Off-peak electricity times in Queensland: Energex and Ergon Energy
By Sithum Imarsha Last reviewed
On the Energex default market offer, peak is 4pm to 9pm. Off-peak is 11am to 4pm. Shoulder is 9pm to 11am. Time of use is about $76 a year cheaper for a typical 2-person home: 14 kWh a day, with 29% of it in the peak. It stays cheaper while less than 34.2% of your use is 4pm to 9pm.
Your result
For your home
Time of use is about $76 a year cheaper
- Time of use, a year
- $2,054
- Flat, a year
- $2,130
- Peak share used
- 29% (typical home)
- Daily use
- 14kWh
The rates behind it
- Peak rate
- 47.79c/kWh, 4pm to 9pm
- Rest of the day, averaged
- 19.21c/kWh
- Flat rate
- 27.97c/kWh
- Supply charge, time of use vs flat
- 177.85c vs 192.02c a day
Fix the highlighted field to update.
Break-evenTime of use wins while less than 34.2% of your use is 4pm to 9pm.
ClockQueensland and WA have no daylight saving.
Season
Rates
Your planThese are the times on the Energex default market offer. A market plan can use other times. Check your plan.
Your whole billEstimate your whole bill.
How we calculated this
- The peak rate is averaged over the year, because some days and months have no peak.
- The rest of the day is priced by the use of a typical home in each band.
- A year on the flat rate is compared with a year on time of use. Break-even is the peak share where they cost the same.
Full method, tables and sources: Peak and off-peak times calculator
The peak hours over a year
47.79c/kWh
The rest of the day
19.21c/kWh (Official source: AER DMO 8 final determination (26 May 2026), Appendix C s.6(2) pattern of supply, read via a Wayback Machine copy, PDF p.121; annual usage from Appendix C)
Flat for a year
(192.02c + 14 kWh × 27.97c/kWh) × 365 = $2,130
Time of use for a year
177.85c a day supply, peak share 29% (typical home): $2,054
Break-even
Time of use wins while less than 34.2% of your use is 4pm to 9pm.
This version starts with a 2-person home on Energex. The tables show Energex and Ergon Energy, regional Queensland's price.
Queensland: what to know
Official source
- Energex's off-peak band, 11am to 4pm, costs 6.98c a kWh: the cheapest rate on any of the 14 regulated time of use tariffs we compare. Shoulder runs 9pm to 11am at 25.3c.
- Regional Queensland (Ergon Energy) uses the same 4pm to 9pm peak and 11am to 4pm day band, at 47.21c and 7c.
- Queensland has no daylight saving, so every time here is Australian Eastern Standard Time all year.
| Band | Times | Days | Season | c/kWh |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peak | 4pm to 9pm | Every day | All year | 47.79c |
| Off-peak | 11am to 4pm | Every day | All year | 6.98c |
| Shoulder | 9pm to 11am | Every day | All year | 25.3c |
| Band | Times | Days | Season | c/kWh |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peak | 4pm to 9pm | Every day | All year | 47.21c |
| Day | 11am to 4pm | Every day | All year | 7c |
| Night | 9pm to 11am | Every day | All year | 25.59c |
| Network | Household | kWh a day | Flat | Time of use | Cheaper | Break-even |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Energex | 1 person | 9.3 | $1,650 | $1,582 | Time of use by $68 | 36% |
| Energex | 2 people | 14 | $2,130 | $2,054 | Time of use by $76 | 34.2% |
| Energex | 3 people | 16.9 | $2,426 | $2,345 | Time of use by $81 | 33.6% |
| Energex | 4 people | 21 | $2,845 | $2,756 | Time of use by $89 | 33% |
| Energex | 5 or more people | 24.1 | $3,162 | $3,067 | Time of use by $95 | 32.7% |
| Ergon Energy | 1 person | 9.3 | $1,640 | $1,504 | Time of use by $136 | 43.3% |
| Ergon Energy | 2 people | 14 | $2,135 | $1,976 | Time of use by $159 | 40.2% |
| Ergon Energy | 3 people | 16.9 | $2,441 | $2,266 | Time of use by $175 | 39.2% |
| Ergon Energy | 4 people | 21 | $2,874 | $2,678 | Time of use by $196 | 38.2% |
| Ergon Energy | 5 or more people | 24.1 | $3,201 | $2,988 | Time of use by $213 | 37.7% |
- At regulated prices, with a typical share of use in the peak, time of use is cheaper in every row of the table: by $68 a year for 1 person on Energex, up to $213 for 5 or more people on Ergon Energy.
- On Energex the time of use offer's supply charge is 14.16c a day lower than the flat offer's, $52 a year, so the break-even moves with the size of the home: from 36% of use in the peak for 1 person to 32.7% for 5 or more people.
- On Ergon Energy the time of use offer's supply charge is 23.78c a day lower than the flat offer's, $87 a year, so the break-even moves with the size of the home: from 43.3% of use in the peak for 1 person to 37.7% for 5 or more people. A typical home is at 29% on both.
- On the regulated time of use offers, a typical 2-person home that moves 10% of its use out of the peak and into the other hours saves $146 a year on Energex and $142 on Ergon Energy. Moved into the cheapest band instead, 11am to 4pm, the same 10% saves $209 a year on Energex and $206 on Ergon Energy. A typical home has 23.6% of its use in that band already, and 47.4% from 9pm to 11am.
Each row is a whole year at the AER benchmark daily use for Brisbane at that household size (Official source, Estimate for Ergon Energy), with a typical home's share of use in each band (Official source, Estimate for Ergon Energy). Break-even: time of use is the cheaper plan while less than this share of the home's use is in the peak hours, with the rest split over the other bands as in a typical home. 2026-27 flat and time of use rates: Official source.
What else matters for time of use in Queensland
Who can pick a market plan in Queensland
The Ergon Energy QCA notified price: Regional Queensland homes buy from Ergon at this regulated price. There are no market plans (AER). The Energex default market offer: This is a price cap. Most homes are not on it. At 30 June 2025 the median market plan was 2.5% to 9.5% cheaper in NSW, south-east Queensland and SA (AER).
Source: AER Annual retail markets report 2024-25, method p.135: Ergon has no market offers, so the regulated price is used; AER Annual retail markets report 2024-25 p.41 (median market offer vs standing offer, 30 June 2025) (Official source). Checked 30 September 2026.
So for a home on Ergon Energy the flat and time of use prices in the table above are the regulated prices it is billed at. For a home on Energex they are price caps: a market plan can cost less, and can use other peak times.
Tariff 31 (controlled load, night) on Energex
Tariff 31 (controlled load, night) on Energex: 16.27c a kWh from 1 July 2026. Supply hours: about 8 hours, overnight.
Source: Nectr’s own standing offer price from 1 Jul 2026 (one retailer, not the regulated price), read on Nectr’s rate update page on 1 Oct 2026. The regulated cap for 2026-27 differs: 16.4323c for Energex controlled load 1 (AER DMO 2026-27 determination, s.9 table (5)) (Dated third-party source). Checked 1 October 2026.
On the default time of use offer, the off-peak band on Energex (11am to 4pm) costs 6.98c a kWh (Official source): 9.29c less than that controlled load rate. Each kWh a day of hot water heated in those hours on time of use, not on controlled load, costs $34 less a year at those two rates.
Tariff 31 (controlled load, night) on Ergon Energy
Tariff 31 (controlled load, night) on Ergon Energy: 16.66c a kWh from 1 July 2026.
Source: QCA Gazette No. 29 (5 June 2026), notified prices from 1 July 2026: tariff 31 is 15.148c a kWh before GST; GST step: ex-GST price × 1.1 (Official source). Checked 23 September 2026.
On the regulated time of use offer, the day band on Ergon Energy (11am to 4pm) costs 7c a kWh (Official source): 9.66c less than that controlled load rate. Each kWh a day of hot water heated in those hours on time of use, not on controlled load, costs $35 less a year at those two rates.
Every network and your own peak share: use the main peak and off-peak times calculator.