Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
What Is Flow Power Australia?
Flow Power offers a different type of electricity plan that focuses on wholesale pricing and user behaviour.
Most people searching for “Flow Power Australia” are trying to answer a simple question:
Will it actually reduce my electricity bill?
This Flow Power review explains how Flow Power Australia pricing works and whether it is actually cheaper than other electricity plans
How Flow Power Australia Pricing Really Works
Flow Power pricing is built on three key parts that work together.
1. A baseline price
This is based on a simple supply chage and fixed usage charge specific to your distribution area.
This baseline price is already higher than the cheapest available plans, which means customers are starting from a relatively high price point.
As a customer, it is often possible to get a better deal simply by choosing the cheapest plan available in the market.
2. An adjustment
Flow Power applies an adjustment based on the cost of supplying your electricity, including wholesale prices, network charges and usage on costs.
This cost is not assessed in isolation. It is measured against other Flow Power customers in your distribution area.
If your usage is cheaper to serve than the average customer, your price is adjusted down..
If your usage is more expensive to serve, your price is adjusted up.
In other words, your final price depends on how you perform relative to other Flow Power users, not just the market.
3. The evening feed in tariff
A feed in tariff for your battery of 45 c/kwh (NSW, QLD and SA) or 35 c/kwh in Victoria for exports between the hours of 5:30 pm and 7:30 pm each evening. The feed in tariff is zero at all other times. Note however that if you feed in at other times it is likely to adversely affect the adjustment.
The Key Difference in Flow Power Pricing
Most retailers price their plans against the market and compete to offer lower rates.
Flow Power takes a different approach by starting from its own (inflated) baseline price and then adjusting your price based on your cost to serve relative to other Flow Power customers in your area.
Assumptions Used in This Analysis
To fairly evaluate Flow Power, we used a customer profile that is the type of customers that Flow Power aim to attract and is much more likely to benefit from its pricing model than other customers.
The customer has:
- a 15–20 kWh battery
- a 10 kW solar system
Before switching to Flow Power:
- they export around 3,000 kWh per year
- the household imports around 5,000 kWh per year from the grid
After switching to Flow Power, the customer needs to adjust to match how the plan is designed to work:
- solar exports are constrained to the 5:30pm to 7:30pm window
- total exports reduce to around 350 kWh per year within that period, with no exports at other times.
To achieve this, the customer must actively control their solar system to export only between 5.30 pm and 7.30 pm.
Uncontrolled exports at other times would reduce the benefit and negatively affect the adjustment.
In addition, the customer:
- imports around 250 kWh per year during off-peak periods
- stores this energy in the battery
- then exports it during the evening window to capture the higher feed-in tariff
This represents a relatively optimised setup and reflects the type of customer most likely to benefit from Flow Power.
Flow Power Review: Even Suitable Customers Can Pay More
As above mentioned, we used a customer profile that is well suited to Flow Power, including solar, battery and controlled exports.
This is the type of customer most likely to benefit from the pricing model.
Even in this favourable scenario, we show below that even this customer can still pay more than simply choosing the cheapest available plan.
This suggests the issue is not just behaviour, but the pricing structure itself.
Flow Power Review: Electricity Price Comparison
We compared Flow Power against the cheapest plans across several states using this profile.
| State | Distributor | Location | Flow Power yearly cost | Best plan yearly cost | Saving vs Flow Power |
| VIC | Powercor | Bendigo | $1,455 | $1,315 | $140 |
| VIC | Jemena | Heidelberg | $1,394 | $1,251 | $143 |
| VIC | AusNet | Traralgon | $1,544 | $1,362 | $182 |
| QLD | Energex | Brisbane | $1,967 | $1,514 | $454 |
| SA | SAPN | Adelaide | $2,369 | $1,574 | $794 |
| NSW | Ausgrid | Mosman | $2,005 | $1,455 | $550 |
| NSW | Endeavour Energy | Mount Druitt | $1,957 | $1,566 | $390 |
| NSW | Essential Energy | Smithtown | $2,473 | $1,875 | $598 |
What the Data Shows
Across these comparisons, a consistent pattern becomes clear.
- Average Flow Power cost: $1,930 per year
- Average cheapest plan cost: $1,547 per year
- Average difference: $383 per year
This means Flow Power is roughly 20% more expensive than the cheapest available plans.
Why doesn’t the Feed-in Tariff have more impact?
Flow Power offers a high evening feed-in tariff, which is often seen as a key benefit. In our analysis we credited the customer with 350 kWh of the higher feed in tariff, equivalent to 70 hours of export at 5 kW – the maximum permitted in most regions.
However, this benefit is limited by several factors.
- it only applies for a short time window
- it requires precise control of exports
- it depends on battery size and usage patterns
In most cases, this does not offset the pricing structure.
Why the Baseline Matters
The starting point of the pricing model is critical.
Flow Power begins with a very high baseline price, especially in NSW, QLD ans SA.
If that starting price is already much higher than market prices, customers start from a disadvantage.
Why the Adjustment Makes It Harder
The adjustment is based on relative performance compared with Flow Power customers in the same area not average customers.
But Flow Power customers are not average customers. Most would have batteries which is what attracts them to Flow Power in the first place. Customers with negative adjustments are also likely to leave.
This makes the “average” harder to beat in practice.
What Happens Over Time
The structure creates a natural feedback loop.
- less optimised users tend to leave
- more optimised users remain
- even ‘good’ customers find it increasingly difficult to win
As a result, it becomes harder to stay below the already high baseline over time.
Who It Might Work For
Flow Power may be suitable for a small group of users with specific characteristics.
- households with huge batteries relative to their usage
But with a huge battery, there are better options.
Who Should Avoid It
Flow Power is not well suited to most households.
- customers without batteries
- Customers who cannot control their solar exports
- users who want predictable bills
- people not actively managing usage
- anyone simply looking for the cheapest plan
A Simpler Way to Save
For most households, savings come from staying on the cheapest plan over time.
Electricity plans change frequently, which makes manual tracking difficult.
Energy Umpire helps by:
- monitoring plans continuously
- identifying cheaper options
- switching customers automatically
Most customers save 20–30% without managing complexity.
Flow Power Review Summary
Flow Power Australia starts from an uncompetitive baseline price.
The feed in tariff and the adjustment are, in all but the most extreme scenarios, insufficient compensation.
Most customers are much better off with the cheapest provider instead.
Energy Umpire helps households get the cheapest electricity plan automatically.
