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Charging your EV or PHEV from Controlled Load or Off Peak

For starters let me say this post is not all inclusive you should consult your local electrician or network supplier.  I have put in some  inquiries with network suppliers and will update accordingly.

To know which rules apply to you you need to know who your network supplier is there are 3 in NSW, each supplier has separate rules but they are pretty similar.

Ausgrid

Service area is Sydney, Central Coast and Hunter. The terms and conditions for connections are stimulated in there network pricing Pages 32 to 36. I’ve summarised bellow.

Off Peak

For those on time of use pricing your electricity is charged in 3 rates Peak (2pm to 8pm weekdays) , Shoulder (7am to 2pm and 8pm to 10pm weekdays or 7am to 10pm weekends) and Off Peak (10pm to 7am). Off peak generally is 10-12c/kwh, 1/6 the price of peak and 1/3 the price of shoulder to make use of these prices all you have to do is charge your car during these times. You can make it more convenient by using timers.

Controlled Load

Controlled loads are power circuits that are remotely controlled by Ausgrid. Ausgrid can choose to turn these circuits off to reduce demand on the network. A single installation can only have either controlled load 1 or 2 not both. You can connect any appliance to controlled provided it has fixed wiring basically no power points. In the case of EV charging the EVSE is the appliance not the car, so provided you have a hardwired EVSE you should be able to use controlled load. Also interesting point is that the document does have a cause for battery charging Section 10.3.2.

Controlled Load 1

Controlled Load 1 tariff is available for supply that is usually connected for six hour duration between 10.00 pm and 7.00 am. (7-11c/kwh)

Controlled Load 2

Controlled Load 2 tariff is available for supply that is usually connected for sixteen hours per day including more than six hours between 8pm and 7am and more than four hours between 7am and 5pm (12-14c/kwh)

Endeavour Energy

Service area Sydney’s Greater West, the Southern Highlands and the Illawarra. The terms and conditions for connections are stimulated in there network pricing Pages 23 to 25.

Off Peak

Same hours as Ausgrid but the peak price isn’t as high average the off peak price is only 1/4 of peak 12-14c/kwh

Controlled Load

Controlled loads are power circuits that are remotely controlled by Endeavour. You can connect any appliance to controlled provided it has fixed wiring basically no power points except in the case of pool equipment. In the case of EV charging the EVSE is the appliance not the car so you can provide you have a hardwired EVSE.

Controlled Load 1

Controlled Load 1 tariff is available for supply that is usually connected for six hour duration between 10.00 pm and 7.00 am. (7-10c/kwh)

Controlled Load 2

Controlled Load 2 tariff is available for supply for restricted periods not exceeding 17 hours in any period of 24 hours  (11-12c/kwh)

Essential Energy

The rest of rural and regional NSW, Only document I can find is the pricing list, Off peak follows that of all the others above and controlled load has the same provisions of hardwired appliances only.

Essential is the most expensive service area with off peak only 1/2 peak prices but still 15-18c/kwh. Controlled load 1 11-12 c/kwh and Controlled load 2 17-19c/kwh