Ausgrid EA116 or EA025? Life After the Ausgrid Test Tariff
Choosing the right tariff after the Ausgrid test can be challenging for homeowners. The decision between EA116 and EA025 depends on various factors. This guide will help you understand both options and make an informed choice.
Understanding EA116
EA116 is presented as a time-of-use tariff but combines both time-of-use (ToU) rates and a demand charge. While it's marketed towards homeowners, being the default assignment suggests it may serve the network's operational interests more than individual cost savings. This tariff suits those who can meticulously manage their energy consumption without deviations, a scenario our data shows is rare among our customers. For instance, it assumes you'll never need to run appliances like dishwashers or washing machines during peak hours, even in unforeseen circumstances, and will consistently operate them only during off-peak times.
Time of Use EA025
This tariff is suitable for homeowners who prefer simplicity. This costs a lot extra every kWh during peak times so still encourages less use then but without the penalty should one night be unusual. If you need to run a dishwasher or dryer at night, you pay extra for that but that will only be charged for those kWh used not as a daily fee for the whole month.
Confused? Sorry about that so lets run the numbers.
Check your bill
Have a look at your most recent bill, look for the peak usage (measured in kWh) and peak demand (measured in kW).
Compare the tariffs, look for the latest e.g. Ausgrid 2024-2025.
Then calculate the cost for each:
| Tariff | EA025 | EA116 |
| Peak use 29.1kWh | x 26.8969 = $7.83 | x 2.337 = $0.13 |
| Peak Demand 5.362kW | nil | x 30 x 33.2942 = $53.56 |
| Cost | $7.83 | $53.68 |
I think it is much better to look at your actual numbers rather than try to imagine using dishwashers at night. It avoids the trap of stated vs observed behaviour.
Conclusion
So if you have a battery, keep your demand in control, there still might be the odd case where the battery is empty, off or some unusual demand can spike during one night during the month. So it is best to check your actual demand for a few months and see what it will cost. In this case, it is far better to take the ToU EA025 tariff. Paying extra per kWh worked out far cheaper than per kW.