In short
Nobody, for everyone. The cheapest plan in South East Queensland depends on how much electricity a home uses and when, its meter, its solar and its hot water, and the retailer that is cheapest for a small unit is often nowhere near the cheapest for a family home with a pool. What can be said is how far apart the plans are for a typical home of each size, and the table on this page shows it.
How far apart the plans are
| People at home | Plans | Best plan | Middle plan | Dearest plan | Gap, best to middle | Middle plan, a quarter | Priced on, kWh a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 person | 917 | $1,270 | $1,620 | $4,800 | $350 | $410 | 3,300 |
| 2 people | 917 | $1,580 | $1,990 | $6,500 | $410 | $500 | 4,600 |
| 3 people | 917 | $1,790 | $2,240 | $7,680 | $450 | $560 | 5,500 |
| 4 people | 917 | $1,990 | $2,490 | $8,870 | $500 | $620 | 6,400 |
| 5 or more people | 917 | $2,260 | $2,840 | $10,440 | $580 | $710 | 7,600 |
Estimates of the market, not a recommendation or a quote. Typical usage is a benchmark for a home of that size in the Energex area with no solar (about 5,500 kWh a year for 3 people, our own working figure until the regulator's published benchmark is loaded), priced by the same engine as the paid check on the Australian Energy Regulator’s plan data. Your own usage, your tariff and any solar change the answer, and a home with solar panels usually imports much less than this.
Those are the generally available plans on the Australian Energy Regulator's plan data, priced by our engine on typical usage for each household size at their current rates, with no conditional discounts counted. The gap between a middle-of-the-road plan and the best one is what a household on an ordinary plan is paying for not having looked.
Who sells them
The cheapest of each kind
Why the answer changes from home to home
- Supply charge against usage rate. A plan with a low daily charge and a high usage rate suits a small home; the reverse suits a large one. The same two plans swap places as usage rises.
- Time of use. A plan with cheap overnight and daytime rates and a dear evening peak is the cheapest on the market for a home that is out all day and runs the dishwasher at midnight, and among the dearest for a home that cooks at six.
- Controlled load. A home with electric storage hot water on Tariff 31 or 33 needs a plan with a good rate for it; a plan that publishes none should not be ranked at all.
- Solar. A home with panels imports less and exports a lot, so the feed-in tariff moves the answer, and a high feed-in rate paired with a high usage rate is a common trap.
- Conditions. A plan that is cheapest if you pay on time every time is not the cheapest if you miss once. We rank on the unconditional figure and show the conditional one separately.
Why "cheapest retailer" lists mislead
Most lists rank the retailers that pay the list's publisher a commission, on a typical usage figure, at the plans' launch rates. The ACCC's guidance for comparator websites asks operators to say who is compared and who pays them, and it is worth reading a list with those two questions in mind. The regulator's own Energy Made Easy compares every plan and takes no commission, on average usage or a figure you enter.
How to find the cheapest plan for your home
Price every plan on the regulator's feed on your own usage, month by month, with your controlled load, your solar export and your meter type, at unconditional rates. That is what the paid check does from a single bill, and the answer is three plans with a reason for each, not a retailer's name. In your own suburb, the same figures and what tends to decide bills there are on electricity plans by suburb.
Quick answers
Who is the cheapest electricity provider in Brisbane?
There is no one cheapest retailer in Brisbane; every generally available plan is sold across the whole Energex area, and which one is cheapest depends on the home's usage, meter, solar and hot water. On typical usage the plans differ for the same home by the gap the table on this page shows, which is why a comparison on your own bill is worth doing.
Is the cheapest electricity plan the same for a small home and a large one?
Rarely. A small home's bill is dominated by the daily supply charge, so the plan with the lowest supply charge tends to win; a large home's bill is dominated by usage, so the lowest usage rate tends to win. Two plans can swap places as household size changes, which is why the market is priced for every household size rather than one.
Is a standing offer ever the cheapest electricity plan?
Almost never. A standing offer is the default contract, capped at the reference price, and nearly every retailer's market offers sit below it. A household that has never chosen a plan is usually on one and is usually paying more than it needs to.
Sources
Official pages this answer relies on. If one of them changes, tell us and we will update the page.
- Energy Product Reference Data · Australian Energy Regulator
- A guide to comparator websites for website operators and suppliers (2015) · Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
- Energy Made Easy · Australian Energy Regulator
- Default market offer 2026–27 · Australian Energy Regulator