TL;DR: You cannot switch retailers in WA. Synergy supplies the south-west, Horizon Power supplies everywhere else, and they set the tariffs. That removes the main lever solar households use elsewhere, which makes self-consumption and tariff choice the only levers you have left.
Why can't WA residents shop around for electricity?
Because WA is not part of the National Electricity Market.
Two state-owned corporations supply residential customers, split geographically. Synergy covers the South West Interconnected System, which includes Perth, Bunbury, Geraldton and the connected regional centres. Horizon Power covers everything outside that network, from Broome to Esperance.
There is no retail competition for households. No switching, no comparison shopping, no benefit periods to chase. Your provider is decided by your address.
Businesses consuming above 50 megawatt-hours a year become contestable and can negotiate with other suppliers. That threshold is far above any household.
The practical consequence for solar owners: the standard advice everywhere else in Australia, compare plans annually and switch, does not apply to you. What you can control is which of your provider's tariffs you sit on, and how much of your own generation you consume rather than export.
What tariffs does Synergy offer solar households?
Two that matter: the Home Plan and the Midday Saver.
Home Plan is a flat rate. The same price per kilowatt-hour regardless of when you use it. Simple, predictable, and it rewards nothing.
Midday Saver is time-of-use, splitting the day into peak, shoulder and off-peak periods with different rates. Retail electricity in WA generally runs 32 to 35 cents per kilowatt-hour, and a time-of-use plan spreads that across a range rather than charging one figure.
Which suits you comes down to a single question: can you move your consumption?
When Midday Saver pays
If you can run the dishwasher, washing machine, pool pump and any EV charging during the day while your solar panels are generating, or overnight in the off-peak window, Midday Saver is straightforwardly cheaper.
Every kilowatt-hour you generate and consume yourself avoids paying the full retail rate of 32 to 35 cents. Every kilowatt-hour you export earns a feed-in credit of a few cents. The gap between those two numbers is roughly tenfold, and it is the entire argument for shifting load rather than chasing export income.
Pre-cool the house in the middle of the day rather than at 5pm. Put timers on everything that has one. On a Midday Saver plan those habits are worth real money each quarter.
When Home Plan is better
If your household is out until six and everything you use lands in the evening peak, a flat rate can cost less than a time-of-use plan where every load falls in the expensive window.
Be honest about which household you are. Check your usage pattern before switching plans rather than assuming the time-of-use option must be better because it sounds more sophisticated.
What about Horizon Power customers in regional WA?
Same structure, different provider, and a few extra considerations.
Horizon Power offers a standard residential tariff, typically single-rate, and a K2 Combined Use tariff bundling business and residential consumption onto one bill, which suits mixed-use properties common in regional towns. Average electricity costs sit in the same 32 to 35 cents per kilowatt-hour range.
Feed-in rates differ from Synergy's and are subject to change, so check Horizon Power directly rather than assuming the SWIS figures apply.
The regional constraints that matter more
Two things affect regional solar owners that Perth households rarely encounter.
Export limits. Smaller regional networks have less capacity to absorb exported solar, and Horizon Power applies export limits in some locations, in a few cases zero export. That changes the economics completely, because a system that cannot export must be sized to what you consume rather than to your roof.
System size approval. Maximum inverter capacity can be lower on constrained networks. Confirm what your location permits before designing a system around a number you saw quoted for Perth.
Ask Horizon Power what applies at your specific address before getting quotes. An installer working from general assumptions can design a system that will not be approved.
What will feed-in tariffs do?
Neither provider publishes forward rates, so anyone quoting you a future figure is guessing.
The direction is not in much doubt. Across Australia, feed-in tariffs have fallen steadily as rooftop solar penetration has risen, in many cases below 5 cents per kilowatt-hour. The reason is straightforward: so much solar exports at the same midday moment that the power is worth very little at exactly the time it is produced.
WA has followed that trend and there is no reason to expect a reversal.
What that means for your system
Plan around self-consumption, not export income.
Sizing a system to maximise export made sense when feed-in tariffs were generous. At a few cents a kilowatt-hour it does not, and generation you cannot use is capital you spent for very little return.
Two practical implications.
Size to your consumption, with headroom for what is coming, rather than to fill the roof.
Consider battery storage if your consumption is concentrated in the evening. A battery converts midday generation worth a few cents into evening consumption worth 32 to 35 cents, which is where the value sits in a low feed-in environment. Size it to your evening draw rather than your daily total, and check whether the federal battery discount and any WA support both apply to your quote.
Check the current tariffs and feed-in rates on your provider's site before making any decision. Both review them periodically, and the numbers in any article, including this one, describe a moment rather than a rule.
Key Takeaways
- WA households cannot choose a retailer. Synergy serves the SWIS, Horizon Power serves regional WA, and both set their own tariffs.
- Your only levers are which of your provider's tariffs you use, and how much of your generation you consume rather than export.
- Retail rates of 32 to 35 cents against feed-in rates of a few cents make self-consumption worth roughly ten times export.
- Midday Saver rewards households that can shift load into daylight or overnight. A flat Home Plan can cost less if your consumption is locked into the evening.
- Regional customers should confirm export limits and maximum system size with Horizon Power before getting quotes, since some locations restrict both.
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For a complete overview, check out our master guide: Read the Full Guide Here.
