Victoria runs its own rulebook: its own regulated price, its own comparison site, and five distribution networks. If a national comparison quotes you the Default Market Offer, it is quoting the wrong benchmark.
From 28 retailers publishing to the AER in Victoria. Re-checked nightly.
Victoria is the one NEM state that never joined the national retail pricing framework. It sets its own safety-net price through the Essential Services Commission, it runs its own government comparison site, and it has five distribution networks rather than the two or three most states manage. Any comparison that treats Victoria as "NSW with different weather" gets the benchmark wrong before it starts.
VIC
What makes Victoria different
The VDO, not the DMO
The Australian Energy Regulator's Default Market Offer does not apply in Victoria. Your safety-net price is the Victorian Default Offer, set by the state's Essential Services Commission and running 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027.
This matters when you read advertising. A national retailer quoting "X% below the reference price" is quoting a different reference price outside Victoria. We cost plans in dollars against your own usage, which sidesteps the benchmark question entirely.
Five networks, and a peak window unlike anywhere else
CitiPower, Powercor and United Energy all run a network peak of 7am–7pm on weekdays — a twelve-hour block that looks nothing like the 3pm–9pm evening peak used in NSW and Queensland. Jemena runs 3pm–9pm every day instead.
A twelve-hour weekday peak changes the entire calculus of a time-of-use plan. Advice built on an evening-peak assumption — which is most advice — can be exactly backwards in CitiPower or Powercor territory.
Victoria’s grid is the most carbon-intensive in the NEM
Victoria still runs on brown coal, and it shows in AEMO's own carbon-intensity index. Where Tasmania's hydro-fed grid sits near the bottom of the NEM, Victoria sits at the top.
That is an emissions fact, not a money one: your rate is fixed by your plan and does not move with the grid. But if you are weighing solar or a battery on carbon grounds rather than dollars, Victoria is where each self-consumed kilowatt-hour displaces the most.
The fixed parts
Your network and your regulated price
Distribution networks
CitiPower — central Melbourne
Powercor — western Victoria and Melbourne’s west
Jemena — Melbourne’s north-west
United Energy — Melbourne’s south-east and the Mornington Peninsula
AusNet — eastern and north-eastern Victoria
Your distributor is set by your address and cannot be switched. Its charges are regulated, so no retailer can discount them away — which is why a comparison has to be run for your actual network, not a state average.
Victorian Default Offer (VDO)
Set by the Essential Services Commission · 1 July 2026 – 30 June 2027
Victoria does not use the Default Market Offer. It runs its own regulated price, the VDO, set by the state's Essential Services Commission — in the commission's own words, "we set the prices of these electricity options, not energy companies". It covers households using under 40 MWh a year, and acts as a maximum price for embedded-network customers.
These are the network windows published by each distributor, not your retailer’s billing windows — a retail plan can bill different times. We use your own plan’s rates when we cost a comparison.
Concessions
What Victoria pays toward your bill
Annual Electricity Concession
17.5% off your usage and supply charges
A percentage discount rather than a flat payment, applied to your bill year-round. Thresholds reset annually — check the current figures with the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing.
Concession names, amounts and eligibility are set by government and change — most reset on 1 July. We publish only figures we could verify against an official source, and we link every one so you can check it yourself. There is currently no federal energy bill rebate: the Energy Bill Relief Fund ended on 31 December 2025 and was not renewed in the 2026-27 Budget.
Grid emissions
How clean Victoria's grid runs
728 g CO2-e per kWh
VIC1 region · 85-day average from AEMO's CDEII index · ranks 5 of 5 NEM regions we track (1 = cleanest)
This is an emissions figure and never a price signal. Your rate is fixed by your plan and does not move with the grid, so nobody should tell you power is "cheaper right now" because the grid happens to be cleaner. Where it does matter: it sets how much carbon each kilowatt-hour of solar you self-consume actually displaces.
Whole of market
Cost the Victoria market against your own bill
Upload a bill and we reproduce your current cost first, then cost all 4,693 residential electricity plans the AER publishes for Victoria, from the 28 retailers we track on the same usage and rank them by real annual dollars. Because we take no commissions, the ranking is not for sale.
Yes. Victoria is part of the National Electricity Market, so you can switch to any retailer that services your network. Switching is free, does not touch your physical supply, and most plans have no exit fee.
How many Victoria electricity plans do you compare?
We compare all 4,693 residential electricity plans the AER publishes for Victoria, from the 28 retailers we track. We re-check them nightly. We exclude wholesale spot-price pass-through plans, because the AER reference rates for those are not what a customer actually pays — we would rather leave a plan out than rank it on a number we know is wrong.
Who is my electricity distributor in Victoria?
CitiPower, Powercor, Jemena, United Energy, AusNet — which one serves you is fixed by your address. The distributor runs the poles and wires and its charges are set by the regulator, not your retailer. It is not something you can shop for.
What regulated price applies in Victoria?
Victorian Default Offer (VDO), set by the Essential Services Commission for 1 July 2026 – 30 June 2027. Victoria does not use the Default Market Offer. It runs its own regulated price, the VDO, set by the state's Essential Services Commission — in the commission's own words, "we set the prices of these electricity options, not energy companies". It covers households using under 40 MWh a year, and acts as a maximum price for embedded-network customers.
What electricity concessions can I get in Victoria?
The main one is the Annual Electricity Concession, 17.5% off your usage and supply charges. A percentage discount rather than a flat payment, applied to your bill year-round. Thresholds reset annually — check the current figures with the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing. Eligibility and amounts are set by government and change — always confirm with the official source before relying on a figure.
When is peak electricity time in Victoria?
CitiPower: 7am–7pm, weekdays. Powercor: 7am–7pm, weekdays. Jemena: 3pm–9pm, every day. United Energy: 7am–7pm, weekdays. AusNet: 3pm–9pm, every day. These are the network windows published by each distributor, not your retailer’s billing windows — a retail plan can bill different times. We use your own plan’s rates when we cost a comparison.
How clean is Victoria's electricity grid?
Over the last 85 days of AEMO's carbon-intensity index, the VIC1 region averaged about 728 grams of CO2-e per kilowatt-hour, which ranks 5 of 5 NEM regions we track (1 = cleanest). This is an emissions figure, not a price signal: your rate is set by your plan and does not move with the grid.
Does EnergySorted take commissions from Victoria retailers?
No. We take no commission from any retailer, which is why we can tell you to stay put when staying put is right. You pay a small yearly subscription (around $39), so the ranking answers to you.
Where these facts come from
Every figure on this page was checked against a government primary source. Where we could not verify a number, we left it out rather than estimate it — that is the whole reason to pay us instead of trusting a page funded by retailer commissions.
