Load Advisor — Sunday 10 May 2026

NSW1 sits at $96.81/MWh, VIC1 at $123.90/MWh, SA1 at $128.89/MWh, QLD1 at $89.36/MWh, and TAS1 at $101.36/MWh as the Monday morning trading session opens. All five interconnected regions are in or approaching a deep overnight trough, with predispatch showing excellent-rated windows uniformly across NSW1, VIC1, SA1, and QLD1 from approximately 09:00 AEST through 15:30 AEST (00:00–06:30 UTC). The single most competitive window across the NEM is NSW1 from 11:30–12:30 AEST, where prices will drop to $13–$22/MWh — a saving of over $115/MWh against the current rate. VIC1 prices will fall to $11–$20/MWh across the 11:00–14:00 AEST band, and SA1 will see lows of $11–$19/MWh in the same window, with spot prices below $20/MWh sustained across multiple consecutive intervals in both regions. QLD1 offers the earliest opportunity, with prices already forecast at or below $6/MWh in some intervals around 10:30–11:30 AEST, including a negative dispatch price of -$2/MWh — the strongest absolute incentive on the board today. TAS1 does not participate in the same predispatch structure and holds above $96/MWh throughout the visible window, making it the least favourable region for load shifting today.

The clear avoid periods are the current shoulder — 08:30–09:30 AEST across all NEM mainland regions — and the morning ramp from 16:30–18:00 AEST (06:30–08:00 UTC) where VIC1 prices will climb back toward $70–$80/MWh and SA1 toward $75–$85/MWh. NSW1 also returns to the $56/MWh floor by 16:00 AEST before the evening peak builds. TAS1 prices remain elevated and relatively flat all day, with no meaningful trough signal from predispatch — operators with Basslink flexibility should consider drawing power from the mainland during the NSW1/VIC1 midday trough rather than dispatching Tasmanian load in isolation.

The concrete recommendation: schedule all deferrable flexible load — industrial processes, thermal storage, EV fleet charging, hot water, and HVAC pre-conditioning — to execute between 10:00 and 14:30 AEST across NSW1, VIC1, SA1, and QLD1. Within that window, prioritise the 10:30–12:00 AEST block for maximum savings depth. QLD1 operators should target 10:30–11:30 AEST specifically for the sub-zero and single-digit interval prices. Any load that can be advanced from the evening peak (17:00–19:30 AEST) into this window stands to save $60–$120/MWh depending on region. Do not schedule loads into the 16:30–18:30 AEST window — all mainland regions will be repricing upward as demand climbs into the autumn evening peak and solar output retreats.