The Australian energy market, explained

The federal, state and territory energy ministers decide national energy policy and ask the market bodies to make reforms. They don't run the market or set your prices day to day.

In Queensland: Queensland's energy minister sits on the council, and the Queensland Government also sets its own policy, such as the subsidy that keeps regional prices in line with South East Queensland.

What you can do: Nothing directly. Their decisions shape the rules everyone else works to.

The AEMC makes and changes the National Electricity Rules and the National Energy Retail Rules. Those rules cover how the wholesale market works, how networks set prices, how metering works and what retailers must do for their customers. The AEMC writes the rules but doesn't enforce them.

In Queensland: The national rules apply in Queensland.

What you can do: Anyone can make a submission on a proposed rule change.

The AER enforces the rules. It decides how much revenue the electricity networks can recover from customers, usually for five years at a time, approves their network tariffs, watches the wholesale market and checks that retailers follow the rules. It also sets the Default Market Offer, the maximum price for standing offers to small customers in South East Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia.

In Queensland: The AER sets the revenue limits for Powerlink, Energex and Ergon Energy, and the Default Market Offer for South East Queensland.

What you can do: Check whether your network tariff still suits your site, and how your offer compares with the default price where one applies.

The QCA sets the regulated retail electricity prices, called notified prices, for small customers in regional Queensland, where Ergon Energy Retail is the main retailer.

In Queensland: Regional Queensland only. In South East Queensland, the AER's Default Market Offer applies instead.

What you can do: If your site is on a regulated or default price, check whether a market offer or a different tariff suits how you use energy.

The Clean Energy Regulator runs the federal renewable energy schemes: the Large-scale Renewable Energy Target and the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme. Retailers must buy and surrender certificates each year, and they pass that cost on to you.

In Queensland: The same national schemes apply in Queensland.

What you can do: Check that the environmental charges on your bill match the rates in your contract.

The ombudsman is a free, independent service that resolves complaints between eligible small customers and their energy retailer or network, when the business can't sort it out directly.

In Queensland: In Queensland it's the Energy and Water Ombudsman Queensland.

What you can do: Raise the problem with your retailer first, in writing. If it isn't fixed, eligible small businesses can take it further, free of charge.

Generators make electricity and offer it into the wholesale market every five minutes, each at the price they will accept. Coal, gas, hydro, wind, solar and batteries all compete to supply. When demand is high or supply is tight, the wholesale price rises.

In Queensland: Queensland has state-owned generators, CS Energy and Stanwell, as well as private wind, solar, gas and battery owners.

What you can do: You can't buy from a generator directly on most contracts, but when and how your retailer buys shapes your energy rates.

AEMO runs the wholesale electricity market and keeps the power system secure. Every five minutes it matches supply with demand, picks the cheapest generators that meet it and sets the spot price. It settles the money between generators and retailers, forecasts demand, plans the future grid and keeps the national register of every meter, identified by its NMI.

In Queensland: Queensland is one of the five regions of the National Electricity Market, with the others linked by high-voltage interconnectors. Western Australia and the Northern Territory run separate systems.

What you can do: Market charges, such as AEMO fees and reliability costs like the RERT, are small but should match your contract.

The transmission network carries high-voltage electricity over long distances, from power stations to the distribution networks and some very large customers. It is a regulated monopoly, so its earnings are capped.

In Queensland: In Queensland, the transmission network is Powerlink Queensland.

What you can do: Transmission costs come to you inside your network charges. Your network tariff decides how much of them you pay.

The distribution network owns the poles, wires and substations that bring electricity to your site. It connects new sites, fixes faults and charges network tariffs: daily supply charges, usage charges and, for many businesses, demand charges based on your highest use.

In Queensland: In South East Queensland it's Energex. In regional Queensland it's Ergon Energy Network. Both are part of Energy Queensland.

What you can do: The right network tariff, and managing your peak demand, can make a real difference to your network charges.

Three roles sit behind your meter. The metering coordinator is responsible for the meter. The metering provider installs and maintains it. The metering data provider reads it, checks the data and sends it to AEMO and your retailer. Since December 2017, metering for new and replaced meters has been open to competition, and smart meters are being rolled out to most customers by 2030.

In Queensland: For most small sites, your retailer appoints the metering coordinator. Larger customers can appoint their own.

What you can do: Your meter data is the evidence behind every line of your bill. Ask for it, and use it to check your charges.

Your energy retailer buys electricity from the wholesale market, often managing price risk with contracts, and pays the network, metering, market and environmental costs on your behalf. It bundles all of that, plus its own costs and margin, into your energy bill. Your contract is with your retailer.

In Queensland: Many retailers compete in South East Queensland. In regional Queensland, Ergon Energy Retail serves most small customers.

What you can do: This is where most of your choices sit: the contract, the price structure, the term and when you sign.

Each of your sites has its own connection point, identified by a National Meter Identifier, or NMI. Each one has a network tariff, a meter and a retail contract. Smaller sites are usually small customers, with more protections. Larger sites negotiate more of their terms.

In Queensland: In Queensland, a site using less than 100 MWh a year is usually a small customer. Your NMI is on your energy bill and tells you which network your site is on.

What you can do: Know what each site uses, when it uses it and what it pays for. Your meter data and your bills hold the answers.

An independent adviser sits on your side of the table. We check your bills against your contract, tariff and meter data, run your procurement, review your network tariff and deal with your retailer and network when something is wrong. You pay one fee, quoted upfront. No commission in your rates, ever.

In Queensland: WiseUp Energy Solutions is based in Brisbane and works with businesses across Queensland and the rest of Australia.

What you can do: Talk to us when the bill doesn't add up, a contract is ending or a big energy decision is coming.

The price per kWh for the electricity you use, often split into peak, shoulder and off-peak. It reflects what your retailer pays in the wholesale market, adjusted for losses on the network.

How much you can influence it: High. Your contract, when you sign it, how it's priced and when your site uses energy all change this line.

What the distribution and transmission networks charge to deliver your electricity: a daily supply charge, usage charges and, for many businesses, a demand charge based on your highest use in the month.

How much you can influence it: Medium. You can't negotiate the rates, but the right network tariff and lower peak demand can reduce what you pay.

The cost of the certificates your retailer must buy under the federal renewable energy schemes, passed through to you.

How much you can influence it: Low. Check that the rates match your contract and are applied to the right usage.

AEMO's fees for running the market, and costs for keeping the system reliable, such as the Reliability and Emergency Reserve Trader (RERT).

How much you can influence it: Low. Check that they are passed through as your contract says.

The cost of your meter and of reading it, checking the data and sending it to the market.

How much you can influence it: Low to medium. Check the meter type and the charge against your contract.

Your retailer's own running costs and profit. You rarely see this as a separate line, because it's built into your rates.

How much you can influence it: Medium. Competitive procurement is how you test it.