Ausgrid EA116 or EA025? Life After the Ausgrid Test Tariff

Jul 25, 2024By Ian Connor
Ian Connor

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 a time-of-use tariff. It charges different rates depending on the time of day. The selling point is homeowners can benefit from lower rates during off-peak hours. This tariff is suitable for those who can fully control their energy usage and never make mistakes.

For example, you will never run appliances like dishwashers and washing machines during peak hours and will only do so off-peak.

time management

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.

energy usage

Confused? Sorry about that so lets run the numbers.

solar panels

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).

Bill showing 29.1kWh and 5.362kW
This probably won't be on the first page

Compare the tariffs, look for the latest e.g. Ausgrid 2024-2025.

person catching light bulb
Look for the peak cost per kWh and demand charge per day per kW

Then calculate the cost for each:

TariffEA025EA116
Peak use 29.1kWhx 26.8969 = $7.83x 2.337 = $0.13
Peak Demand 5.362kWnilx 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.