Riding the Retailer Wave: Why I Traded Amber Electric for Flow Power (For Now)

If you have been following my energy trading journey, you will know I have been a massive advocate for wholesale energy markets. For a long time, connecting a large battery to a provider like Amber Electric has been the absolute gold standard for home energy ROI. The premise is brilliant: buy when the grid is practically giving power away, and sell it back during massive evening price spikes.

I am still a huge supporter of Amber—their model truly represents the future of the grid. But energy markets are cyclical, and recently, the wholesale landscape has fundamentally shifted.

For context, my setup consists of a 10kW Deye hybrid inverter, a 61.44kWh battery bank, and 15.84kW of solar panels. A 10kW inverter represents the maximum allowable size on a standard single-phase residential connection (though there are plenty of larger 3-phase systems around). This architecture is specifically designed to maximise grid export during high-value pricing events. However, those lucrative wholesale spikes have largely gone into hibernation over the last few months.

Here is why I recently decided to migrate my connection from Amber Electric to Flow Power, why I will likely switch back to Amber in the future, and exactly how I reconfigured Gridkeeper to automate the new strategy.

The Problem with Amber Electric: Plunging Export Rates and High Base Costs

Amber Electric Invoice Showing Low Export Returns

When I look at my historical billing data with Amber over the last few months, the downward trend in wholesale returns is impossible to ignore. It isn't a flaw with Amber; it is simply a reflection of a currently flat energy market.

Let's look at the actual numbers from my recent invoices:

• February 2026: I exported 704.31 kWh of solar and battery power to the grid, achieving an average export rate of 10.84c/kWh.

  
  

• March 2026: I exported 622.38 kWh, but the average export rate dropped to just 8.21c/kWh.

  
  

• April 2026: Despite exporting a massive 720.83 kWh to the grid, the average return plummeted further to a mere 7.36c/kWh.

The grid simply isn't experiencing the same level of evening volatility right now that makes wholesale trading highly profitable for residential batteries.

On top of the dropping revenue, base costs eat heavily into the margins. Between Energex’s network daily supply charges and Amber’s subscription fee, my fixed costs were hovering around $50 a month before I even made a single cent of profit. My total credits were barely covering my base charges, resulting in bills that were in credit by only $3.92 to $20.76.

I needed a retailer that offered a predictable, high-yield return to tide me over during this wholesale lull.

The Solution: The Flow Power Math

 Flow Power 45c Feed-in Tariff Fact Sheet

After running the numbers, I made the strategic switch to the Flow Power 'Flow Home' plan.

Their model is completely different. Instead of fluctuating rates, they offer a massive 45c/kWh feed-in tariff, but it is strictly limited to a two-hour window: 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM. Outside of those two hours, the feed-in tariff drops to exactly 0c/kWh.

Here is how the math plays out with my specific hardware:

• My Deye inverter has a 10kW maximum export limit.

  
  

• Over the two-hour premium window, I can dispatch a maximum of 20kWh from the batteries.

  
  

• Assuming my household consumes about 5kWh during that 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM window, I can confidently feed 15kWh into the grid every single day.

  
  

• 15kWh x $0.45 = $6.75 per day, or roughly $205.31 gross per month.

  
  

• Flow Power’s daily supply charge is 132.21c (incl. GST), totalling about $40.21 per month.

The Net Result: $205.31 gross profit - $40.21 daily supply charges = $165.10 per month in clean, predictable profit.

That is more than double the total amount I have made with Amber over recent months, with absolutely zero stress about checking market volatility.

The Catch: You Cannot Rely on the Grid

If you are reading this and thinking about making the switch, be warned: the Flow Power plan is incredibly unforgiving if you do not have the right automation in place.

While the export rates are fantastic, Flow Power charges a flat 33.42c/kWh for all grid usage. If you aggressively dump your battery into the grid at 7:30 PM, run out of stored power by 10:00 PM, and have to pull from the grid at 33c/kWh overnight, you will severely chew into your export profits.

To make this plan work, you need strict, intelligent battery control.

Surviving Winter and Rainy Days with Gridkeeper

Solmon Solar Forecasting Integrated With Gridkeeper

Thankfully, Gridkeeper has the exact tools built in to manage this risk automatically. My primary concern was ensuring I never unexpectedly import from the grid during winter or multi-day weather events at that flat 33.42c/kWh rate.

I have three layers of defence set up:

1. Smart Forecasting Automations: Inside Gridkeeper, I created a new automation using the Solmon integration, which pulls precise solar forecasting data. I set a rule: if there isn't enough forecasted solar generation for the following day to cover both my average household consumption and the 20kWh evening battery dispatch, Gridkeeper automatically pauses the 5:30 PM sell event. The house always gets priority.

   
   

2. The Battery Buffer: Because I am running a 61.44kWh stack, dispatching 20kWh only uses about a third of my total capacity. This leaves a massive 40kWh+ buffer to run the house for days without sun.

   
   

3. Queensland Sunshine: We are incredibly lucky in QLD. I calculated my expected generation for the absolute shortest day of the year (the winter solstice). Even then, my 15.84kW array should still produce between 45 and 55kWh in a single day. Since my house consumes less than that in a 24-hour period, Gridkeeper will still instruct the system to execute a full 20kWh grid dispatch at least every three days, even in the dead of winter.

Why I Will Likely Go Back to Amber

This move to Flow Power is highly profitable right now, but I do not view it as permanent.

If volatility returns to the market—say, during a blistering Queensland summer when air conditioners strain the grid, or if a major power plant unexpectedly trips—the wholesale spikes will be back. When that happens, Amber will once again be the absolute best place for a big battery to make serious money.

Additionally, if we hit a brutal stretch of winter rain and my solar simply cannot generate enough to cover the house and charge the battery, Flow Power's 33c/kWh flat import rate will become a liability. If that scenario plays out, I will immediately switch back to Amber to access their cheap, off-peak grid charging rates to fill the battery overnight.

The Power of the "7-Minute Switch"

Switching Retailers to Flow Power in Gridkeeper

Historically, moving between energy retailers and changing your energy strategy meant a weekend of rewriting complex YAML code for Home Assistant. People simply didn't do it because the "automation lock-in" was too painful.

Gridkeeper changes that entirely. It turns retailer-hopping into a viable, seasonal strategy.

The sign-up process with Flow Power took me about 15 minutes. Reconfiguring my hardware to execute the new strategy took exactly 7 minutes.

Here is exactly what I did:

1. I logged into Gridkeeper, navigated to my settings, and changed my power provider to Flow Power, selecting the 'Flow Home' plan. Gridkeeper immediately pulled the new fixed tariffs straight into the system.

   
   

2. I deleted all my old Amber logic.

   
   

3. I added a single time-based sell automation instructing the inverter to dump power from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM.

   
   

4. I attached the Solmon weather forecast variable to that automation to protect my reserves on cloudy days.

   
   

5. I left my daytime hot water automation untouched.

   
   

Because it is so easy, I am no longer locked into one provider. I can simply follow the most profitable market conditions as they change throughout the year.

If you want the freedom to effortlessly switch strategies and automate your energy trading without writing a single line of code, you can set up your system for free right now.

• Start optimising your system today at: www.dusk.energy

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