Load Advisor: Thursday 28 May 2026

NEM-wide spot prices are currently elevated across all mainland regions, with NSW1 at $120.67/MWh, QLD1 at $107.97/MWh, SA1 at $103.86/MWh, and VIC1 at $110.50/MWh. WA1 sits highest at $137.64/MWh. These evening prices reflect typical Friday winter demand with heating loads active across southern regions — VIC1 carries a heating demand index of 6.6 and SA1 at 5.7. Prices will ease materially after the current evening peak, creating a wide load-shifting window through the overnight period.

The strongest overnight opportunity sits in NSW1, where predispatch prices will fall to the mid-$40s–$60s/MWh from 10:00 AEST onwards tonight, touching a low near $23.88/MWh around 12:00–13:00 AEST (01:00–02:00 UTC). VIC1 offers the deepest discounts in absolute terms — prices will drop to the low-$10s/MWh between 13:30–15:30 AEST (03:30–05:30 UTC), with the sharpest point forecast at $10.50/MWh, representing savings of over $364/MWh against the reference price. SA1 shows near-zero and briefly negative prices in the 13:00–15:30 AEST window (03:00–05:30 UTC), reaching –$1.10/MWh at several intervals — the best absolute price point on the NEM tonight. QLD1 will soften to the mid-$20s overnight, with negative predispatch reads of –$1.92 to –$2.65/MWh forecast around 11:30–13:30 AEST (01:30–03:30 UTC). TAS1 remains the outlier: prices are anchored above $87/MWh throughout the forecast horizon and will not offer a comparable overnight trough, so load-shifting value in Tasmania is limited today.

The morning ramp will arrive around 16:30–17:00 AEST (06:30–07:00 UTC) across NSW1 and VIC1, where predispatch prices jump sharply back toward the $80–$92/MWh range. SA1 and QLD1 recover from their overnight lows into the $50–$70/MWh range by 16:00 AEST. Any flexible load that can complete its cycle before 16:30 AEST avoids the morning peak entirely. On the WA1 side, the SWIS operates independently and current pricing at $137.64/MWh suggests similar late-evening peak conditions, though no predispatch window data is available to confirm an overnight trough equivalent.

**Concrete recommendation:** Schedule deferrable loads — cold storage, industrial process, water heating, EV charging, battery charging cycles — to commence no earlier than 10:30 AEST and target the 12:00–15:30 AEST window for maximum savings. SA1 and VIC1 operators will find the deepest discounts in that window, with SA1 near or below zero and VIC1 below $15/MWh at several intervals. NSW1 and QLD1 loads should target 11:00–14:00 AEST where prices sit $40–$60/MWh