability. Because there is only one distributor per area, you can’t choose who your distributor is.

Your ‘energy retailer’ or energy provider is who you directly deal with for your electricity or gas supply. They purchase electricity and/or gas in large volumes and sell it to you. In most of Australia, you can choose your energy retailer and your energy plan. 

The ‘energy market’ is where electricity and gas are bought and sold. It's how energy gets from producers to consumers. Energy generators sell the electricity they produce, and retailers buy it to sell to homes and businesses. It includes the wholesale market, where generators and retailers trade electricity and gas, and the retail market, where retailers sell to consumers. 

The National Electricity Market (NEM) is the largest part of the Australian energy market. It’s the wholesale electricity market that operates across Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Tasmania. The ACT is also in the NEM but it is included as part of the NSW region. 

The NEM is a very large, interconnected electricity grid that covers thousands of kilometers. It operates on a supply and demand basis, with prices changing based on electricity use.

The definition of a ‘small business’ in the energy sector can vary depending on the state or territory, energy retailer, and regulations. 

The term 'small business' generally refers to businesses that:

• Consume relatively low amounts of energy: Typically, there is an annual consumption threshold for electricity (measured in kWh) or gas (measured in MJ), and if you use more energy than that you are not considered to be a 'small business'.
• Are not large industrial users: large-scale manufacturing, mining, and other heavy industries that consume vast amounts of energy are not considered 'small businesses' even if they don't employ many people.
• Meet retailer specific criteria: Individual energy retailers may have their own specific criteria to define a small business, like annual revenue or staff numbers, so it's best to check with them directly.

A rebate is a reduction in the amount you pay on your energy bill. It's a form of financial support that lowers your energy cost. 

Rebates can be offered by the government (often for low-income households or seniors) or by energy retailers (as part of a promotional offer). The rebate is applied as a credit to your energy bill, reducing the total amount you owe.

For more information on what energy rebates are available, visit https://www.energy.gov.au/rebates. 

Gas and electricity meters measure how much energy your home or business uses. They record the amount of electricity (in kilowatt-hours, kWh) or gas (in megajoules, MJ) consumed.

Energy retailers use the readings from these meters to calculate your energy bills. There are traditional meters that require manual reading, and smart meters that transmit data to your energy provider electronically. 

A ‘smart meter’ is an advanced digital meter that measures your electricity use and sends that information electronically to your energy provider. They eliminate the need for manual meter readings and enable time-of-use tariffs. Read more out more about smart meters.

A prepayment meter is an energy meter that requires you to pay upfront for your electricity or gas before you use it. They work in a ‘pay-as-you-go’ model: credit is added to the meter and the energy is used until the credit runs out.  If your credit runs out, you will be disconnected and stop receiving energy until you can top up your credit.

Both these terms refer to small-scale energy technologies that can generate, store, or manage electricity, owned by households or small businesses. We prefer the term 'Consumer Energy Resources' because that reminds the industry that these are products that are owned by consumers.

Some examples of CER are:

• Rooftop solar panels
• Home battery storage systems
• Electric vehicles (EVs), with battery charging stations that can feed energy back into the grid, and
• Smart home energy management systems.

An electric vehicle (EV) is a car, ute, or truck that's powered by electricity rather than fossil fuels, like petrol or diesel. EVs use rechargeable batteries to store the electricity that drives their motors and typically are either fully electric vehicles (BEVs) or plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). 

‘Solar panels’ – also known as ‘photovoltaic (PV) panels’ – convert sunlight into electricity that you can power your home or business with.

The electricity generated can be used directly, stored in batteries, or fed back into the grid.

Household batteries are systems that store electricity for later use. This means you can store the energy generated by the sun and the solar panels on your roof to use at a later time when the sun isn't shining.

They improve grid stability, reduce reliance on fossil fuels, and allow consumers to use stored energy during peak demand times.

A ‘heat pump’ is an energy-efficient system to heat or cool your home and water. By providing both heating in winter and cooling in summer, they’re very versatile, using electricity to move heat, which is much more efficient than using electricity to generate heat directly.

There are a few key types, which are:

• Air-source heat pumps take heat from the air
• Ground-source heat pumps take heat from the ground, and
• Water-source heat pumps take heat from water.

For example, an air-source hot water heat pump takes heat from the surrounding air and transfers it to the water inside the heater rather than generating heat directly. 

An energy rating label provides you with information about the energy efficiency of an appliance or a building. They help consumers make informed choices when buying appliances or buildings, allowing them to choose more energy-efficient options that will use less energy and save them money.

There are different types of energy ratings, such as:

• Ones that apply to large appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines, and air conditioners
• NABERS ratings for buildings, and
• WELS ratings for appliances that use water.

Appliances often use a star rating system, where more stars indicate greater energy efficiency. Choosing products with higher energy ratings can lead to significant savings on energy bills.

‘Energy efficiency’ means using less energy to achieve the same result. It's about reducing how much energy is needed to power homes, businesses, and industries by minimising energy waste.

Some examples of energy efficiency include:

• Using energy-efficient appliances (with high energy ratings)
• Insulating homes to reduce heating and cooling needs
• Switching to LED lighting, and
• Designing buildings to maximise natural light and ventilation.

If you have an energy efficient home it will hold the heat for longer after you heat it in the winter, or hold the cold longer if you cool it in summer.

The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) makes the rules for Australia's electricity and gas markets. They are responsible for creating and changing the rules that govern how the electricity and gas markets operate.

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) is responsible for operating Australia's largest electricity and gas markets. They’re responsible for managing the day-to-day operation of the National Electricity Market (NEM) and several gas markets.

The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) is the national regulator of Australia’s wholesale electricity and gas markets. They make sure the rules are followed.