What the 2026 Renewable Power Percentage and Small-Scale Technology Percentage Mean for Your Energy Bill
Two key Renewable Energy Target (RET) settings for 2026 have now been locked in through a legislative amendment:
- Renewable Power Percentage (RPP): 16.67%
- Small-scale Technology Percentage (STP): 11.67%
These percentages matter because they directly drive the LGC and STC charges you’ll see on your electricity invoices.
A quick refresher: how the RET works
The RET is the Federal Government’s mechanism for ensuring a minimum level of renewable electricity generation in Australia.
It does this by requiring electricity retailers (and some large market participants) to surrender renewable energy certificates each year. There are two main certificate types:
- Large-scale Generation Certificates (LGCs) – created by large renewable generators (wind, solar farms, hydro, etc.)
- Small-scale Technology Certificates (STCs) – created by small-scale systems (primarily rooftop solar and solar hot water)
The RPP and STP determine how many certificates must be surrendered per megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity sold.
Renewable Power Percentage (RPP) in 2026
RPP = 16.67%
The RPP is set to meet the annual legislated target for renewable electricity generation (large-scale).
In practical terms, the RPP means:
- For every 1 MWh consumed in 2026, the liable party must surrender 0.1667 LGCs
- This obligation is costed and typically appears on invoices as a separate “LGC charge” line item (often $/MWh, sometimes pass-through depending on contract)
Why it matters: LGC prices can move meaningfully based on supply/demand and market conditions, so the LGC line item is often one of the more volatile components of the “green scheme” charges.
Small-scale Technology Percentage (STP) in 2026
STP = 11.67%
The STP is designed to set demand to match projected STC creation, rather than chase a fixed generation number.
In practical terms:
- For every 1 MWh consumed in 2026, the liable party must surrender 0.1167 STCs
- This typically appears on invoices as a separate “STC charge” line item (again, often $/MWh or pass-through)
Why it matters: STC pricing is generally more stable than LGCs, but it’s still a real, billable cost that needs to be budgeted—especially for larger energy users.
What Negawatt Energy Solutions customers should look for on invoices
In commercial and industrial electricity bills, you’ll see these separately, for example:
- LGC Charge (RET / Large-scale Renewable Scheme)
- STC Charge (Small-scale Renewable Scheme)
Depending on how your contract is structured, these may be:
- Fixed for the term (price certainty and only for LGC), or
- Pass-through (moves with market certificate prices)
This is exactly where contract detail matters.
How Negawatt helps you manage RPP/STP exposure
At Negawatt Energy Solutions, we help customers understand and control how these scheme costs hit their invoices by:
- Reviewing whether LGC/STC are fixed or pass-through
- Where fixed costs were offered for LGC, if they were lower cost than estimated cost of variable LGC based on RPP Forecasts
- Reviewing contract terms so risk sits where it should—without nasty surprises later
The takeaway
The 2026 settings are now confirmed:
- RPP: 16.67% → drives LGC obligations and charges
- STP: 11.67% → drives STC obligations and charges
You will see adjustments for the January invoices already issued during the next invoice cycle from your Retailer.