ShatabdiA useful electricity comparison starts with your practice’s working day. When are patients in the chairs? Which equipment runs together? Does cleaning carry on after the last appointment?
Those details help explain what you pay. To compare offers, ask what each would charge for the same electricity use, including demand charges, the daily supply charge and other fees. A low price per unit is only part of the answer.
Start with the way your practice runs
Picture a practice with several treatment rooms in use. The compressor and suction equipment are working, sterilisation equipment is cycling, and the air conditioning is on. Each contributes to the electricity used across the day. Together, they also affect how much power the practice draws at once.
Your bills and smart-meter history capture that combined pattern. Use a full year where available, so the comparison includes seasonal heating and cooling, holidays and quieter periods. If you’re adding a room or extending appointment hours, include those changes in the quote request.
An offer with time-of-use pricing charges different rates at different times. A flat rate applies the same usage price throughout the day. Evening appointments or Saturday opening can change which works out cheaper, but check each offer’s actual time bands: there is no single peak timetable for every NSW business.
Allow for the next treatment room
If you plan to add a chair, describe how the extra room will operate. Will another clinician work alongside the current team, or will appointments move between rooms? Will the room share the existing compressor and suction equipment, or require new plant? Those details are more useful to an estimate than chair count alone.
Keep the sterilisation and treatment schedule you need as the basis of the comparison. Include early preparation, cleaning after appointments and any evening sessions. Ask the provider to distinguish the current meter record from assumptions about the expanded practice.
Understand the extra charge for demand
Electricity used is measured in kilowatt-hours, or kWh. Demand measures the power drawn over a specified interval, commonly in kilowatts, or kW.
For example, a practice drawing an average of 20 kW for half an hour uses 10 kWh. The 10 kWh adds to its usage charges. If that interval sets the demand figure under its tariff, the 20 kW can also produce a separate demand charge.
A brief equipment start-up spike is different from an average across a billing interval. Check the units, measurement period, eligible hours and any look-back rules in your offer. Our demand charges guide explains what to look for.
A flat rate does not automatically remove this charge. You need to check demand separately.
Compare the total: one practice, two offers
This practice uses 3,000 kWh in 30 days. Half falls in shoulder periods, with another 30% in peak periods. The comparison prices that same appointment-day pattern on both offers.
Illustrative Cable rate: 23c/kWh, above the 20c TOU off-peak rate. Actual pricing is set for the site. The battery supports flat-rate pricing by shifting electricity purchases towards lower-cost periods.
| Charge | Quantity | Time-of-useWith demand charges | Cable flat rateBacked by a battery | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rate | Total | Rate | Total | ||
| Peak usage | 900 kWh | 48c/kWh | $432.00 | 23c/kWh | $207.00 |
| Shoulder usage | 1,500 kWh | 30c/kWh | $450.00 | 23c/kWh | $345.00 |
| Off-peak usage | 600 kWh | 20c/kWh | $120.00 | 23c/kWh | $138.00 |
| Usage subtotal | 3,000 kWh | — | $1,002.00 | — | $690.00 |
| Demand | 20 kW × 30 days | 30c/kW/day | $180.00 | Absorbed by Cable | $0.00 |
| Supply | 30 days | $2.663967/day | $79.92 | $2.663967/day | $79.92 |
| Total for 30 days | — | — | $1,261.92 | — | $769.92 |
The difference is $492 over these 30 days: $312 from usage and $180 from demand. Most of the usage difference comes from the 900 peak-period kWh, which cost $225 less at 23c. The practice pays $18 more for its off-peak usage in the Cable column.
These are illustrative electricity charges, including GST, not typical savings or a site quote. Both columns use the same supply input; other fees and contract costs are excluded. See how we built this example for the assumptions, exclusions and full calculation.
Check the agreement before you switch
Ask the provider to show how it has priced your usage, then check the daily supply charge, metering and other fees, discounts and any solar credits. Compare all figures on the same GST basis. The business electricity bill guide helps you find the relevant items.
Read the term, rate-change conditions, deposit and return conditions, and early-exit charges for the new offer. Include any cost of leaving your current agreement. A flat rate describes pricing across the day; the agreement determines whether that rate can change over time.
How Cable fits into the comparison
Cable funds, owns and operates a battery at suitable practices, charging in lower-cost wholesale periods and using stored power when prices rise. Cable absorbs network demand charges. The bill has one usage rate across the day plus daily supply, so consumption still affects the total.
For leased consulting rooms, discuss landlord consent, battery placement, additional site work and installation timing around appointments. Standard installation does not provide outage backup for clinical equipment.
Eligibility covers suitable Ausgrid and Endeavour Energy sites in NSW, with at least six months of smart-meter data required to join. An earlier quote enquiry is possible. The initial term is three years; annual CPI adjustments and other permitted rate changes apply. Review the deposit, return conditions and early-exit charges in the personalised offer.
Get an electricity quote for your dental practice
Share your contact and energy-account details, then authorise access to your usage history. Include any planned changes so Cable can prepare a personalised offer for your practice.
Get a quote for your dental practice
Sources
Sources checked 3 November 2026. Comparison and pricing explanation updated 5 November 2026.