Perth electricity prices keep rising: how solar locks in your rate

Synergy's A1 tariff has climbed from 26.47c/kWh in 2020 to 32.37c/kWh in 2025, a 22% rise across five years. The July 2025 increase alone was 2.5%. Nobody seriously expects that line to bend back down.

For a household using 20 kWh a day, that 5.9c/kWh jump works out to about $430 more a year than 2020 rates, before you count the rising supply charge on top.

Here's the part worth sitting with. Solar doesn't only cut your bill today. It fixes the price of every kWh you generate and use yourself at effectively $0/kWh for the next 25 years. That's the real hedge.

The price history only points one way

WA electricity prices are set each year by the state government through the budget, not by an open market. That makes them politically moderated. It hasn't made them fall.

The average increase runs around 3.5% a year over that stretch. Some years bite harder (6.3% in 2024), some are gentler (2.5–2.75% in 2025–26). Not one of them reversed.

What's pushing prices up

Wholesale energy costs. A large share of WA's power still comes from gas and coal. As those ageing plants run on and gas prices swing, the input cost climbs.

Grid upgrades. AEMO forecasts WA electricity demand growing by 5.7–12.2 TWh over the next decade. The SWIS grid needs billions in upgrades to carry that load and fold in more renewables. Ratepayers foot that bill.

Declining coal reliability. Collie's coal plants are old, and unplanned outages have been rising. The $2.8 billion committed to network upgrades and renewable replacement won't come free.

Falling export rates. Pulling the other way, DEBS feed-in rates have dropped more than 30% since 2020. The grid pays less for your spare solar now (2c/kWh off-peak, 10c/kWh in the 3pm–9pm peak), which makes using your own solar worth far more than selling it.

What 3% a year does over 25 years

This is the projection that makes solar owners grin. The figures below are modelled, not a promise: they assume prices keep rising at 3% a year, which is conservative against the history above.

On those modelled assumptions, a household that does nothing pays a cumulative $85,000+ for electricity over 25 years, and that's before any sharper price shock.

A home with 6.6 kW of solar, self-consuming 60%, pays roughly $34,000 across the same window in the same model. The gap, about $51,000 in avoided cost, comes off an illustrative $5,500 solar outlay.

Add a battery and lift self-consumption to around 85%, and the modelled cumulative bill falls to about $12,000, a saving near $73,000 over 25 years on an illustrative $11,000 solar-and-battery system. Treat these as modelled scenarios and run your own in the calculator before banking on a figure.

Solar as a 25-year price lock

Once solar is on the roof, every kWh you generate and use carries a fixed cost: nothing. The panels are paid for, the sun doesn't invoice you, and generation keeps coming for 25 years and more.

As grid prices rise, each self-consumed kWh is worth more. Your install saves you 33.26c/kWh today at the A1 rate. On the 3% model it saves about 43c in 2035 and around 58c in 2045. Same panels, growing return.

This is why a payback sum built on a flat rate understates what actually happens. A system that models at a four-year payback at today's rates can model closer to three and a half years once you fold in the price rises across those years. Actual results depend on future tariff movements.

The battery side of the hedge

Batteries add a second layer. Without one, you sell spare solar back for between 2c and 10c/kWh depending on the time of day. With a battery, you keep it and use it in the evening instead of buying at the peak rate.

As evening rates rise, and they will, since the peak window is where the grid is most stretched, the battery's value rises with them. A battery saving you 25c/kWh on a spread today could be saving 35c in 2030 and 45c in 2035. Its payback shortens over time rather than stretching out.

What about the July 2026 increase?

Confirmed. The WA state budget (May 2026) locked in the following rates, effective 1 July 2026:

• A1 flat rate: 33.26c/kWh (up 2.75% from 32.37c)
• A1 supply charge: $1.19/day (up from $1.16/day)
• Midday Saver peak: 55.33c/kWh (up from 53.84c)

Where that leaves you

Every year you wait, two things move against you at once: you pay more for grid power, and the solar rebate shrinks. A rough, illustrative picture for an entry-level 6.6 kW system:

• 2026: pay 32–33c/kWh (33.26c from July), with around $1,800 in STC support (5-year deeming)
• 2028: pay ~34c/kWh, with the STC support stepping down as the deeming factor tapers
• 2030: pay ~36c/kWh, with $0 STC support as the scheme ends

The best time to put solar on was five years ago. The next best time is now.

Related reading

• Solar Panels in Perth: what actually matters: system sizing and hardware choices.
• Midday Saver vs A1: which tariff saves you money?: get your current tariff right while you weigh up solar.

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See what rising prices mean for your household: Our Savings Planner models 25-year projections with configurable electricity price inflation. Calculate your savings.

Sources: Synergy Price Changes, WA Government Electricity Pricing