An update on yesterday's price forecasts

If you live in Victoria or South Australia and were checking the Amber app on the afternoon of 30 November, you would have seen that price spikes were forecast in the wholesale electricity market. We wanted to confirm that despite these forecasts, these prices did not materialise.

What this means is that if you check your usage and costs for that period, you’ll see that these did not differ significantly from previous days.

Price spike warnings are issued in the app when the forecast wholesale electricity price set by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) rises above $3/kWh. (Prices generally fall between $0-25c/kWh).

These frequently changing prices in the wholesale electricity market are intended to send a signal to energy generators to ensure the market can meet the needs of energy consumers at that particular point in time (higher prices are intended to act as a signal for more generators to come online and support demand).

In the case of the price spike forecasts on 30 November, however, it looks like there may have been unusual variables at play which led to such prolonged elevated forecasts. Our analysts are investigating exactly what may have caused this situation and will provide further updates as soon as we have them.

As we head into summer, with its higher temperatures and increased energy usage, forecast wholesale prices can become more variable. However, price spikes are manageable. We will always notify you when price spikes are on the horizon and with some shifting of your energy usage during these times, you can avoid it making an impact on your bill.

By shifting your energy usage during these times, you are not just protecting your bottom line; you’re reducing your usage of fossil fuels, profit margins of fossil fuel power generators, and accelerating the shift to 100% renewables. You're also supporting the stability of the grid.  

Get in touch with our team if you have any questions. We'll be sharing more explainers around price forecasts in the coming weeks.