Midday Power Saver: is it worth it in Victoria?
By Sithum Imarsha Last reviewed
With a 3-person home on CitiPower and the flat default offer, the Midday Power Saver plan costs $33 less a year if nothing moves, and $106 less a year once the dishwasher runs from 11am to 2pm. Type your own bill and loads to see yours.
Your result
The free plan costs
$106 lessa year
$1,759 your plan − $1,653 Midday Power Saver, CitiPower
Switch: the Midday Power Saver plan costs less for this home. You move 0.5 kWh a day into the free hours, out of hours that cost about 40.36c a kWh on this plan.
- If you change nothing
- $33 less a year. About the same by design: the plan is priced to match the time-of-use default for a home that changes nothing. Your flat plan differs a little.
- Break-even move
- None: it costs no more as it is
- Moved to the free hours
- 0.5 kWh a day
- Solar in the free hours
- — kWh a day of your use
- Without the battery
- — a year
- Without the EV
- — a year
- Over the daily cap
- — kWh a day at 18.64c/kWh
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Midday Power Saver. The Midday Power Saver started on 1 October 2026. These are the rates in the Midday Power Saver Pricing Order 2026. Check the rates on your retailer’s plan.
Fix the highlighted field to update.
How we calculated this
- A typical home has its use split over the clock the way the regulators measured it.
- The loads you move, solar, a battery and an EV change how much lands in the free hours.
- Both plans are priced for the same home for a year. The result is the gap between them.
Full method, tables and sources: Solar Sharer and Midday Power Saver calculator
Split your day into the plan's hours
13.9 kWh a day (AER benchmark, Melbourne, 3 people): 11% in the free hours, 29% in the peak hours
Move the loads you chose
0.5 kWh a day from the peak hours
Solar, battery and EV
2 kWh a day in the free hours, 2 kWh from the grid; battery supplies — kWh a day on the free plan, — on yours
Price each plan
Yours: 25.96c/kWh, 121.14c a day. Free: 121.14c a day; peak 40.36c, solar soak 18.64c, off-peak 23.22c; free 11am to 2pm up to 24 kWh a day, then 18.64c
The gap
$1,759 − $1,653: the free plan costs $106 less
Break-even
Change nothing: $33 less. 1 kWh moved is worth 40.36c, so break-even is 0 kWh a day
| Your plan | Free plan | |
|---|---|---|
| Supply charge | $442 | $442 |
| Peak hours | $335 | $520 |
| Other hours | $790 | $691 |
| Free hours | $192 | $0 |
| Solar feed-in credit (free hours) | $0 | $0 |
| Over the daily cap | $0 | |
| A year | $1,759 | $1,653 |
This version starts on the CitiPower network against the flat Victorian Default Offer. The Midday Power Saver is a separate Victorian plan, not the Solar Sharer, with its own rates set by the Essential Services Commission.
Victoria: what to know
Official source
- The Midday Power Saver started on 1 October 2026 on all five Victorian networks: AusNet Services, CitiPower, Jemena, Powercor and United Energy.
- Our rates are the ones in the Midday Power Saver Pricing Order 2026 (Victoria Government Gazette S 498, 8 September 2026). They are the same as the rates the Essential Services Commission recommended in May 2026.
Not yet checked
- Up to 24 kWh a day is free from 11am to 2pm. Above that you pay at most the solar soak rate. No exit fees, and you can switch off it at any time.
How the free hours are priced, and why a home that changes nothing pays about the same: read the guide on the main Solar Sharer calculator.
Questions
When did the Midday Power Saver start?
On 1 October 2026. Free power from 11am to 2pm every day, all year, in all five Victorian networks, up to 24 kWh a day. Ask your retailer for it.
Is the Midday Power Saver the same as the Solar Sharer?
No. The Solar Sharer is the federal plan for NSW, south-east Queensland and SA, priced by the AER. The Midday Power Saver is the Victorian plan, priced by the Essential Services Commission. Both give 3 free hours and a 24 kWh cap.