Wholesale electricity prices go up and down with the weather and the market. Network charges don't work that way. They're one of the few parts of a business electricity bill that almost never falls, and for large businesses they make up a large share of the total. Understanding why they keep climbing, and how the yearly reset works, is the difference between absorbing the increase and doing something about it.
Why network costs keep climbing
Network charges cover the cost of getting electricity from generators to your site: transmission lines, poles and wires, substations and local distribution infrastructure. That infrastructure needs constant maintenance, and a lot of it is also being expanded to connect new solar and wind generation, add storage, and keep the grid reliable as coal plants retire. Those are long-term investments, and distributors recover the cost through your network tariff over years, not all at once.
That's also why network costs are sticky in a way wholesale prices aren't. When wholesale electricity gets cheaper, your bill can fall quickly. When the grid needs new poles, wires or substations, that cost doesn't disappear when conditions improve. It shows up in your tariff for years. When wholesale electricity gets cheaper, your bill can fall quickly. When the grid needs new poles, wires or substations, that cost doesn't disappear when conditions improve. It shows up in your tariff for years.
How the yearly reset works
Every year on 1 July, local distributors, businesses such as Ausgrid, Endeavour Energy, Energex and Essential Energy, file new pricing proposals with the Australian Energy Regulator (AER), and once approved, those charges flow straight through to your bill. The 2026-27 round landed some of the steepest increases in years for parts of the east coast: Energex's south-east Queensland network was approved for increases of 12.1% to 13.1% for commercial and industrial customers, and in regional New South Wales, Essential Energy's charges rose by up to 12.5 per cent. Other networks moved by smaller amounts, so the impact on any one business depends entirely on which distribution network its site sits in and which determination applies next.
Why the same rise doesn't hit every business the same way
Network tariffs aren't a flat rate. Distributors group sites into different tariff classes based on load profile, and if your business has changed its operations, added equipment, or shifted usage patterns since it was last classified, there's a good chance it's no longer sitting on the most beneficial tariff available. A network tariff review checks that assignment and flags mismatches before they cost you another year of higher bills.
If you're on a small business plan
Small businesses on quarterly billing generally can't select a network tariff directly, but network costs still flow into the rate you're quoted. If your bill keeps climbing year on year, it's worth getting a fresh comparison across Zembl's retailer panel rather than assuming the rise is unavoidable.
How Zembl can help
Zembl reviews your network tariff allocation as part of every commercial energy tender, checking whether your site is billed correctly and where restructuring usage could reduce exposure to peak network charges. We also run standalone Network Tariff Reviews for businesses already locked into a commercial energy contract, even when we aren't tendering for their next one. Across the sites reviewed in the past seven months, the average site identified $8,232 in annual savings.^ Get in touch with a Zembl Energy Expert today.
^Based on Zembl's Australian commercial and industrial customers and represents annual potential energy savings through Zembl's annual Network Tariff Review service from 1 February 2026 to 30 August 2026 including GST. Savings vary based on individual site usage, network tariff structure, and distributor pricing.
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