Victoria experienced two consecutive intervals of negative pricing (settling at -$0.05/MWh and -$0.10/MWh) during the early morning period of 3 June 2026, representing a minor market event. This followed a period of very low positive prices, with the region's spot price declining from $4.22/MWh to negative territory over approximately 25 minutes.
The negative pricing was driven by substantial renewable generation (approximately 3,550–3,570 MW of wind combined with 343 MW of solar) coinciding with relatively low demand during the 00:45–00:50 interval window, creating an oversupply of energy that generators were willing to pay to dispatch. The binding transmission constraints (F_Q++86 series) with marginal values ranging from 6.99–13.46 indicate localised network congestion preventing efficient energy export from the high-renewable generation zone, forcing local acceptance of negative prices rather than curtailment or constraint violation.
Causal analysis generated by gridIQ's synthesis model from live AEMO market data: dispatch prices, generation mix, interconnector flows and market notices in the interval surrounding the event.