Regional Queensland electricity prices will change from 1 July 2026, with typical residential, small business and large business customers expected to see lower annual electricity bills compared with 2025-26.

While that is welcome news, the key message for farm businesses is still the same: your actual electricity cost will depend on how, when and where energy is used across your operation.

For a typical regional small business customer on Tariff 20, annual bills are expected to be around 8.1% lower, or about $212 less per year. Typical residential customers on Tariff 11 are expected to see a 6.9% decrease, or around $151 less per year. Large business customers on Tariffs 43 and 44A are also expected to see lower annual bills.

However, farms rarely use electricity like a typical household or small business. Irrigation pumps, cold rooms, packing sheds, dairies, workshops and other equipment can create large and sometimes irregular or seasonal loads. That means the best tariff for one farm may not be the best tariff for another.

In simple terms, the changes in 2026-27 indicate that some parts of the electricity bill are going down while others are going up. The cost of buying electricity from the market has fallen, which has helped reduce typical bills. However, the cost of moving electricity through the network (the poles, wires and other infrastructure) has increased for most customers.

For farm businesses, this means the headline price decrease is useful, but it does not tell the whole story. The actual impact on each farm will depend on the tariff, how much electricity is used, when major equipment is operated, whether demand charges apply, and how much solar is used on site or exported.

Farmers should also be aware that several obsolete tariffs are scheduled to expire on 30 June 2026. For small business customers, this includes Tariffs 22B, 22C, 24A, 62A, 65A and 66A. For large business customers, this includes Tariffs 44, 45, 46, 50, 50A, 52A, 52B and 52C.

If your farm business is on one of these tariffs, check your current arrangements and speak with your retailer about available alternatives. This is particularly important for farms with irrigation, pumping, refrigeration, cold storage or other high-load equipment, where tariff changes can affect operating costs and the best time to run equipment.

Farmers with solar should also note that the regional Queensland solar feed-in tariff has decreased to 6.006 c/kWh from 1 July 2026. This reinforces the importance of using as much solar energy on site as possible, rather than relying on export income.

For Queensland farm businesses, this is a good time to review:

• what tariff each NMI is on;

• whether major loads can shift away from higher-cost periods (for example, running irrigation pumps overnight instead of late afternoon, or scheduling cold room defrost cycles outside peak times);

• whether pumps or other equipment are suitable for controlled-load tariffs;

• whether demand charges are being triggered by short high-load events (like starting multiple pumps or machinery at once);

• how much solar is being used on site compared with exported; and

• whether a smart meter or interval data can support a better tariff decision.

A lower headline bill does not remove the need to actively manage energy. Understanding your tariff and matching it to farm operations remains one of the simplest ways to improve energy productivity, manage costs and support business resilience.

Farmers can compare electricity plans through Energy Made Easy, review current Ergon Energy Retail tariffs online, or contact QFF's Energy Information Service for Landholders for support. The free phone service is available from Monday - Friday from 8:30am - 5:00pm. Call 07 3329 7500.