What’s the average electricity bill in Australia?

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What’s the average Australians pay on their electricity bill?

How can average energy prices help me compare plans?

How do seasons impact the average electricity bill?

What other factors affect my household usage?

How can I lower my household’s electricity usage costs and save more energy?

Plug into an energy plan that makes sense

Long story short

Average electricity prices differ depending on your home

Electricity costs can vary depending on where you live, how many people live in your home and how much energy is used.

Seasons and habits can factor into your final bill

More heating in winter, air conditioning throughout summer and daylight savings can all have a part to play in your bill amount.

Small changes could help you lower your bill

From shifting when you use power to upgrading appliances to regularly comparing energy plans, small shifts in your habits can make a difference.

What’s the average Australians pay on their electricity bill?

An average electricity bill for a 2-person household could be around $2,600 per year, depending on the location and energy use of each home. Larger households could see higher bills, but the exact amount average Australians pay depends on their location and climate, whether they use solar energy and the energy plan they’re on. Millions of Australians can save money by switching to a more suitable electricity plan, and iSelect can try and help with that.

Average annual electricity costs by state and household size

Note: These figures reflect indicative average annual electricity costs by household size and location/climate zone in each state, based on the AER’s Electricity and gas consumption benchmarks for residential customers 2020 report and applied to AER 2026–27 DMO Final Determination, published May 2026 and ESC VDO Final Determination, published May 2026. Prices and rounded where appropriate. Estimates include internal iSelect calculations applied to this data. Actual costs may vary depending on your actual usage, tariff type and location.

How can average energy prices help me compare plans?

Average electricity costs can help you see whether your usage differs from that of average households of the same size, and what that means for your bill. It’s useful to compare your bill against average bill benchmarks while keeping your home’s size, average usage and location in mind.

Ideally, you should think of these average prices like a candle in a blackout. Great for lighting the way, but not quite enough to light up the whole room. If your household has changed size, you’ve moved over to a new time-of-use tariff or you’re moving into a new energy network, average bills can help you find a plan that roughly matches your needs. You could also use these benchmarks to see if your usage habits need to be refined or if it’s time to upgrade your energy-draining appliances for a more efficient home.

Helpful tip

If you want to check whether your energy plan is still suitable for you (without doing a whole comparison), the ‘best offer’ section on your bill is your answer. Every few months, your energy retailer has to let you know whether you’re on their best offer in Victoria or if you are in a deregulated region governed by the Australian Energy Regulator. It’s a simple way to check at a glance whether you’re getting the best from your provider in between your checks of providers, which we recommend doing annually.

Julia Paszka

General Manager – Utilities & Credit Cards

How do seasons impact the average electricity bill?

Different seasons can call for different energy consumption. In many climates, summer and winter see more reliance on heaters and air conditioners, which can mean higher-than-normal bills. Daylight savings can also affect your average electricity bill, with more power needed to light up your home during the darker months and more time without the lights on during long summer evenings. How the weather and seasons impact your energy usage depends on where exactly you live and the climate you experience there.

Australia has 8 different climate zones across the country, so there’s a fair bit of fluctuation to account for when it comes to your electricity consumption across the year. But for homes with solar panels, you might notice lower bills in summer. Since your main source of energy (the sun) is clocking in more hours, that means more solar power is being generated for your home, and you’re less reliant on the main grid.

What other factors affect my household usage?

The household appliances you use and when you use them can affect your household usage and average costs, especially heating and cooling. Your usage behaviour can also shift depending on the type of energy plan you’re on, with some homes on time-of-use tariffs shifting their usage to hours that are more beneficial cost wise. Your household usage can also be affected by your location and the number of people living in your home, but these can’t be changed as easily as other factors.

How can I lower my household’s electricity usage costs and save more energy?

Lowering the cost of electricity comes down to thinking about when you use your energy and whether there are better times to shift your usage to, especially for more energy-intensive appliances like heating and cooling. You can also lower your electricity bills by checking if you’re eligible for any discounts or rebates and comparing regularly against a range of other providers and plans (iSelect can help you with that). If it’s in your budget, switching over to solar is another long-term solution to lower your bills.

Think about when you use energy

If you’re on a time-of-use tariff, exactly when you’re using your energy matters. Running appliances during off-peak times can make a difference to your bills when compared to peak periods. If you’re not home during the day, set timers on your high-usage appliances like dishwashers so they run when rates are lower.

Rely on renewables

Switching to solar means using energy generated by your home and relying less on electricity from the main grid, which you need to pay for. For the average home, a solar system could save you around $1,000 on energy bills, or around $1,400 if you have a solar battery.¹Service Victoria – How to save energy and reduce your electrical bill Switching to solar will be most cost-effective for homes that use solar as it’s being generated (self-consuming).

Utilise energy update discounts

Energy-efficient appliances can help lower your household energy bills. Upgrading might come with more costs, but there are government discounts available to help make those energy upgrades less of a strain on your budget. In some situations, efficient appliances could mean savings of around $192 a year, depending on your usage.

Compare regularly

Energy plans and your household’s needs change, so regularly making sure that your plan fits often means more efficiency for your usage costs. Millions of Australians are paying more than they need to for electricity, and a quick comparison once a year could help you avoid that. iSelect can even help you with this.

Plug into an energy plan that makes sense

If your power bill is leading the race (and not in a good way), it might be time to see what else is out there. But don’t worry, comparing energy providers in Australia doesn’t have to be a full-time job. In fact, with iSelect, it’s as simple as riding a bike. Just use our online tool to compare a range of electricity providers and plans, or call up our comparison experts at 1800 664 532 to see if your current plan is pulling its weight.