Load Advisor: Thursday 13 August 2026

QLD1 offers the standout load-shifting opportunity this morning, with prices sitting at -$4.97 to -$5.77/MWh between 09:00 and 16:00 AEST — negative pricing that saves flexible loads roughly $271/MWh versus today's peak. This window is being driven by strong solar output (clear skies, 0% cloud cover) suppressing daytime prices across the region. Any QLD load that can shift into this five-hour band captures the cheapest energy on the NEM today.

Elsewhere, NSW1, VIC1 and TAS1 all show a similar overnight-to-early-morning trough, with prices falling to $13–20/MWh between roughly 11:00 and 13:30 AEST (target times 01:00–03:30 UTC, which correspond to overnight low-demand periods locally shifted into this morning's low). NSW1's best window is $13.20/MWh from 12:00–13:00 AEST-equivalent, VIC1 troughs at $13.79/MWh around 11:30–12:30, and TAS1 bottoms at $13.88/MWh in the same band — each saving $260–290/MWh against today's peak. These windows are tight (60–90 minutes) so discretionary loads such as water heating, EV charging, and industrial process shifting should be pre-scheduled rather than manually triggered.

SA1 is the outlier: no negative or near-zero pricing today, with troughs only easing to $134–152/MWh in the same late-morning window before climbing sharply. Predispatch forecasts show SA1 spiking beyond $300/MWh multiple times between 07:00 and 22:30 AEST, including a $374.65/MWh forecast at 22:30. SA1 flexible load should avoid the 07:00–09:30 and 20:00–22:30 AEST peaks entirely and target the comparatively cheaper 13:30–17:30 band, even though absolute prices remain elevated relative to other regions.

All regions converge on a common peak-avoidance message: prices climb sharply from approximately 19:00 AEST into the evening peak, with NSW1, VIC1 and TAS1 forecasts showing $100–300/MWh readings through 19:30–22:30 AEST, and SA1 exceeding $200/MWh for most of that stretch. The clear recommendation is to schedule shiftable load — batch industrial processes, EV fleets, water heating, pool pumps — into the overnight-to-mid-morning trough (roughly 11:00–13:30 AEST) across NSW1, VIC1 and TAS1, exploit QLD1's extended negative-price solar window through the middle of the day, and in SA1 confine flexible load to the 13:30–17:30 AEST band while avoiding the evening peak altogether.