No plan, panel or hardware sales
We don't broker electricity contracts, sell solar systems, or accept commissions from retailers. Nothing on this site is a recommendation to switch or purchase.
About the project
An editorial desk for household electricity data, not a shopfront
Energy Datacom began as an attempt to translate smart meter portals, retailer rate cards and regulator documents into language that doesn't require an engineering degree.
01 — Origin
Why this started with a confusing bill
The idea for Energy Datacom came from a fairly ordinary frustration. A household bill arrived with three different rates, a line labelled "shoulder" nobody had explained, and a feed-in credit that seemed to shrink every quarter for reasons that were never made obvious. Digging through the retailer's own fact sheets and the distributor's published tariff structures took an evening. Most people don't have that evening to spare.
What we publish here is the result of that digging, generalised and kept current where public information allows it. We reference the Australian Energy Regulator's Energy Made Easy database and publicly available retailer documentation, and we write plainly about what we find, including where the rules differ by state or by network.
02 — Values
The principles behind what we publish
Sourced from public information
Where we describe tariff structures or feed-in mechanisms, we draw on publicly available retailer rate cards, distributor documents and AER resources.
Plain language over jargon
We try to explain terms like "shoulder rate" or "export limit" the way we'd explain them to a neighbour, without assuming prior technical knowledge.
Reviewed, not static
Electricity regulation shifts state by state and year by year. We revisit articles periodically rather than publishing them once and leaving them untouched.
03 — How we work
A small team, a narrow focus
Energy Datacom is maintained by a small editorial group based in Adelaide, with contributors who have backgrounds in consumer research and technical writing. We are not affiliated with any energy retailer, meter manufacturer or solar installer, and we don't run comparison tools ourselves. When we want to demonstrate how comparison works, we point directly to the Australian Energy Regulator's own Energy Made Easy service.
Our scope is deliberately narrow: smart meter literacy, tariff structures, standby power and solar feed-in mechanisms as they apply to Australian homes and small offices. We'd rather cover that ground thoroughly than spread across every energy-related topic thinly.
See our research process04 — Get in touch
Questions about a specific bill line item?
We can't give personalised financial advice, but if something on this site is unclear or you've spotted outdated information, we're glad to hear about it.
Contact the editorial team