The Hidden Interest on Your Solar Exports

...that retailers quietly pocket unless you’re with a wholesale provider like LocalVolts

When you export solar energy at 0c/kWh, it might feel like you’re giving it away. But in Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM), even "free" energy is far from worthless.

Behind the scenes, your solar exports help reduce financial risk in the energy market — and that reduction carries real value. If you're with a traditional energy retailer, they quietly keep it. If you're with LocalVolts, you get it.

Let’s break that down.

Settlement Isn’t Instant — and Interest Is Charged

Every 5 minutes, AEMO sets a dispatch price for energy. But energy isn’t settled in real time — it can take weeks for financial settlement to occur.

To manage that delay, AEMO requires market participants (like retailers) to post financial guarantees and charges them interest on outstanding energy liabilities. The assumed value of that energy? Typically around 25c/kWh, with an annualized interest rate of 10.2%.

So yes — even if you export at 0c/kWh, the market treats your energy like it's worth 25c/kWh for interest calculations.

Your Export Offsets Retailer Liabilities — But Who Gets the Credit?

When you export energy, it reduces the amount of energy your retailer needs to buy on the wholesale market. That, in turn, lowers their prudential exposure and reduces the interest they owe AEMO.

This is where things get interesting.

Most traditional retailers don’t pass that value on to you. They credit you a flat feed-in rate, keep the benefit of reduced interest for themselves, and call it margin.

But LocalVolts does it differently.
Because you’re trading directly into the market, LocalVolts treats you like a small-scale generator and passes that settlement value back to you.

It's Like Earning Interest — Just in Energy Terms

So while you’re not literally loaning energy at 10% per annum, the effect is similar:
You export at no upfront price, and over time, the system returns value because your energy reduced someone else’s cost of capital.

Call it settlement arbitrage. Call it wholesale fairness.

We call it what it is: yours.

Why You’ve Probably Never Heard This

Because the energy market wasn’t built for you.
It was built for large retailers who understood how the rules worked and profited quietly in the background. Most customers never get visibility into settlement timelines, prudential interest, or how exported energy offsets those financial positions.

But if you're exporting and not seeing that value, it's not because it doesn't exist — it's because someone else is keeping it.

What You Can Do

If you're serious about getting paid what your energy is truly worth, don't settle for a fixed feed-in tariff.

Trade through a provider like LocalVolts that gives you direct access to real market dynamics — including the hidden interest you're already earning.

Want to read the fine print?

Want to understand the AEMO settlement process yourself? Here’s the official documentation.