“Best VPP provider” is the wrong question for a home battery, because the best offer depends on where you live, what your battery is, and how you use electricity. The right question is which type of VPP suits your household, and then which offer of that type is the best deal today. Offers change often, so this page gives you a method and some reported examples rather than a league table that would be out of date by the time you read it.
A virtual power plant (VPP) is a network of home batteries coordinated by an operator. You let the operator charge or discharge your battery at set times, to help the grid at peak moments, and you are paid in credits or better rates. The federal Cheaper Home Batteries Program requires a VPP-capable battery, but you are not obliged to join one. See also whether joining a VPP is worth it.
The three payment models
| Model | How you are paid | Predictability | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed credits | A sign-up credit, a flat annual or monthly credit, sometimes a rate per kWh dispatched | High | Households that want a known return |
| Wholesale-linked | Exposure to wholesale prices, with automated charging and discharging | Low | People comfortable with price risk and a retail account that supports it |
| Bill credit or plan bundle | A discount or credit inside a retail electricity plan | Medium | Households happy with that retailer anyway |
Reported offers, with a caution
Comparison sites reported the following in 2026. Treat them as examples of structure, and confirm the current terms with each provider, because credits, caps and eligible states change.
- AGL. Reported as a welcome credit of about $200, a fixed credit of about $80 a year, and about $1 per kWh dispatched during events, capped at 250 kWh a year, in NSW, Queensland, South Australia and Victoria.
- EnergyAustralia (Battery Ease). Reported as a flat bill credit of about $15 a month, around $180 a year, for being connected.
- Origin (Loop). Reported as available in several states with no lock-in contract and a short notice period.
- Amber Electric. A wholesale-linked retail model, reported to need an Amber account with a monthly subscription fee, with outcomes that vary a lot by state and price volatility.
Others reported on comparison sites include Diamond Energy, ENGIE, GloBird, Reposit and Plico. We have not tested any of them and make no ranking. Battery brands can also limit which VPPs you can join, because the operator needs to control your specific hardware.
A worked comparison
Suppose a household with a 10 kWh battery compares two reported structures over the first year.
Fixed-credit style: $200 welcome credit, plus $80 annual credit, plus dispatch payments. If events dispatch 150 kWh in the year at $1 per kWh, that adds $150. Year one total: $430. Years after: $230.
Flat bill-credit style: $15 a month, so $180 a year, with no welcome credit.
On those figures the first style pays more in year one and about $50 more in later years, provided events dispatch as assumed. If dispatch is 250 kWh (the cap), later years rise to $330. If events are rarer, they fall to near $80.
Now put it next to the battery’s savings. A 10 kWh battery might save about $775 a year on bill reduction (see the payback page). A VPP credit of $230 to $330 adds about 30 to 40 per cent on top. That is useful, but it is not the main source of value. If a VPP offer makes the battery do something that cuts your own bill savings, such as discharging at times you would have used the battery yourself, net the loss off the credit.
What to check before you sign
Control. Does the operator decide when your battery charges and discharges? How much capacity do they leave you for backup? Most programs let you set a reserve, but the default may not be what you want in a storm season.
Exit. Can you leave at any time, or is there notice or a penalty? Does leaving cost you a credit you have already earned?
Retail link. Does the VPP require you to be on a particular electricity plan? If so, compare that plan’s rates to your current plan, because a worse rate can wipe out the VPP credit.
Hardware. Is your battery model supported? Some VPPs only work with certain brands, and some are tied to the installer’s choice at the time of sale.
Warranty. Check whether participating changes your battery warranty. Cycling more than a battery’s warranty allows can reduce cover.
Payment timing. Is the credit paid as a bill credit, a bank payment, or a discount? The form affects how much of it you actually see.
State differences
State matters because retail markets, tariffs and incentives differ. In NSW the federal program sits alongside a PDRS incentive for connecting to a VPP, so the sign-up value can be larger there. In WA, the state battery scheme is active and requires VPP participation. Several other state schemes have closed: Queensland Battery Booster, the Victorian Solar Battery Loan, the Tasmanian Energy Saver Loan and the NT battery scheme. Our answer pages on the NSW VPP battery incentive and WA battery scheme give detail.
Installers: what to tell customers
You do not need to sell a VPP, but you do need to say which ones the battery supports and to avoid promising an income. Tell the customer that credits are reported and variable, and that joining is optional. Our Cheaper Home Batteries installer guide covers the VPP-capable requirement and how it appears in the evidence.
Why wholesale-linked plans split opinion
Wholesale-linked offers deserve their own paragraph, because the headline numbers are the most generous and the least certain. These plans pass wholesale prices through to your bill and use software to charge your battery when power is cheap and discharge when it is dear. In a year with many price spikes, a household with a good-sized battery can earn well. In a calm year the same household earns much less, and the monthly subscription is a fixed cost either way.
The practical test is whether you are comfortable with a bill that moves, and whether your household can keep its own use flexible. A family with a fixed evening routine and a tight budget often prefers a predictable credit. A household with an electric vehicle, flexible loads and an appetite for tinkering may do better with the wholesale model. Neither is wrong, but the second asks more of you.
Look at the track record carefully. Reported earnings figures on comparison sites are usually best-case or averages across sites that have performed well, so ask what a typical customer in your state earned in the last twelve months, not the best one.
What to do next
- Write down your own usage: evening kWh, tariff and feed-in rate.
- Pick a model (fixed, wholesale, bundle) before you compare brands.
- Shortlist two or three offers and check each current term sheet for the six items above.
- Work out the first-year and ongoing value, and compare with what the battery already saves you.
- Check the discount in the battery STC calculator and read the battery STC pillar. Installers can see today’s rates.