Grid Electricity — New South Wales & ACT

For most organisations in New South Wales and the ACT, electricity is the single largest line in the carbon inventory — and the easiest one to get right, because the activity data is sitting on your power bills. Every kilowatt hour you draw from the grid lands in your scope 2 emissions, calculated with one state-specific factor.

For the 2025–26 reporting year that factor is 0.64 kg CO₂-e per kWh, published in the NGA Factors 2025. There is also a paired scope 3 factor of 0.03 kg CO₂-e/kWh for transmission and distribution losses, which is reported separately — a detail that trips up plenty of first-time reporters.

Quick Verdict

Grid electricity consumed in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory has a location-based scope 2 emission factor of 0.64 kg CO₂-e per kWh for 2025–26, per Table 1 of the Australian National Greenhouse Accounts Factors 2025 (DCCEEW). The factor applies to any organisation purchasing electricity from the grid in NSW or the ACT, regardless of retailer. A separate scope 3 factor of 0.03 kg CO₂-e/kWh covers network losses and is reported under scope 3, not added to scope 2. NSW/ACT sits just above the national average of 0.62 kg CO₂-e/kWh and well above the hydro-backed grids of Tasmania and South Australia. Organisations claiming GreenPower, LGCs or PPAs should also calculate a market-based figure using the residual mix factor.

How to Calculate NSW & ACT Electricity Emissions

Emissions (kg CO₂-e) = Electricity consumed (kWh) × 0.64

Worked Example 1: Average household

Assume an average Australian household consuming around 5,000 kWh a year (an illustrative assumption — check your own bills).

5,000 kWh × 0.64 kg CO₂-e/kWh = 3,200 kg CO₂-e

3.2 tonnes CO₂-e (Scope 2)

Worked Example 2: Mid-sized office

A Sydney office consumes 250 MWh (250,000 kWh) over the reporting year.

250,000 kWh × 0.64 kg CO₂-e/kWh = 160,000 kg CO₂-e

160 tonnes CO₂-e (Scope 2)

Network losses are reported separately: 250,000 kWh × 0.03 kg CO₂-e/kWh = 7,500 kg CO₂-e = 7.5 tonnes CO₂-e (Scope 3).

Worked Example 3: Manufacturing site

A manufacturer in Western Sydney consumes 2.4 GWh (2,400,000 kWh) a year.

2,400,000 kWh × 0.64 kg CO₂-e/kWh = 1,536,000 kg CO₂-e

1,536 tonnes CO₂-e (Scope 2)

Run your own numbers in seconds with a scope 2 location-based calculator, or track consumption continuously with an electricity and energy dashboard.

How NSW & ACT Compares to Other States

Calculation Methodology: How These Factors Work

Electricity emission factors have more moving parts than fuel factors, and getting the methodology right matters for both NGER and AASB S2. Here is how the NGA Factors 2025 intends these numbers to be used.

The scope 2 and scope 3 components

Every unit of grid electricity you consume carries two separate emission factors that are reported separately:

• Scope 2 (0.64 kg CO₂-e/kWh) covers the emissions from generating the electricity you actually consumed — the indirect emissions from power stations feeding the grid in New South Wales and the ACT.
• Scope 3 (0.03 kg CO₂-e/kWh) covers electricity lost in transmission and distribution before it reached you. Generators had to produce more than you metered, and the emissions from that lost share are yours to report under scope 3.

The NGA Factors formula combines both:

Y = Q × (EF2 + EF3) ÷ 1,000

where Y is total emissions in tonnes CO₂-e, Q is electricity consumed in kWh, and EF2 and EF3 are the factors above. For New South Wales and the ACT: Q × (0.64 + 0.03) ÷ 1,000 — but keep the two results separate in your inventory, because scope 2 and scope 3 are disclosed as different line items.

Location-based method

The factor on this page is a location-based factor. It reflects the physical emissions intensity of generation in New South Wales and the ACT, recalculated each financial year from actual generation data, interstate electricity flows where they exist, methane emissions from hydro dams, and after deducting self-consumed rooftop solar. It answers the question: what were the emissions of the grid I physically drew from? Your electricity contract makes no difference to a location-based figure — GreenPower, carbon-neutral plans and power purchase agreements do not change it.

Market-based method

The market-based method answers a different question: what have I contracted for? It assigns an emission factor of zero to renewable electricity you have genuinely claimed, and applies the national residual mix factor — 0.81 kg CO₂-e/kWh (scope 2) plus 0.11 kg CO₂-e/kWh (scope 3) for 2025 — to everything else. The residual mix is deliberately higher than most location-based factors because the renewable share already claimed by others is stripped out of it.

Under the NGA market-based formula, your consumption is reduced by:

• The Renewable Power Percentage (RPP) — the share of grid electricity covered by the Large-scale Renewable Energy Target on everyone’s behalf. For the 2025 financial year this is 18.195% (the average of the published 2024 and 2025 calendar-year RPPs). You get this reduction automatically, with no action required.
• Voluntarily surrendered Large-scale Generation Certificates (LGCs) — each surrendered LGC (with a generation date within 36 months of the end of the reporting year) zero-rates 1 MWh. This is how corporate renewable PPAs are recognised.
• Accredited GreenPower purchases — buying GreenPower from an accredited provider counts as an eligible renewable energy certificate surrender for the purchased volume.
• On-site generation — renewable electricity you generate and consume behind the meter never enters the calculation (it reduces Q), and LGCs created for on-site generation you consumed are netted out so they are not double-counted.

A note for ACT organisations: the ACT is currently the only jurisdiction with a jurisdictional renewable power percentage (JRPP), set at 80.32% for the 2025–26 reporting period. Because the ACT Government voluntarily surrenders renewable energy certificates on behalf of the territory, ACT organisations using the market-based method apply this JRPP and see a dramatically lower market-based figure than the location-based factor suggests.

Worked contrast: 100% GreenPower

Take 1,000,000 kWh consumed in New South Wales and the ACT:

• Location-based: 1,000,000 × 0.64 ÷ 1,000 = 640 t CO₂-e (Scope 2), regardless of contract.
• Market-based with 100% GreenPower: the full volume is zero-rated = 0 t CO₂-e (Scope 2).
• Market-based with no renewable purchases: roughly 1,000,000 × (1 − 0.18195) × 0.81 ÷ 1,000 ≈ 663 t CO₂-e (Scope 2) after the automatic RPP reduction, using the residual mix factor.

Which method should you use?

Report both. NGER reporting uses the location-based factors, while the GHG Protocol Scope 2 Guidance — which AASB S2 builds on — expects dual reporting: a location-based figure and a market-based figure side by side. The location-based number shows your physical footprint; the market-based number is where your renewable procurement shows up. NetNada calculates both views from the same consumption data.

NGER and AASB S2 Reporting

If your organisation meets NGER thresholds, scope 2 electricity emissions must be reported to the Clean Energy Regulator using these state-based factors, and AASB S2 requires the same inventory in your climate disclosure — with both location-based and market-based scope 2 figures where contractual instruments are held. NetNada’s NGER reporting tool applies the correct factor per state automatically.