Load Advisor

Negative prices are clearing across the mainland NEM right now. At 6:15 PM AEST, NSW, VIC, SA, and QLD are all sitting at negative RRPs — SA leads at -$4.95/MWh, followed by NSW at -$4.88/MWh, QLD at -$4.86/MWh, and VIC at -$4.75/MWh. This is a Sunday afternoon with rooftop and utility-scale solar still contributing meaningfully to supply, suppressing prices across the interconnected mainland. Flexible loads running right now are being paid to consume. Tasmania is the clear outlier at $99.07/MWh, signalling constrained hydro dispatch or limited interconnector support from Victoria — load shifting away from TAS1 is the correct call at this moment.

Predispatch forecast data is not available in this feed for any NEM region, which limits forward visibility beyond the current interval. Based on structural patterns for a Sunday in mid-March, expect mainland prices to begin lifting as solar output fades through the 4–6 PM AEST window, with the evening demand ramp likely pushing NSW and QLD prices into positive territory from roughly 5:30 PM onward. SA, with its high renewable penetration, may hold negative or near-zero prices slightly longer into the afternoon but will follow the same trajectory. The current window — right now through approximately 4:30–5:00 PM AEST — represents the strongest load-shifting opportunity on the mainland today.

The concrete recommendation: schedule all deferrable flexible load in NSW, VIC, SA, and QLD to run immediately and through the next one to two hours. This means industrial processes, battery charging, hot water systems, precooling, and any demand response assets with scheduling flexibility. Avoid any discretionary load increase in Tasmania until prices ease from their current $99.07/MWh level. For operators with cross-region exposure, SA offers the marginal price advantage among mainland regions today. Do not wait for forecast confirmation — the negative price signal is live and the window will close with the solar ramp-down.