FAQs

The size of farming properties often requires multiple connections to the electricity network to supply power to different locations around the same property. Each of those connections is billed separately for its use of electricity, including its use of the network to deliver that electricity.

For primary producers who also generate their own electricity, the use of billing arrangements that mirror the physical separation of the individual connection points on their farm prevents electricity generated at one location on the farm from being used to reduce the power bills for other connections on the same property.

The Trial will test billing arrangements that will enable the generation and consumption of electricity at multiple connection points on the same property to be aggregated for the purposes of calculating network charges for that customer.

A number of primary producers and their advocates have called for farmers with on-farm generation to be able to use the shared electricity network to deliver the energy they produce to other connections on the same property, rather than having to export any excess energy they produce to be used by other customers, while at the same time buying back energy from an electricity retailer.

The billing systems needed to combine the consumption and generation of electricity across multiple connections on the same property represent a significant change for TasNetworks. Before TasNetworks can consider introducing new network charges along the lines of the tariffs envisaged by the customers asking for aggregated electricity metering, we need to design and price a new network tariff, develop the billing systems needed to apply the tariffs, and test them with real customers.

The Trial will be testing a new type of network tariff and billing arrangements, which will recognise the generation and use of electricity at multiple connections/metering points on the same property. This will enable primary producers who have invested in their own electricity generation to maximise the benefits from that investment by notionally using the electricity they generate to power multiple loads around their property, rather than exporting any energy they can’t use at the point of generation for use by other customers.

The purpose of the Trial is to develop and test network charges and billing systems that could lead to the introduction of new network tariffs on a permanent basis. The ability to aggregate metering data from multiple connections on the same property for the purposes of calculating network charges (and potentially retail charges) could offer primary producers a number of benefits, including:

• electricity generated at one location on a primary production property can notionally be used at other connection points on the same property;
• the aggregated generation and consumption of electricity at multiple connections on the one property can be taken into account when calculating network charges; and
• primary producers with their own electricity generation and multiple connections to the network will have greater control over their electricity costs and derive greater value from their investment in on-farm generation.

We anticipate that the Trial will commence in late 2024 and run for 12 months, to enable TasNetworks to collect data and insights from participating customers that take into account seasonal variations in electricity usage and consumption.

The exact eligibility criteria for participation in the trial are still being decided on.  But as a starting point, the Trial is aimed at primary producers with:

• on-farm electricity generation;
• multiple connections with the electricity network on the same property;
• total energy consumption of more than 2.5 MWh per annum
• advanced (‘smart’) meters at each connection point
• each connection point served by the same electricity retailer

If that sounds like your business and you’re interested in being involved in the Trial, then TasNetworks would like to hear from you (see ‘Are you interested in participating in the trial?’).

Apart from an investment of some time before, during and after the conclusion of the Trial, there will be no cost to the businesses that participate in the Trial. Plus, because the network billing arrangements being tested will be reflected in participating customers’ network charges, participants could reduce their electricity costs during the trial if they produce more electricity than they use at the connection on their property where the power is generated.

Recruiting enough customers to participate in the Trial will be critical to its success. Even though we’re not ready to launch the Trial quite yet and we haven’t begun actively recruiting primary producers to participate in the Trial, we have set up a register for businesses to express their interest in participating in the Trial.

You can register your interest in participating in the Trial, simply by filling in the short online questionnaire on this website under "Are you interested in participating in the Trial?"

The exact eligibility criteria for participation in the trial are still being decided on and there may be room for flexibility in relation to some to the criteria. But to participate in the trial, primary producers will definitely need to have on-farm generation, multiple connections to the network on the same property with advanced meters, and those connections will need to be supplied by Aurora Energy – TasNetworks’ retail partner in the trial.

At the conclusion of the testing phase of the Trial, the network tariffs and billing arrangements applying to the primary producers that participate in the trial will revert to the network tariffs that each of the participants’ connections were assigned to immediately prior to the beginning of the trial.

In conducting the Trial TasNetworks makes gives no undertaking that it will introduce new network tariffs in the future that are the same as, or similar to, the network tariffs tested during the trial, or that any future network tariffs introduced by TasNetworks will be made available on the same terms or at the same prices as the network billing arrangements that were the subject of the Trial.

A 12-month testing phase is considered sufficiently long to properly test the objectives of the Trial, and to account for seasonal variations in participants’ energy use and generation. Anything less is unlikely to yield meaningful results for individual participants or for the Trial. 

By agreeing to participate in the Trial, participants will be agreeing to the application of the Trial Tariff for the full term of the Trial. However, we understand that personal and business circumstances can change, and TasNetworks will put a process in place to cater for Trial participants that need to withdraw from the Trial before its conclusion. This will be considered on a case-by-case basis.