AER denied requests from Ergon Energy and Energex to remove the introduction of optional demand tariffs and flexible load tariffs. The Queensland electricity distributors had submitted bids to alter their tariff structures. In the wholesale market, the NEM average price reached $110.40/MWh, landing 49.5 per cent above the seven-day average. The trading day average ranked as the highest for the week. New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania also recorded their highest daily average prices of the past seven days.
Australia's grid-scale battery fleet earned approximately $37.62 million in the NEM during October 2026. Five days of trading generated 38 per cent of the total monthly revenue for the storage fleet. In Western Australia, Albany residents face personal costs amounting to thousands of dollars to replace gas appliances. The expenses follow the announced decommissioning of the city's local gas network. Architect Michael Roberts reported spending thousands on gas infrastructure before receiving notification that the regional utility would cease operations. The chief executive officer of Australia's data centre lobby group posted concerns that data centres were wearing all the risk for network connection issues outside their control.
Rest Super committed $250 million to MPower to fund a mid-scale solar and storage strategy. The renewable energy developer will use the financial injection from the industry superannuation fund to accelerate the rollout of its project pipeline. Sungrow secured a contract to supply the battery energy storage system and grid-forming power conversion technology for the second stage of the Hazelwood battery project in Victoria. ENGIE is developing the Hazelwood installation.
AGL Energy submitted a federal environmental referral for a 2,000 MWh battery storage development in Queensland. ACEnergy also submitted a referral for a 250 MW project in Victoria. Both proposals are undergoing assessment under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. Pacific Partnerships finalised a 10-year offtake agreement for a battery retrofit project in Victoria's northeast. The developer plans to build a 102 MW, four-hour battery alongside its 102 MW Glenrowan Solar Farm.
Elecnor completed the Buronga substation in New South Wales for the EnergyConnect interconnector. The facility serves as the primary hub for Australia's largest transmission project and integrates synchronous condensers and advanced switching technology to stabilize the grid. Western Power is deploying approximately 100 Early Fault Detection units across regional feeders in a $6 million program to mitigate bushfire risks and improve reliability. The rollout utilizes sensors to identify line defects before they cause outages or ignitions. The deployment follows a successful metropolitan trial by the network operator.
The NEM recorded a mean price of $104.9/MWh across the trading day. South Australia stood out with 17.0 hours of negative prices, reaching a minimum of -$20/MWh at 16:00. Victoria recorded the highest price of $208/MWh at 10:10. New South Wales registered the demand peak of 8,731 MW at 17:40. Renewables provided 44.9 per cent of energy, with an instantaneous peak of 70.0 per cent at 12:30.
Brent Crude fell 10.8 per cent to US$104.89 a barrel, and TTF Gas dropped 10.1 per cent to EUR93.45/MWh. AEMO discontinued its application to the Fair Work Commission seeking the termination or suspension of protected industrial action. Evoenergy announced electricity network testing in the Gungahlin region. South Australia Power Networks delivered community resilience batteries for regional towns.