Is there a Synergy A2 tariff? What high-usage Perth households actually pay

If you've heard mention of a Synergy "A2" tariff that high-usage households get automatically moved onto, it doesn't exist. Every standard residential customer in Perth sits on one of two current plans: A1 (a flat rate for every kilowatt-hour) or Midday Saver (a time-of-use plan with different rates by time of day). There's no consumption threshold that switches you onto a different structure, and no residential demand tariff either. If your household uses a lot of power, you're almost certainly still on A1, and every kilowatt-hour costs the same whether it's your first or your five-hundredth for the billing period.

That matters for solar. On a flat rate, a big household doesn't get a worse per-kWh price for using more, but it does mean a bigger bill scales directly with usage, and directly with what solar can offset.

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Is there really no Synergy A2 tariff?

Correct. Synergy's current residential plans are:

• A1 Home Plan: a single flat rate for all consumption, regardless of volume.
• Midday Saver: a time-of-use plan with separate super off-peak, off-peak, and peak rates.
• EV Add-On and Community Energy: variations layered on top of the above for specific circumstances.
• Home Business K1: a block-rate plan for eligible small businesses, not residential households.

There's no tiered "A2" plan that large households get shifted onto once they cross a usage threshold, and no residential demand tariff either (demand charges apply to some business connections, not homes). If your bill looks unusually high, the cause is consumption on your existing plan, not a different tariff structure.

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How does the A1 flat tariff actually work?

A1 is the default plan most Perth households are on.

There's no tiering and no volume discount or surcharge. A household using 15kWh a day and one using 80kWh a day both pay the same 33.26c for every kilowatt-hour. The daily supply charge is fixed too: it's charged regardless of how much power you use, and solar doesn't reduce it, since it covers the cost of staying connected to the network rather than the electricity itself.

For a genuinely high-usage household, common causes include:

1. Five or more occupants drawing power at once
2. Electric resistance hot water, which draws heavily and often overnight
3. Pool pumps, bore pumps, or workshop equipment running regularly
4. An all-electric home with no gas cooking or heating

None of these change your tariff. They just mean your usage line is bigger, and on a flat rate, a bigger usage line means a bigger bill in direct proportion.

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Would switching to Midday Saver save a high-usage household money?

Possibly, but usage volume isn't the deciding factor: what matters is what share of your consumption falls in Midday Saver's peak window (3pm-9pm). A high-usage household with most of its draw in the evening (dinner, hot water, heating) can come out worse off on Midday Saver, since its peak rate runs well above the A1 flat rate. A high-usage household that shifts more load into the middle of the day, especially with solar covering it, is more likely to benefit.

For the full breakdown and the break-even threshold, see our Midday Saver vs A1 comparison guide.

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How much does solar reduce an A1 bill for a big household?

Every kilowatt-hour your panels supply directly to your home is a kilowatt-hour you don't buy at 33.26c/kWh. Because A1 has no tiering, the saving per kWh is identical no matter how much you use overall, but a high-usage household has more of its consumption available to offset, so the dollar saving from the same system tends to be larger.

As a worked example: a 10kW solar system in Perth generates roughly 40-45kWh on an average day. A household that shifts a good share of its daytime draw (pool pump, hot water, appliances) onto that generation avoids the A1 rate on every one of those kilowatt-hours. The bigger your baseline usage, the more of that generation you're likely to use directly rather than export, which is generally the higher-value outcome, since self-consumption avoids the full 33.26c/kWh import rate, while exporting only earns the DEBS credit.

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What about exporting solar back to the grid?

DEBS export rates are the same for every Synergy residential plan, so they don't change based on how much you use. What does matter is the time of day:

• 3pm-9pm (peak export window): 10c/kWh
• All other times, including the 9am-3pm midday solar window: 2c/kWh

That's an important detail for anyone assuming midday exports earn the higher rate: they don't. A system that's sized to cover your own daytime and evening use, rather than one built to maximise exports, generally comes out ahead, since self-consumption at 33.26c/kWh beats either export rate. For the full mechanics of how the scheme works, see our DEBS explained guide.

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Does solar reduce the daily supply charge?

No. The supply charge (around $1.19/day on A1 in FY2026-27) is a fixed daily cost for staying connected to the network, and it applies regardless of how much you generate or export. Solar reduces your usage charges and can earn export credits, but the supply charge stays on every bill.

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For high-usage Perth households, the tariff itself isn't the lever, since A1's flat rate applies the same way no matter how much you use. The lever is how much of that usage solar can cover directly. If you want to check whether your own bill lines up with what A1 should be charging, our guide to reading a Synergy bill walks through each line item.