Load Advisor
Across NSW, VIC, QLD, and SA, predispatch shows a sustained block of negative to near-zero prices running from roughly 7:30 AEST tonight through to 4:30 AEST tomorrow morning — an unusually deep and extended overnight trough. NSW prices are forecast at -$3.77/MWh to -$8.92/MWh through the 9:00–11:30 AEST window, with isolated spikes to -$25.50/MWh around 1:00 AEST. VIC is the standout: prices are tracking between -$11.74/MWh and -$34.67/MWh from roughly 10:30 AEST tonight through 2:30 AEST, representing savings of up to $166/MWh against current spot. SA runs deeply negative across the same corridor, with troughs reaching -$24.32/MWh around midnight AEST and pockets below -$29/MWh in the 2:00–4:30 AEST band. QLD is shallower but still firmly negative, ranging from -$8.80/MWh to -$13.32/MWh through the 1:00–3:30 AEST window. TAS sits at a structurally higher floor around $52–$75/MWh throughout, making it the weakest shift candidate for today.
The primary window to avoid is 6:30–7:00 AEST this morning, where predispatch shows NSW rising sharply to $25/MWh and VIC jumping to $9–$15/MWh — the early morning demand step-up as overnight low demand ends. SA will also see prices return above $20/MWh from around 6:30 AEST as morning demand builds. Any flexible load currently running in these regions should be curtailed or rescheduled ahead of that ramp.
The optimal load-shifting recommendation is to concentrate all deferrable consumption — EV charging, hot water systems, industrial batch processes, desalination, data centre workloads — in the 10:00 AEST tonight to 4:00 AEST tomorrow window, with the deepest value in VIC and SA between 11:00 AEST and 2:30 AEST. Within that band, VIC's trough near -$34/MWh around 1:30–3:30 AEST and SA's -$29/MWh pocket near 2:00 AEST represent the highest-savings intervals NEM-wide. NSW operators should target the 9:00 AEST–1:30 AEST band, where sub-zero prices persist with savings consistently above $128/MWh relative to current spot. Schedule any must-run load away from the 6:30 AEST morning step-change across all interconnected regions.