The short answer
- Will my retailer tell me about it? It does not have to. The
explanatory statement says the 8 August change was made
to emphasise and clarify that there is no proactive obligation on electricity retailers to offer the SSO to residential customers with a smart meter
. If you want it, ask for the Solar Sharer Offer by name. - Who has to have it? A retailer selling to households in the regions the price cap covers, for any residential customer there with a smart meter. A retailer that supplied fewer than 1,000 residential customers across those regions on 1 March 2026 is exempt this financial year.
- Can I be moved onto it without saying yes? No. That rule applied from 1 July and now carries its own civil penalty.
- What is free? Up to 24 kWh used in the three-hour window on a day. Anything over that in the window is capped at a rate the Australian Energy Regulator sets for each region, from 8.1011c to 27.5958c a kWh including GST.
One word, and a penalty
The Solar Sharer Offer started on 1 July 2026, when the regulations that reformed the
Default Market Offer commenced. The regulator’s
explanatory statement on its price determination describes the Default Market Offer as
an annual price cap for standing offers in New South Wales, South East Queensland and South
Australia
, and the determination sets Solar Sharer Offer tariffs for five distribution
regions: Ausgrid, Endeavour Energy, Energex, Essential Energy and SA Power Networks. Then,
the government’s
explanatory statement
for the August amendment says, electricity retailers sought clarification on some obligations relating to the
SSO, including on the nature of the obligation to make an SSO standing offer to small
customers
.
The answer, in the Amendment Regulations (No. 2), made on 6 August and in force from 8 August, was one word in section 11, the duty itself, and a penalty at its foot.
Section 11(1), 1 July to 7 August
Electricity Retail Regulations, compilation 4, in force 1 July 2026. No civil penalty.an electricity retailer supplying electricity in a distribution region to residential customers must make an SSO standing offer to residential customers in the region who have a smart meter connected to the premises to which the electricity is to be supplied.
Section 11(1), from 8 August
Electricity Retail Regulations, compilation 5, in force 8 August 2026. Civil penalty: 300 penalty units.an electricity retailer supplying electricity in a distribution region to residential customers must make available an SSO standing offer to residential customers in the region who have a smart meter connected to the premises to which the electricity is to be supplied.
Both verbatim from the Federal Register compilations, each opening “Subject to subsection (3)”, the 1,000-customer exemption. The heading of the section changed the same way, from “must make” to “must make available”.
“Available” carries the meaning the retailers asked about. The statement spells it out:
Explanatory statement to the Amendment Regulations (No. 2), page 5
Section 11 requires electricity retailers to have SSO standing offers available to residential customers with a smart meter, without requiring the retailer to directly contact or communicate with the customer to proactively make the offer.
So the offer has to exist, on request, for every eligible household, and the household has
to know to request it. The penalty for not having it, in the statement’s words, reflects the potential harm to consumers from breaches of this subsection
.
What now carries a penalty
Four of the offer’s rules now carry a civil penalty of their own in Part 2, the
industry code, and a fifth already did. Two of the four had no penalty before 8 August. The other two, the rules on what you can be charged
in the free window, already carried one, but it sat in Part 3, the part headed
“Functions of the AER”. They were moved, the statement says, to clarify that the provisions are a compliance and enforcement function for the SSO that is
the responsibility of the ACCC (and not the AER)
.
| The rule | Where it is now | Before 8 August | From 8 August |
|---|---|---|---|
| Make the offer available to residential customers with a smart meter | Section 11(1) | “Must make” the offer; no civil penalty | “Must make available”; 300 penalty units |
| Do not place you on it unless you have agreed | Section 11(2) | Same rule; no civil penalty | 300 penalty units |
| Do not charge for up to 24 kWh used in the free period on a day | Section 11A(2), Part 2 | Section 18(3)(a), Part 3; one 300-unit penalty shared with the row below | 300 penalty units |
| Do not charge more than the reasonable use tariff cap for use over 24 kWh in the free period | Section 11A(3), Part 2 | Section 18(3)(b), Part 3 | 300 penalty units |
| Before or when making the offer, tell you it suits households that can shift use to the free period, that not shifting could cost more, and that use over the cap may be charged | Section 13 | 300 penalty units | Unchanged |
From the Electricity Retail Regulations, compilation 4 (in force 1 July 2026) and compilation 5 (in force 8 August 2026), set against the Amendment Regulations (No. 2) items 6 to 13. Section 7, the same in both, makes a provision with a civil penalty a civil penalty provision of the code if it is in Division 2 of Part 2; the old section 18(3) was not. Whether its penalty could have been enforced there is a question for a lawyer, and the statement calls the move a clarification.
300
Penalty units, the civil penalty at the foot of each of the five rules above.
Electricity Retail Regulations
$364
The amount of a Commonwealth penalty unit from 1 July 2026, after indexation.
Crimes (Amount of a Penalty Unit) Instrument 2026
$109,200
The most a court can order against a retailer for each act or omission that breaches one of these rules: 300 times $364.
Our arithmetic, Competition and Consumer Act s 76
1,000
Residential customers. A retailer with fewer on 1 March 2026, across the regions the code applies to, is exempt from section 11 for 2026-27.
Section 11(3)
Method: the Competition and Consumer Act, section 76, table item 4, caps the penalty for each act or omission that breaches a civil penalty provision of an industry code at the amount set out in that provision, for a body corporate and for anyone else. The Crimes Act sets the penalty unit and indexes it every third 1 July; the 2026 instrument puts it at $364. The dollar figure is a ceiling a court applies, not a fine anyone pays automatically.
The consent rule matters most to anyone already on a cheaper plan. Section 11(2) carries a
note: This means that an SSO standing offer cannot be used as a default standing offer.
If a retailer did move a household without agreement, the statement lists what the ACCC can
pursue beyond the penalty, including redress orders, and adds: This could include court-ordered refunds to affected customers.
What you pay over 24 kWh in the window
The free part is fixed in the regulations: a retailer must not charge for electricity supplied to the customer in a free usage period on a day if
the electricity used by the customer in that period on the day does not exceed 24 kilowatt
hours
. Over three hours, 24 kWh is an average draw of 8 kW (our arithmetic). Above it,
the price is capped by the regulator’s 2026 determination, which continues in force
under the amendment’s transitional section.
| Distribution region | Free period | Cap, c/kWh |
|---|---|---|
| AusgridEquals the offer’s off-peak rate | 11am to 2pm | 27.5597 |
| Endeavour EnergyEquals the offer’s solar sponge or soak rate | 11am to 2pm | 14.1869 |
| EnergexEquals the offer’s off-peak rate | 11am to 2pm | 8.1011 |
| Essential EnergyEquals the offer’s off-peak rate | 11am to 2pm | 27.5958 |
| SA Power NetworksEquals the offer’s solar sponge or soak rate | 12pm to 3pm | 19.6632 |
All prices GST-inclusive, 2026-27. Free periods from section 10 and caps from section 11 of the AER’s Model Annual Usage, Comparison Prices and Tariff Caps Determination 2026; the matching rate is from the same determination’s Solar Sharer Offer regulated tariff table, where each cap equals one of the region’s own usage charges (our comparison). The determination says all times are local.
How it was made
The statement says the government did not consult the public on this text, citing the
extensive consultation on the original offer and the limited scope of amendments
. It names who was involved: the department
has worked with the ACCC and the AER as the key stakeholders to develop these Amendment
Regulations (No. 2)
, and The Government engaged with the peak industry body, the Australian Energy Council, on the
drafting of the changes.
It names no consumer group for this amendment.
- 1 March 2026The count date: a retailer with fewer than 1,000 residential customers across the code’s regions on this day is exempt from section 11 for 2026-27.
- 1 July 2026The Solar Sharer Offer starts with the reformed Default Market Offer. A penalty unit becomes $364.
- 6 August 2026Amendment Regulations (No. 2) made.
- 7 August 2026Registered on the Federal Register of Legislation.
- 8 August 2026In force, the day after registration: “make available”, the new penalties, and the charging rules moved to Part 2.
- 1 March 2027The count date for 2027-28, under section 11(3)(b).
Dates from the Amendment Regulations (No. 2) and their statement (made, registered, in force; the 1 July start), section 11(3) of the Electricity Retail Regulations (the count dates), and the 2026 penalty unit instrument (commencing 1 July 2026).
Our view
This is opinion, built on the documents above. The consent penalty is right, and it was
overdue. The regulations themselves make a retailer warn, before or when making the offer,
that not shifting electricity usage to the free usage period could result in higher
electricity costs
, which is why our July story
set out who it suits and who it does not. A plan that can raise a bill should never have
been one a household could be moved onto unasked under a rule with no penalty, even for the
38 days from 1 July to 7 August.
The other half is weaker for households. The plan is opt-in, its value depends on a household shifting its use, and the amendment confirms that the businesses that already bill these households have no duty to mention it. That was settled at the retailers’ request for clarification and drafted with their peak body, without public consultation and without a consumer group named. The result is a right that exists mainly for people who already know about it. If the government wants the free midday hours to reach households that could use them, telling those households is now its job, and the regulators’, because the retailers have been told it is not theirs.