Something Changed With Amber This January (We Suggest A Solution)

Alex and I analyse why Amber Electric export prices this month are frustratingly low. Evening payouts in January 2026 have been terrible - we're talking often 3 to 7 cents per kilowatt hour. We think Amber needs a third more aggressive automation setting than Earnings Optimiser, which would sell a preset portion of the battery eg 33% when prices hit a minimum user set level eg 10 cents / kWh on days with low evening and night export pricing ... instead of requiring us to interrupt our dinners to manually sell to earn enough to cover Amber and Network fees for the day. While there will probably be a few more years of decent earnings from having a big home battery connected to whole sale power pricing like Amber, In the end lower more stable electricity prices are a good thing for society as a whole and it shows solar and battery tech working together can push down power prices and put pressure on coal and gas power generators to reduce output. Alex told me that in previous summers, he'd always get at least 30 cents per KWh or more in the evenings ... and SmartShift would automatically sell his battery power without him lifting a finger. Now he and I are constantly having to manually decide whether to sell at these awful rates or risk solar curtailment the next day. Alex explained that the spike days that used to earn him $100-200 a day are becoming rare. We've only had one big spike day this January compared to the consistent monthly multiple spikes he used to count on. We need to earn at least $2 a day just to cover Amber fees and network charges, these low export sell kWh prices make that a real challenge. We suspect it's connected to the massive influx of home batteries, after all there are 200,000 more of them plus huge new grid-scale storage like the Eraring and Waratah batteries coming online, stabilizing the grid and flattening the price volatility he used to profit from. ==== ✋ Disclaimer & Deal: If you understand the possible rewards and risks of wholesale electricity pricing and want to signup, please use my Amber Electric referral code AJDUVDRX or link so both of us get $120 bill credit mates.amber.com.au/AJDUVDRX My home battery system & some of my solar panels were installed by the award winning team at RESINC Solar (SolarQuotes #1 Rank). If you install a Solar / Battery system with RESINC Solar after contacting them through https://resinc.com.au/electrifyingeve... , you'll have access to exclusive offers and my family will donate $100 to a charity that campaigns for stronger government support of renewable energy. I am sponsored by several viewers and supporters of the channel who want to help me keep creating independent honest videos, full details in the video. My opinions are completely independent and I always honestly review products and services regardless of whether they are sponsored or not. ===== RELATED Amber Electric Bill Explained - 3 Months Analysed Line By Line - 30 Days Usage $ Isn't Bill Amount!    • 3 Months Amber Bill Analysis - Why Some Am...   Truth About Cashing Out Amber Electric Credits (Easier Than You Think)    • Truth About Cashing Out Amber Electric Cre...   Who Shouldn't Sign Up For Amber Electric? Wholesale Electricity Pricing Isn't For Everyone    • Who Shouldn't Sign Up For Amber Electric? ...   Amber Electric Apologises For Poor Billing & Customer Service    • Amber Electric Apologises For Poor Billing...   Chapters with Timestamps 00:00 - Alex's Evening Payout Problem Why January Amber 2026 earnings are shockingly low 00:27 - Understanding SmartShift Limits 01:03 - The Daily Manual Selling Struggle 02:06 - The Break-Even Math 02:55 - Two Automation Levels Aren't Enough 04:13 - Alex's Solution: A Third Setting 05:35 - The Battery Boom Impact 06:25 - Looking at South Australia 08:00 - Alex's Three-Year Data Dive 10:00 - The Old Days... Subscribe to Electrifying Everything: /     / @neeravbhatt   Neerav Bhatt is a successful award winning independent ✍️Journalist and 📸Photojournalist with over two decades experience. He is focused on helping Australians ⚡Electrify Everything⚡ starting with their 🚗transport and 🏠home. Subscribe to get honest easy to understand advice about how to switch to an electric car, get home solar, home battery and other topics about sustainable living. 👊 You can support Neerav with a One off donation or by becoming a Member. 💰 Support Me Directly. PAYID & PayPal take the least fees PAYID : [email protected] PAYPAL : https://paypal.me/SupportNeerav BMC : https://buymeacoffee.com/neeravbhatt KO-FI : https://ko-fi.com/neeravbhatt https://www.bhatt.id.au/blog/support-... 🥇 Paid Channel Members Get Videos 1st. Join this channel to get access to perks like that    / @neeravbhatt   🌏 Website: https://www.ElectrifyingEverything.co... ▶️ Youtube: @NeeravBhatt