History of PDRS Rule changes

The Peak Demand Reduction Scheme (PDRS) Rule was first published in September 2022. It outlines how Peak Reduction Certificates (PRCs) are managed for activities including:  

• battery installations (suspended from 30 June 2025)
• Virtual Power Plants (VPPs)
• air conditioners
• refrigerated cabinets
• pool pumps. 

Latest Rule: June 2025

NSW households and businesses can now access a larger incentive for connecting their battery to a Virtual Power Plant (VPP), as well as the larger battery installation discount under the Australian Government’s Cheaper Home Batteries Program.  

The latest Peak Demand Reduction Scheme Rule was published on Tuesday 10 June 2025 and came into effect on Tuesday 1 July 2025.

We have made changes to the Rule, including:

• improving the Virtual Power Plant (VPP) process, increasing the incentive, and allowing 6 years’ worth of incentives to be claimed upfront for connecting to a Virtual Power Plant (VPP)
• suspending battery installations under the Peak Demand Reduction Scheme due to the Australian Government’s Cheaper Home Batteries Program becoming available.

The previous NSW battery installation incentive cannot be combined with the Cheaper Home Batteries Program.

We are also working to ban door-knocking campaigns to promote and sell energy-efficient upgrades and demand reduction upgrades under both the Peak Demand Reduction Scheme (PDRS) and Energy Savings Scheme (ESS). We are taking these steps to support businesses and households to make informed decisions and receive high quality upgrades.  We expect this change to come into effect from August 2025.

Future changes to our battery incentives will be updated here. Sign up here to also receive email updates about battery incentives. 

December 2024 Rule change

A change to the Peak Demand Reduction Scheme Rule was published and commenced on 19 December 2024. This introduced changes including:  

• greater flexibility for compliance with the Distributed Energy Resources (DER) Register requirement when installing batteries
• clarifying the definition of battery energy storage systems
• suspending the heat pump water heater activity until further notice.   

May 2024 Rule change

A change to the Peak Demand Reduction Scheme Rule was published on 24 May 2024, and commenced on 1 August 2024.

This change introduced 2 new battery activities that commenced on 1 November 2024.

This amendment also changed existing activities including:

• limiting the commercial water heater activity to larger units
• revising baselines and calculations for the high-efficiency pool pumps activity (SYS2).

It also removed 2 activities:

• old fridges and freezers (RF1)
• installation of high-efficiency motors (SYS1). 

All Rule changes

You can download all Peak Demand Reduction Scheme Rule change discussion papers, draft Rule versions and public submissions below.

These documents are only a guide and are not intended for any official Peak Demand Reduction Scheme purposes.