NSW ESS and PDRS vs Victorian Energy Upgrades: which suits installers

Written and checked by the Energy Merchants desk · Reviewed 2 October 2026

New South Wales and Victoria both fund household and business energy upgrades by creating certificates that energy retailers must buy. From the outside the two look alike. From an installer’s bench they differ in who administers the scheme, what the certificate is called, and how the discount reaches the customer.

The two schemes at a glance

Prices are the 2026 ranges seen and can change. Verify on the administrator’s site.

How the discount reaches the customer

In both states the customer usually sees a discount on the quote and the provider recoups it by selling certificates. In NSW the installer typically works through an Accredited Certificate Provider, which creates and sells the certificates. In Victoria installers can work with an accredited provider or become accredited themselves. Which path suits you is a business question about cash flow, compliance load and margin; we compare the pathways in VEU accreditation vs working with an accredited provider.

NSW Home Energy Saver is a different thing

People searching “NSW Home Energy Saver vs PDRS” are often comparing a loan program with a certificate scheme. Home Energy Saver is, as reported, a NSW Government program launched in 2026 that offers eligible households access to no-interest loans of up to $15,000 for upgrades such as solar, batteries and heat pump hot water. It replaces the earlier Empowering Homes program, and it runs through finance providers rather than certificate providers. The PDRS, by contrast, funds point-of-sale discounts through certificates. A household may meet both in the same conversation, but an installer’s claim process is different for each. Confirm current terms with the NSW Government.

Which is better for installers

The honest answer is that it depends on three things.

1. Where you work. An installer in Albury and one in Wodonga face different schemes across a river.
2. Which activities you install. Heat pump water heaters are the overlap most installers care about; see NSW vs Victorian heat pump rebates.
3. How you want to be paid. Through a provider who handles certificates, or by creating them yourself.

A higher certificate price is not decisive. What counts is the number of certificates an activity creates, any deduction a provider takes, and the administrative load.

Where STCs fit

Both states also see federal STCs, for solar, batteries and some hot water. That sits alongside the state certificates, not instead of them. For how the two layers stack, see VEECs and STCs on the same job, and for the overall certificate picture, STC vs VEEC vs ESC vs PRC.

Questions to ask a provider

Whichever state you work in, put four questions to any accredited provider. What do I receive per job, in dollars, for a standard install? What is deducted, and what does the customer see on the quote? How quickly am I paid after the job is complete and the evidence is accepted? What happens if a certificate or claim is rejected later? The answers let you compare providers within a state, and then compare states on the same basis. Be wary of a quote that shows a high certificate price without saying how many certificates the activity creates or how much the provider keeps. A price without a quantity is not a rate of return. Check the scheme administrator’s site for the activity definitions that apply to your product, since those, not the market price, decide whether you can claim at all.

A fair verdict

Neither scheme is better in the abstract. Pick the one that matches your licence area and your product mix, and compare on net dollars per job. For NSW detail see /escs-prcs/; for Victoria see /veecs/ and /veec-trading/. If you work on STC jobs in either state, our STC trading and pricing pages cover the federal side.