Load Advisor: Wednesday 9 September 2026

The overnight trough between roughly 02:00 and 07:00 AEST is the standout load-shifting window today, with SA1 offering the deepest discounts — prices are forecast to bottom out around -$90/MWh near 04:30-05:00 AEST, a saving of up to $199/MWh against yesterday evening's peak. Flexible load in South Australia scheduled into the 04:00-06:00 AEST band captures consistently negative pricing through to around 07:00 AEST, when the market swings back above $70/MWh as the morning demand ramp begins.

VIC1 and TAS1 are also showing negative-to-near-zero prices through the same overnight stretch, with VIC1 forecast at -$6 to -$7/MWh between 03:00 and 06:30 AEST and TAS1 dipping to -$7/MWh around 03:00-04:00 AEST. NSW1 and QLD1 remain positive but still well below peak levels, with NSW1 troughing near $32-45/MWh between 01:00 and 07:00 AEST and QLD1 similarly in the $30-45/MWh range across the same hours. WA1, on a separate schedule, is currently sitting at $77.54/MWh with no forecast window data supplied — treat with caution until further data confirms overnight softening there too.

Prices across all five NEM regions will lift sharply from around 07:00-08:00 AEST as morning demand builds, with NSW1, VIC1, QLD1, TAS1 and SA1 all forecast to push through $90-120/MWh by 08:30-09:30 AEST and hold near those levels into the early afternoon. A secondary but shallower dip appears around 13:00 AEST in most regions before prices firm again into the evening peak, so this midday window offers a smaller, secondary opportunity for loads that can't shift overnight.

Recommendation: schedule all deferrable load — EV charging, water heating, industrial process loads, battery charging — into the 02:00-06:00 AEST window today, prioritising SA1 assets first given the depth of negative pricing, followed by VIC1 and TAS1. NSW1 and QLD1 flexible loads should target 01:00-05:00 AEST for the best available rates. Avoid scheduling any non-critical load between 07:30 AEST and 13:00 AEST, and again from roughly 16:00 AEST onward, as all regions converge on their daily peak pricing through these periods.