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bolagnaise edited this page Apr 1, 2026 · 27 revisions

Electricity Providers

Supported Providers

Provider Country Pricing Type API Auth Required
Amber Electric Australia Dynamic 5-min & 30-min API Token
Localvolts Australia Dynamic 5-min (real-time wholesale) API Key + Partner ID
Flow Power Australia AEMO Wholesale No
Globird / AEMO VPP Australia Static + Spike Detection No
Octopus Energy UK Dynamic 30-min No (public API)
EPEX Day-Ahead EU (DE, AT, BE, NL, DK, SE) Hourly day-ahead No (free API)
NZ TOU New Zealand Static TOU (3-tier) No

Amber Electric (Australia)

Dynamic pricing with 5-minute and 30-minute resolution. Current prices update every 5 minutes; forecasts are available at 30-minute resolution.

Setup:

  1. Get an API token from app.amber.com.au/developers
  2. Select Amber Electric during PowerSync setup
  3. Enter your API token
  4. Select your Amber site

Localvolts (Australia)

Real-time wholesale pricing with native 5-minute NEM interval resolution. Localvolts provides marginal import and export prices (costsFlexUp / earningsFlexUp) with up to 24 hours of forward forecast data.

Setup:

  1. Obtain your API Key and Partner ID from Localvolts
  2. Select Localvolts during PowerSync setup
  3. Enter your API Key, Partner ID, and NMI (National Meter Identifier)
  4. Configure export boost and chip mode settings (optional)

Configuration

Option Description
API Key Your Localvolts API key (keep this secret)
Partner ID Your Localvolts Partner ID
NMI Your 10-digit National Meter Identifier. Use * for all authorized NMIs.

How It Works

  • Prices are fetched every 5 minutes from the Localvolts API
  • Import prices come from the costsFlexUp field (c/kWh)
  • Export prices come from the earningsFlexUp field (c/kWh)
  • Data is converted to Amber-compatible format internally, so all features work seamlessly:
    • Smart Optimization (LP optimizer) with native 5-min resolution
    • TOU tariff sync to Tesla/Sigenergy/FoxESS/GoodWe/Sungrow
    • Battery export curtailment at negative prices
    • Export boost and chip mode
  • Forward forecast is limited to ~24 hours (the LP optimizer pads beyond this with the last known price)
  • AEMO spike detection can be configured independently for price spike exports

Notes

  • Localvolts does not provide Amber's spikeStatus field. If you want automatic battery discharge during NEM price spikes, enable the AEMO Spike Detection feature separately.
  • 'N/A' values in the API response (e.g. when no imports/exports in a forecast period) are treated as 0.0 c/kWh.

Flow Power / AEMO (Australia)

Uses AEMO wholesale pricing directly — no API token required. Prices update every 5 minutes from the AEMO NEM dispatch feed. You can optionally provide an Amber API token as an alternative price source.

Price Sources

Source Description
AEMO Direct (default) Fetches wholesale prices directly from AEMO NEMWeb. No API key needed.
Amber API Uses your Amber Electric API token for pricing data. Useful if you also have an Amber account.

Supported Regions

Region Export Rate (Happy Hour)
NSW1 — New South Wales 45 c/kWh
QLD1 — Queensland 45 c/kWh
SA1 — South Australia 45 c/kWh
VIC1 — Victoria 35 c/kWh
TAS1 — Tasmania No Happy Hour

PEA (Price Efficiency Adjustment)

Flow Power bills using: Final Rate = Base Rate + PEA

PEA adjusts your rate based on when you consume relative to wholesale prices:

  • Cheap wholesale (e.g. midday solar) → negative PEA → you pay less than the base rate
  • Average wholesale → PEA near zero → you pay roughly the base rate
  • Expensive wholesale (e.g. evening peak) → positive PEA → you pay more than the base rate

V2 Formula (with Network Tariff)

When a network tariff is configured (recommended), the full PEA formula accounts for GST and network charges:

PEA = GST × Spot + Tariff - GST × TWAP - AvgDailyTariff - BPEA
Final Rate = Base Rate + PEA

Where:

  • GST = 1.1 (10%)
  • Spot = Current wholesale price (c/kWh) from AEMO or Amber
  • Tariff = Current period's network charge from your DNSP (c/kWh)
  • TWAP = 30-day Time Weighted Average Price (c/kWh)
  • AvgDailyTariff = 24-hour average network tariff (c/kWh)
  • BPEA = Benchmark Performance Efficiency Adjustment (1.7 c/kWh)

V1 Legacy Formula (without Network Tariff)

If no network tariff is configured, the simpler legacy formula is used:

PEA = Spot - TWAP - BPEA
Final Rate = Base Rate + PEA

TWAP Tracking

PowerSync calculates the TWAP dynamically from actual wholesale prices using a rolling 30-day window. Samples are recorded every 4 minutes (with deduplication) and persisted to storage so the history survives HA restarts.

On a fresh install, TWAP falls back to 8.0 c/kWh until enough data is collected (~1 hour / 12 samples). You can also set a manual TWAP override in the options flow if you know your current TWAP from your Flow Power bill.

Export Pricing (Happy Hour)

Flow Power pays a fixed export rate during Happy Hour (5:30pm - 7:30pm daily). Outside Happy Hour, export is valued at 0 c/kWh.

The optimizer uses these rates automatically — it will prefer to export battery power during the Happy Hour window and avoid exporting at other times.

Network Tariff Configuration

PowerSync can look up your DNSP network tariff rates automatically using the aemo_to_tariff library. This is used for:

  • The v2 PEA formula (more accurate pricing)
  • The Network Tariff sensor (shows current TOU network charge)
  • The Amber Comparison sensor (see below)

During setup, select your DNSP (Distribution Network Service Provider) and tariff code:

Region Available DNSPs
NSW1 Ausgrid, Endeavour, Essential
QLD1 Energex, Ergon
SA1 SAPN
VIC1 Powercor, CitiPower, AusNet, Jemena, United
TAS1 TasNetworks

If your tariff isn't available in the library, you can enter manual rates (flat or TOU) with peak/shoulder/off-peak periods and other fees.

Portal Integration (Optional)

Connect your Flow Power kWatch portal account to get actual billing metrics directly from Flow Power. This requires your portal email, password, and SMS MFA verification.

Once connected, PowerSync creates sensors for your actual account PEA, LWAP, TWAP, demand, and DLF — updated every 30 minutes from the portal.

Setup:

  1. In PowerSync options, select Connect Flow Power Portal
  2. Enter your Flow Power portal email and password
  3. Enter the SMS MFA code sent to your phone
  4. Portal data will appear as sensors within a few minutes

Portal sessions are persisted across HA restarts. If the session expires, you'll need to re-authenticate via the options flow.

Amber Comparison Sensor

When network tariff is configured, PowerSync creates an Amber Comparison sensor that shows what you would be paying on Amber Electric for the same wholesale price:

Amber Equivalent = GST × Spot + Tariff + Markup

The default markup varies by region (NSW: 4.2c, QLD: 4.0c, SA: 4.2c, VIC: 4.0c) and can be customised in the options flow.

Configuration Options

Option Description Default
NEM Region Your grid region (NSW1, QLD1, VIC1, SA1) NSW1
Price Source AEMO Direct or Amber API AEMO
Network Tariff Your DNSP and tariff code —
Base Rate Your Flow Power base rate in c/kWh (from your plan) 34.0
PEA Enabled Enable dynamic PEA pricing adjustment Yes
Custom PEA Override the calculated PEA with a fixed value from your bill Auto
TWAP Override Manually set TWAP instead of dynamic tracking (c/kWh) Auto
Amber Markup Markup used in Amber Comparison sensor (c/kWh) Region default
Manual Network Rates Enter flat or TOU rates manually instead of using the tariff library Off

Sensors

Core Sensors

Sensor Unit Description
Flow Power Import Price $/kWh Current import rate (Base Rate + PEA)
Flow Power Export Price $/kWh Export rate — Happy Hour rate or 0
Flow Power TWAP 30-Day Average c/kWh Rolling 30-day wholesale average
Flow Power Network Tariff c/kWh Current TOU network charge (v2 only)
Flow Power Amber Comparison $/kWh Equivalent Amber Electric price (v2 only)

The TWAP sensor includes attributes: days_of_data, sample_count, using_fallback, and twap_dollars.

Portal Account Sensors (Optional)

These sensors are only available when the Flow Power portal is connected:

Sensor Unit Description
Flow Power PEA (Actual) c/kWh Your actual PEA from Flow Power billing
Flow Power PEA 30-Day c/kWh 30-day rolling PEA
Flow Power BPEA (Benchmark) c/kWh The benchmark PEA target
Flow Power CPEA (Customer) c/kWh Your customer PEA (LWAP - TWAP)
Flow Power PEA Import c/kWh Import-only PEA
Flow Power LWAP c/kWh Load Weighted Average Price
Flow Power LWAP (Actual) c/kWh Actual LWAP from billing period
Flow Power TWAP (Portal) c/kWh TWAP from portal (compare with dynamic TWAP)
Flow Power Avg Spot Price c/kWh Average Regional Reference Price
Flow Power DLF (Site Losses) — Distribution Loss Factor for your site
Flow Power Avg Demand kW Your average demand
Flow Power Max Demand kW Your maximum demand

Globird / AEMO VPP (Australia)

Static pricing with AEMO spike detection for VPP participation. No API token required. See Advanced Features for details on automatic discharge during price spikes.

GloBird Provider Settings

New Zealand TOU

Static time-of-use pricing for NZ electricity retailers. No API token required — rates are entered during setup from your plan details. All rates in NZD cents per kWh.

NZ TOU pricing follows the Electricity Authority's mandated TOU structure: 3-tier pricing (Peak, Shoulder, Off-Peak) with weekday-only peaks and weekends typically off-peak or shoulder.

Supported Retailers

Retailer Plan Key Feature
Octopus Energy NZ Standard TOU 3-tier peak/shoulder/off-peak with TOU export rates
Electric Kiwi Standard TOU 3-tier pricing (Hour of Power selected via Electric Kiwi app)
Contact Energy Good Weekends Free electricity on weekends
Contact Energy Good Nights Free electricity 9pm-midnight every night
Contact Energy Good Charge EV-focused with cheap overnight rate
Custom NZ TOU Any plan Enter your own rates for any NZ retailer

TOU Periods

Standard NZ TOU periods (used by most retailers):

Period Weekdays Weekends
Peak 7-9am, 5-9pm —
Shoulder 9am-5pm 7am-9pm
Off-Peak 9pm-7am 9pm-7am

Configuration

  1. Select New Zealand TOU as your electricity provider
  2. Choose your retailer (or Custom for any NZ plan)
  3. Select your distribution zone (Vector, Wellington, Orion, Powerco, Unison, Aurora, or Other)
  4. Review and adjust the pre-filled rates for your plan (or enter rates manually for Custom)
    • Peak, Shoulder, Off-Peak import rates (NZD c/kWh)
    • Peak and Off-Peak export rates (NZD c/kWh)
    • Daily supply charge (NZD c/day)

Distribution Zones

Zone Region
Vector Auckland
Wellington Electricity Wellington
Orion Canterbury
Powerco Waikato / Taranaki / Manawatu
Unison Hawke's Bay / Rotorua / Taupo
Aurora Otago / Southland
Other Any other network area

How It Works

  • Rates are stored as a TOU tariff schedule — the same format used by all other providers
  • The LP optimizer uses your TOU rates to calculate optimal charge/discharge schedules, with weekday-only peaks handled automatically
  • If you have a Tesla Powerwall, the TOU schedule is synced to the Powerwall for native tariff-aware behaviour
  • Rates can be updated anytime via the integration options flow (Settings > Devices & Services > PowerSync > Configure)

Notes

  • Electric Kiwi Hour of Power is not modelled in the TOU schedule — select your free hour via the Electric Kiwi app as usual
  • Contact Good Weekends uses a 0 c/kWh rate for all weekend hours — the optimizer will prefer weekend consumption
  • Contact Good Nights uses a 0 c/kWh rate for 9pm-midnight — the optimizer may shift load to this window
  • Template rates are approximate starting points — always verify against your actual plan rates

EPEX Day-Ahead (Europe)

Hourly day-ahead electricity pricing for European markets. Uses the free EPEX Predictor API which sources data from ENTSO-E and Energy-charts.info. No API key or account required.

Supported Bidding Zones

Code Region
DE Germany
AT Austria
BE Belgium
NL Netherlands
SE1 Sweden (Zone 1)
SE2 Sweden (Zone 2)
SE3 Sweden (Zone 3)
SE4 Sweden (Zone 4)
DK1 Denmark (Zone 1)
DK2 Denmark (Zone 2)

Configuration

  1. Select EPEX Day-Ahead (EU) as your electricity provider
  2. Choose your bidding zone (e.g. BE for Belgium, DE for Germany)
  3. Enter your surcharge — fixed network fees, levies, and other per-kWh charges (ct/kWh)
  4. Enter your tax percentage — VAT applied on top of the total price (e.g. 21 for Belgium, 19 for Germany)
  5. Optionally set a fixed export rate — your feed-in tariff in ct/kWh. Leave at 0 to use the wholesale price for export valuation.
Option Description Default
Bidding Zone Your EPEX electricity market region DE
Surcharge Fixed additional charges per kWh (network fees, levies, etc.) 0 ct/kWh
Tax % VAT percentage applied to the total price 0%
Fixed Export Rate Feed-in tariff in ct/kWh (0 = use wholesale) 0 ct/kWh

How It Works

  • Prices are fetched every 30 minutes from the EPEX Predictor API
  • The API applies surcharges and tax server-side, so returned prices are the final consumer price
  • Hourly intervals are automatically expanded to 5-minute resolution for the LP optimizer
  • Data is converted to the standard internal format, so all features work seamlessly:
    • Smart Optimization (LP optimizer) with full 24-48 hour forecast
    • TOU tariff sync to Tesla/Sigenergy/FoxESS/GoodWe/Sungrow
    • Battery export curtailment at negative prices
    • Export boost and chip mode

Notes

  • Day-ahead prices are typically published around 12:00-13:00 CET for the following day
  • The API includes both known (published) and predicted prices — predictions are updated as new data becomes available
  • If you have a fixed feed-in tariff from your energy supplier, enter it as the Fixed Export Rate so the optimizer accurately values exports
  • All prices are in euro cents per kWh (ct/kWh), which maps directly to the internal pricing format
  • This provider does not include AEMO spike detection (that is an Australian NEM feature)

Octopus Energy (UK)

Full support for UK users with Octopus Energy dynamic tariffs.

Supported Products

Product Description
Agile Octopus Dynamic half-hourly pricing based on wholesale rates
Octopus Go EV tariff with cheap overnight rates (00:30-05:30)
Intelligent Octopus Go Smart EV/battery tariff with dispatch-aware off-peak
Octopus Flux Solar/battery optimized import/export tariff
Intelligent Octopus Flux Smart battery optimized tariff
Octopus Tracker Daily wholesale price tracking

Features

  • Half-hourly pricing (same 30-minute resolution as Amber)
  • Automatic TOU sync to Tesla/Sigenergy
  • Regional pricing via GSP (Grid Supply Point) selection
  • Negative price handling
  • Export rates: auto-discovered from your Octopus account, or uses Outgoing Octopus as default
  • BottlecapDave integration bridge (v2.4.1+): When HomeAssistant-OctopusEnergy is installed, PowerSync reads rates directly from it — avoiding double API calls and getting your actual export tariff automatically
  • Saving Sessions auto-join (v2.4.6+): Works with both Direct API mode and BottlecapDave's integration. When using Dave's integration, PowerSync calls his join_octoplus_saving_session_event service automatically

Configuration

  1. Select Octopus Energy (UK) as your electricity provider
  2. Choose your product (Agile, Go, Intelligent Go, Flux, Tracker)
  3. Select your GSP region (A-P) — find this on your Octopus bill
  4. (Optional) Configure Saving Sessions — choose Direct or Entity (Dave's integration) as source

GSP Regions

Code Region
A Eastern England
B East Midlands
C London
D Merseyside and North Wales
E Midlands
F North Eastern
G North Western
H Southern
J South Eastern
K South Wales
L South Western
M Yorkshire
N South Scotland
P North Scotland

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