Should you switch electricity plans after getting a battery?

Verified 16 October 2026

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. The plan that suited your home before the battery is often the wrong one after it. But plenty of battery homes are already on a good plan, and for them the right answer is to stay put. PowerLens tells you either way, and the Stay answer is free.

What a battery changes

You picked your plan for the way your home used power back then. A battery changes that pattern.

• You buy less in the evening. The battery covers part of the evening peak, when power from the grid costs the most.
• You send less to the grid at midday. The battery fills from your solar first, and only what is left goes out. So the feed-in credit on your bill usually matters less than it did.
• Some hours matter more. If your battery charges from the grid, the price in those hours now counts. A plan with a cheap overnight rate, or free hours in the middle of the day, can work in your favour.

So the plans worth a look change too. A flat rate plan, a time-of-use plan, a plan with free midday hours and a virtual power plant (VPP) offer can each come out ahead or behind for the same home. It depends on when your home buys and sends out power.

When staying put is the right call

• You are already on one of the cheapest plans you can get at your address.
• The gap to the next plan is small. A switch that only just wins is not always worth the hassle.
• Your current plan has a discount or credit you would lose, and the new plan does not make up for it.

If PowerLens finds no worthwhile switch among the plans it can price, it says Stay. You get the full report without paying.

What a bill can tell you, and what it can't

Your bill adds up everything your meter recorded. By then your battery has already done its work, so those totals are what your home really pulled from the grid. That is enough to work out what your current plan costs you. It is also enough to price plans with a flat rate.

It is not enough for plans with different times of day. Your bill splits your usage using your current plan's time windows. Another plan has other windows, and a bill can't be re-cut to fit them. Free midday hours and VPP offers have the same problem. They depend on exactly when your battery charges and when it spends, and only half-hourly readings show that.

Those readings are your meter data file (NEM12). It is free to add. With it, PowerLens prices the time-based plans it supports against your real half hours. It may confirm the first answer or change it, and no saving is guaranteed. Grid readings show what you bought and what you sent out. They don't measure how much your panels made or how well your battery performed.

How to check

1. Start with a recent bill. Checking is free. You confirm the numbers we read and tell us about your solar and battery.
2. Read the answer. Stay is free in full. If it says Switch, you see that a better plan exists and roughly what it is worth, and you pay once to see the plan's name. See what it costs.
3. Add your meter data if you want the time-based plans checked as well. Here is where to get it.
4. Not ready to switch? Watch is the optional yearly plan. Each month it checks the plans on offer against your saved usage and emails you when the answer changes.

What PowerLens does not do

PowerLens compares plans. It does not tell you how to set your battery. It prices your usage as your meter recorded it, so it does not re-run your battery on a new schedule. If a plan only pays off once you change when your battery charges, ask your installer or check your battery app. No retailer pays us, and a plan that pays us nothing is still recommended when it is the best one for you.

Next: your first bill after the battery, or free midday power with a battery.