Understand the code on your electricity bill.

This is a guide so you can see what your charges are — and how solar and a battery can help. Find the code on your bill, match it to a group below, and open it for the detail.

Essential Energy is your distributor— the company that owns the power lines in your area. You don’t pay them directly: your retailer (AGL, Origin, EnergyAustralia, Alinta) sends the bill and passes these charges on.

Regional, rural and remote NSW, including most areas outside the major coastal networks.

Four kinds of charge. That’s the whole game.

Every tariff below is just a different mix of these. Learn the four once and every code on your bill makes sense.

Daily access

A fixed fee per day, whatever you use. Nothing you do changes it.

Energy

What you pay per unit (kWh). Most tariffs charge more at peak times and less overnight and through the middle of the day.

Demand

Based on your single highest half-hour of use. Most networks measure it each billing month; Ausgrid’s capacity tariffs use your highest half-hour in the rolling last 12 months, so one spike can set a year of charges. It’s the charge a battery is best at cutting. Demand charges, explained

Export

Money for solar you send back to the grid — or a charge if you export at the wrong time of day.

Units, once: kWh is how much you used in total; kW is how hard you pulled at one instant. Demand charges watch the second one. kVAis apparent power — your real kW plus reactive power that does no useful work but still loads the network. Bigger tariffs bill on kVA, so poor power factor raises the bill even at the same kW.

Where a $5,000 quarter actually goes.

One bar, one typical bill. The network slices below come straight from the published 2026–27 rates on Essential Energy’s standard small-business tariff (BLNBSS1). Everything else is your retailer.

  • $3,042Network energy 61%
  • $216Network daily access 4%
  • $1,287Retailer energy, green schemes & market fees 26%
  • $455GST 9%

Assumes about 18,000 kWh over the quarter (roughly $5,000 all-in) on BLNBSS1, with a fifth of the usage inside the 10am–3pm Sun Saver window. Illustrative, not a quote — your split moves with your retailer, your usage shape and the exact tariff assignment.

The tariffs, in groups.

Most of the codes are variations on a handful of themes. Find your group, then open your code for the detail.

Prices are the published 2026–27 network rates for the group’s codes, rounded — exact figures and GST treatment are on each code’s page.

Small business — under 160 MWh a year

Most Essential Energy small businesses.

Your code
BLNBSS1BLND1AB

On the bill

  • Daily access$2.38 a day
  • Energy with a cheap Sun Saver window (10am–3pm daily)6.1c–19.0c per kWh
  • kVA demand charge (BLND1AB only)$9.70 per kVA a month

Solar & battery

The cheap window is when the sun is strongest — solar fits it beautifully. On BLND1AB, flattening peaks cuts the demand charge.

Network-charge split · BLNBSS1typical ~18,000 kWh a quarter · 25 kW peak
Energy 92%Access 8%

Large business — over 160 MWh a year

Bigger low-voltage sites.

Your code
BLND3AOBLND3TO

On the bill

  • Daily access$22.33 a day
  • Time-of-use energy3.6c–19.3c per kWh
  • kVA demand charge$2.85–$15.49 per kVA a month

Solar & battery

Solar trims daytime energy. A battery can shave the kVA peak, but fix power factor first — kVA counts more than kW here.

Network-charge split · BLND3AOtypical ~60,000 kWh a quarter · 150 kW peak
Demand 39%Energy 37%Access 24%

High voltage & sub-transmission

Sites supplied at high or sub-transmission voltage.

Your code
BHND3AOBSSD3AO

On the bill

  • Daily access$27.23–$27.43 a day
  • Time-of-use energy3.3c–6.7c per kWh
  • kVA demand charge$1.26–$11.50 per kVA a month

Solar & battery

Same maths as the large-business family, at higher voltages. Get an engineering review before choosing equipment.

Network-charge split · BHND3AOtypical ~150,000 kWh a quarter · 400 kW peak
Demand 49%Energy 37%Access 14%

Battery-only connections

Standalone batteries with their own grid connection — not a normal business meter.

Your code
BLND4SBBLND4LSBHND4LS

On the bill

  • Specialist connection charges

Solar & battery

Specialist connection projects: the design and the market contract decide the return, not this page.

Solar export

Sites sending solar back to the grid.

Your code
BLNBEX1BLNE22AU

On the bill

  • BLNBEX1: daytime export charge, evening rebate (5–8pm)12.2c earned per kWh exported · 0.8c charged per kWh exported
  • BLNE22AU: flat any-time export12.2c earned per kWh exported

Solar & battery

A battery can hold your solar and export it into the 5–8pm rebate window instead of the charged daytime one.