Victoria Default Offer Minimum Feed-In Tariffs Guide

Key Takeaways

• Statutory benchmarks record that The 2024-25 'flat' minimum feed-in tariff is 3.3 cents per kilowatt hour.
• The baseline structure stipulates: The flat rate minimum feed-in tariff applies regardless of the time of day or day of the week.
• For flexible interval meters: Under time-varying minimum feed-in tariff option 1, customers are credited between 2.8 cents and 7.6 cents per kilowatt hour for their exported electricity.
• Alternative multi-rate structures specify: Under time-varying minimum feed-in option 2, customers are credited between 2.1 cents and 8.4 cents per kilowatt hour depending on the time of day and day of week.
• Legislative transitions mandate: The Essential Services Commission no longer sets minimum feed-in tariffs, following an amendment to the Electricity Industry Act 2000.
• Consumer protection floors guarantee: From 1 July, electricity retailers may set their own feed-in tariffs. However, these cannot be below zero ($0.00) cents per kilowatt hour.

The Victorian Solar Export Regulatory Landscape

In Victoria, the economic return from rooftop solar has evolved through distinct statutory phases. By formal definition: The feed-in tariff is the amount that your energy company pays you for power you export to the grid.

Historically, the Essential Services Commission (ESC) determined mandatory minimum rates each financial year: We have completed our review of the 2024–25 minimum feed-in tariffs. However, Following market restructuring, The Essential Services Commission no longer sets minimum feed-in tariffs, following an amendment to the Electricity Industry Act 2000. Under this amended regime, From 1 July, electricity retailers may set their own feed-in tariffs. However, these cannot be below zero ($0.00) cents per kilowatt hour.

Even with retail flexibility, the ESC safeguards market conduct: We maintain an oversight role to ensure that electricity retailers’ terms and conditions are fair and reasonable.

Historic ESC Benchmark Rates: Flat vs Time-Varying Tariffs

Before the legislative deregulation, the commission reviewed wholesale pricing models: Before the May 2025 amendment, we completed a review of the minimum feed-in tariffs for 2025–26. The 2024–25 benchmarks provide the baseline framework for retail plan comparison.

The ESC established that retailers can offer solar customers a flat rate, a time-varying rate, or both:

1. Flat tariff: The 2024-25 'flat' minimum feed-in tariff is 3.3 cents per kilowatt hour. Furthermore, The flat rate minimum feed-in tariff applies regardless of the time of day or day of the week.
2. Time-varying option 1: Under time-varying minimum feed-in tariff option 1, customers are credited between 2.8 cents and 7.6 cents per kilowatt hour for their exported electricity.
3. Time-varying option 2: Under time-varying minimum feed-in option 2, customers are credited between 2.1 cents and 8.4 cents per kilowatt hour depending on the time of day and day of week.

Commission modeling demonstrates why rates fluctuate over time: The minimum feed-in tariffs change each year mostly because of changes in solar weighted wholesale electricity prices. High midday rooftop generation pushes wholesale prices down, resulting in daytime export credits being significantly lower than evening peak discharge rates.

Maximizing Value: Self-Consumption and Federal Schemes

Because wholesale electricity export prices have decreased, self-consumption is the primary driver of household solar savings: Solar customers benefit by avoiding retail tariffs. They do this by using the electricity their systems generate instead of importing it from the grid. Offsetting retail electricity purchases valued between 25 and 35 c/kWh delivers five to ten times greater financial value than exporting power at 3.3 c/kWh.

To assist Victorians in shifting solar energy into evening demand peaks: The Federal Government’s Cheaper Home Batteries Program also starts from 1 July 2025.

What You Can Check Yourself, and What You Cannot

Victorian consumers can check their retail electricity bills and comparison websites like Victorian Energy Compare to ensure their feed-in tariff meets or exceeds $0.00/kWh and to evaluate competing flat versus time-varying feed-in rates.

However, consumers cannot mandate that a retailer provide a specific above-zero feed-in tariff rate, nor can they alter interval meter settlement data.

What the Published Sources Do Not Tell You

Published tariff determinations reflect wholesale energy modeling and avoided network losses, but do not capture retailer customer acquisition strategies, where retailers may offer elevated solar feed-in tariffs paired with higher daily supply charges.