Australia: standing charges & prepayment explained
What’s actually in your bill beyond the unit rate — compiled August 2026.
Standing charge
90c–$1.30/day “daily supply charge”, NSW average ~105c/day (~$330–440/year) — capped for the first time under AER’s 2026-27 Default Market Offer
Source: AER Default Market Offer 2026-27
Prepayment vs Direct Debit/standard billing
True prepayment metering isn’t a mainstream product in Australia — what’s marketed as “prepay” by some retailers is closer to a bill-smoothing/credit model, not a metered pay-as-you-go system like the UK or Ireland. No regulator has published a prepayment cost-premium finding here, so we’re not claiming one.
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