A guide to how 5 minute settlement changes impact Powerclub Member's with a smart meter.
On 1 October 2021 Australia Energy Market Operator (AEMO) changed from 30 minute settlement of wholesale spot prices to 5 minute settlement prices. This means that the wholesale spot market will bid on, dispatch and settle electricity in five-minute blocks rather than using a 30 minute average.
How does it impact me?
The short answer is the impact will most likely be minimal for most of our customers. Your overall usage will remain the same, as will your monthly billing, but the way we calculate your Powerbank will be slightly different. Remember, Powerbank is the tool we used to manage the fluctuation in the wholesale prices, you can read more about Powerbank here.
For Member's with a smart meter, your usage is collected and stored in either 15 or 30 minute blocks and therefore needs to be converted to 5 minute blocks in order to match it with the new 5 minute spot prices. To do this, AEMO have introduced a profiling process which splits the 30 minute usage into 5 minutes based on the demand profile in your given network.
For example if you use 2kWh in 30 minutes, it apply a % weighting to each 5 minute interval depending on the demand in your network at that time. It then uses the % to calculate the kWh, as shown below. If you have a meter that is measured in 15 minute increments (which is about 5% of our customers) the below profiling calculations are applied over a 15 minute period, instead of a 30 minute period.
How do I know if my smart meter measures in 5, 15 or 30 minute intervals?
As a rule of thumb, all Victorian's with a smart meter have their usage collected and stored in 30 minute intervals.
If you live in NSW, ACT, SA or QLD and have a smart meter, it may be in either 15 or 30 minute intervals depending on who installed the meter. If you would like to know, email us at powerbank@powerclub.com.au and we can check for you.