ACT Feed In Tariff Information
The current feed-in rate:
The highest solar feed-in tariff available in the ACT we know of is from ActewAGL. Their “Solar Saver” plan offers a 12 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) but it only applies to the first 15kWh exported to the grid per day. Solar exports over that only receive 8 cents per kWh.
This means if you have a large solar system you may be better off ActewAGL’s “Capital” plan that has a 10 cent feed-in tariff for all solar electricity exported to the grid. But even if you have a small solar system you may still be better off on their capital plan as it charges less for grid electricity.
Origin Energy offers plans with similar feed-in tariffs but their 12 cent feed-in tariff drops to 8 cents after a daily limit of 14kWh are exported to the grid per day rather than 15, so it works out a little lower.
Other retailers in the ACT generally offer lower feed-in tariffs.
Electricity retailers intentionally make plans difficult to compare, so it can definitely be worth spending a few minutes working out which is likely to be the best plan for your particular situation.
Comparing electricity retailers in ACT
After years of an ActewAGL monopoly, there is now quite a choice of electricity retailers for Canberra households. At this time (May 2024), you can generally get from 3c-12c per kWh, with higher rates only received for a fixed number of exports kWh per day. You can see up to date offers by entering your postcode in our feed-in-tariff comparison tool, then sort by clicking the ‘Feed in tariff’ column.
Previous FiT Rates:
Those who applied for rooftop solar applied for before the 13th of July 2011 could lock in a feed-in tariff from 30 – 45 cents, with the amount depending on the size of the system and the date of installation. As these high feed-in tariffs could last for 20 years, some households may still be receiving them in 2031.
Feed In Tariff Rules if you want to upgrade your solar system in ACT
If you are on a legacy high feed-in tariff in the ACT feed and you upgrade your system, you will be booted off it. The only way around this is to install another complete system on your roof, and the new system can only receive currently available rates.
If you are on the current FiT, then you have nothing to lose by upgrading. Fill your roof with solar panels and slash your power bills even further!
If you are considering an upgrade, I’ve written a detailed page on how to avoid getting burned when upgrading your solar power system.