The minimum feed-in tariffs are the amounts that your electricity retailer must pay you for solar energy you export to the grid. Electricity retailers choose the amounts they pay but cannot pay you less than the minimum feed-in tariffs we set.
Minimum feed-in tariff review 2025-26
- Draft decision10 January 2025
- Consultation closes31 January 2025
- Final decisionby 28 February 2025
- Minimum tariffs in effect1 July 2025
Overview
We have released our draft decision for the 2025-26 minimum feed-in tariffs.
From 1 July 2025, retailers will be able to offer solar system owners a single rate feed-in tariff, or two time-varying feed-in options, or a combination.
Key facts of our draft decision
The 2025-26 'flat' minimum feed-in tariff is 0.04 cents per kilowatt hour
The flat rate minimum feed-in tariff applies regardless of the time of day or day of the week.
We have averaged the different prices over the day into a single rate, not multiplying by time but by the amount of solar exported into the grid in each half-hour.
Wholesale prices are forecast to decline especially during daylight hours
The flat minimum feed-in tariff for 2025-26 is lower than that for 2024-25 due to lower daytime wholesale electricity prices.
The increased number of households with roof-top solar has reduced demand and increased supply. This drives down the wholesale electricity prices especially during daylight hours when most solar exports are occurring.
Under time-varying minimum feed-in option 1, customers are credited between 0 cents and 7.5 cents per kilowatt hour of electricity exported, depending on the time of day.
Under time-varying minimum feed-in option 2, customers are credited between 0 cents and 6.5 cents per kilowatt hour of electricity exported, depending on the time of the day.
The main benefit of solar is avoiding the retail price
Customers are able to avoid paying retail tariffs by self-consuming the electricity they generate.
For a customer on the Victorian Default Offer, the retail price ranges from approximately 26 to 35 cents per kilowatt hour, depending on their distribution zone – these are the actual costs that solar customers avoid.
Please refer to our full draft report for more detailed analysis.
The table below shows the minimum feed-in tariffs for 2025-26. Retailers can offer solar customers a flat feed-in tariff and/or time-varying feed-in tariffs for electricity exported to the grid.
Flat minimum rate |
|---|
At all times |
0.04 c/kWh |
Time varying minimum rates | ||
|---|---|---|
Option 1 | ||
Overnight Weekdays: 10 pm to 7 am Weekends: 10 pm to 7 am | Day Weekdays: 7 am to 3 pm, 9 pm to 10 pm Weekends: 7 am to 10 pm | Early evening Weekdays: 3 pm to 9 pm Weekends: n/a |
| 7.52 c/kWh | 0.00 c/kWh | 5.85 c/kWh |
Option 2 | ||
Shoulder Every day: 9 pm to 10 am 2 pm to 4 pm | Off-peak Every day: 10 am to 2 pm | Peak Every day: 4 pm to 9pm |
| 1.40 c/kWh | 0.00 c/kWh | 6.50 c/kWh |
Read our draft decision
Why do the minimum feed-in tariffs change each year?
The video below explains how the wholesale electricity prices during different times of day and night affect the minimum feed-in tariffs.
The minimum feed-in tariffs change each year mostly because of changes in solar weighted wholesale electricity prices.
We estimate solar weighted wholesale electricity prices using the latest information available at the time of publication of each decision. In recent years, solar weighted wholesale electricity prices during the middle of the day, when most solar is exported, have been going down.
The wholesale price is set in a competitive national market, based on electricity supply and demand. The wholesale price is not set by the government or a regulator.
The chart below shows how the minimum feed-in tariff and its different pricing components have changed over time.
Tips to make the most of your solar
The enduring value for solar customers is avoiding paying retail prices when using the electricity they produce themselves.
- Where possible, run your power-hungry appliances - washing machines, dishwasher, hot water heater - during the middle of the day to avoid higher evening peak prices charged by retailers. Any leftover electricity is then exported to the grid and you get paid via the feed-in tariff.
- Consider the advantages (and disadvantages) of 'time of use' feed-in tariffs when working out which electricity retailer meets your needs. Also beware that a higher feed-in tariff may mean you pay higher import tariffs.
- Solar customers can achieve additional savings on their electricity bills by shifting their electricity usage to daylight hours when their solar system is producing electricity (for example, shifting hot water heating to the day).
Next steps
Feedback on our draft decision paper closes at 5 pm on Friday 31 January 2025.
Comments and formal submissions to our request for comment paper should be made via the Engage Victoria website.
We will review feedback on our draft decision paper and release the final decision by 28 February 2025.