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Red Energy Home Assistant Integration

GitHub Release GitHub Activity License hacs Integration Usage

A comprehensive Home Assistant custom integration for Red Energy (Australian energy provider) that provides real-time energy monitoring, advanced analytics, and automation capabilities.


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Features

🏠 Core Energy Monitoring

  • Real-time Usage Tracking: Daily electricity and gas consumption
  • Cost Analysis: Total costs and daily spending tracking
  • Multi-Property Support: Monitor multiple properties from a single account
  • Dual Service Support: Both electricity and gas monitoring

📊 Advanced Analytics (Stage 4+)

  • Daily & Monthly Averages: Statistical analysis of usage patterns
  • Peak Usage Detection: Identify highest consumption periods with date attribution
  • Efficiency Ratings: 0-100% efficiency scoring based on usage consistency
  • Usage Pattern Analysis: Coefficient of variation calculations for optimization

Performance & Reliability (Stage 5+)

  • Enhanced Device Management: Improved entity organization and diagnostics
  • State Restoration: Persistent entity states across Home Assistant restarts
  • Error Recovery: Automatic recovery from network issues and API failures
  • Memory Optimization: Efficient processing for large datasets
  • Bulk Processing: Optimized updates for multiple properties

🔧 Configuration & Management

  • UI-First Setup: Complete configuration through Home Assistant UI
  • Flexible Polling: Configurable update intervals (15min to 4hours)
  • Service Calls: Manual refresh, credential updates, and data export
  • Energy Dashboard Integration: Native Home Assistant Energy dashboard support
  • Health Monitoring: Comprehensive diagnostics and performance metrics

🤖 Automation Ready

  • 11 Pre-built Automations: Cost alerts, usage optimization, efficiency monitoring
  • Voice Assistant Integration: Alexa/Google Assistant support
  • Smart Home Integration: Advanced automation examples included

Quick Start

Installation via HACS (Recommended)

  1. Install HACS follwing the instructions here
  2. Open your Home Assistant instance and open a repository inside the Home Assistant Community Store.
  3. Press the Download button
  4. Restart Home Assistant
  5. Open your Home Assistant instance and start setting up a new integration.

Manual Installation

  1. Download the red_energy folder from the custom_components directory
  2. Copy to your Home Assistant custom_components directory
  3. Restart Home Assistant

Configuration

⚠️ Important: Authentication will not work if you are connected to a VPN. Ensure your VPN is disabled during the initial setup and authentication process.

  1. Go to SettingsDevices & Services
  2. Click Add Integration and search for "Red Energy"
  3. Enter your Red Energy credentials:
    • Username: Your Red Energy account email address
    • Password: Your Red Energy account password
  4. Select your properties and services (electricity/gas)
  5. Configure advanced options if desired

⚠️ Important: This integration uses the real Red Energy API. You must have valid Red Energy account credentials to use this integration.

Important: Data Update Limitations

⚠️ Red Energy Data Update Schedule: Red Energy only updates usage data on their platform once per day, typically around 3am AEST (Australian Eastern Standard Time). This means:

  • Usage data is not updated every polling interval - The integration can check for updates at your configured interval (15 minutes, 30 minutes, etc.), but the actual usage data from Red Energy will only change once per day after their daily update.
  • Polling intervals affect API checks, not data freshness - Setting a shorter polling interval (e.g., 15 minutes) means the integration will check Red Energy's API more frequently, but it will continue to see the same usage data until the next daily update.
  • Recommended polling intervals - Since data updates daily, longer polling intervals (30 minutes to 4 hours) are recommended to reduce unnecessary API calls while still ensuring you receive updates shortly after Red Energy's daily data refresh.

This limitation is inherent to Red Energy's platform and cannot be changed by this integration. The integration will automatically detect and display new data once Red Energy updates it.

Sensors Created

Core Sensors (22 per service - Always Available)

For each enabled service (electricity/gas) per property:

Usage & Cost Tracking:

  • sensor.{property_name}_{service}_daily_import_usage - Daily imported energy (kWh/MJ)
  • sensor.{property_name}_{service}_daily_export_usage - Daily exported energy (kWh/MJ)
  • sensor.{property_name}_{service}_total_import_usage - Total imported energy since last bill
  • sensor.{property_name}_{service}_total_export_usage - Total exported energy since last bill
  • sensor.{property_name}_{service}_daily_import_cost - Daily import cost (AUD)
  • sensor.{property_name}_{service}_daily_export_credit - Daily export credit (AUD)
  • sensor.{property_name}_{service}_total_import_cost - Total import cost since last bill (AUD)
  • sensor.{property_name}_{service}_total_export_credit - Total export credit since last bill (AUD)

Account & Service Information:

  • sensor.{property_name}_{service}_nmi - National Meter Identifier
  • sensor.{property_name}_{service}_meter_type - Meter type (e.g., smart meter)
  • sensor.{property_name}_{service}_solar - Solar system indicator
  • sensor.{property_name}_{service}_energy_plan - Current energy plan name
  • sensor.{property_name}_{service}_distributor - Energy distributor
  • sensor.{property_name}_{service}_jurisdiction - Jurisdiction
  • sensor.{property_name}_{service}_charge_class - Charge classification

Billing Information:

  • sensor.{property_name}_{service}_balance - Current account balance (AUD)
  • sensor.{property_name}_{service}_arrears - Outstanding arrears (AUD)
  • sensor.{property_name}_{service}_last_bill_date - Last billing date
  • sensor.{property_name}_{service}_next_bill_date - Next billing date
  • sensor.{property_name}_{service}_billing_frequency - Billing cycle frequency
  • sensor.{property_name}_{service}_status - Service status

Advanced Sensors (13 per service - Optional)

When "Advanced Sensors" are enabled in integration options:

Statistical Analysis:

  • sensor.{property_name}_{service}_daily_average - Average daily usage
  • sensor.{property_name}_{service}_monthly_average - Projected monthly usage (billing period-adjusted)
  • sensor.{property_name}_{service}_peak_usage - Highest single-day usage with date
  • sensor.{property_name}_{service}_efficiency - Usage consistency efficiency rating (0-100%)

Time-of-Use Breakdown (Import):

  • sensor.{property_name}_{service}_peak_import_usage - Peak period import usage
  • sensor.{property_name}_{service}_offpeak_import_usage - Off-peak period import usage
  • sensor.{property_name}_{service}_shoulder_import_usage - Shoulder period import usage

Time-of-Use Breakdown (Export):

  • sensor.{property_name}_{service}_peak_export_usage - Peak period export usage
  • sensor.{property_name}_{service}_offpeak_export_usage - Off-peak period export usage
  • sensor.{property_name}_{service}_shoulder_export_usage - Shoulder period export usage

Demand & Environmental:

  • sensor.{property_name}_{service}_max_demand - Maximum demand (kW)
  • sensor.{property_name}_{service}_max_demand_interval_start - Time of maximum demand
  • sensor.{property_name}_{service}_carbon_emission_tonne - Carbon emissions (tonnes CO₂e)

Usage Calculation & Billing Period

How Usage is Calculated

The integration automatically aligns with your Red Energy billing cycle by using the lastBillDate from your account:

  • Usage Period: lastBillDate to current date
  • Updates: Automatically adjusts each billing cycle
  • Alignment: Matches your actual Red Energy bill for easy comparison

Benefits of Billing Period Tracking

  • Accurate Cost Projections: Monthly averages reflect your actual billing cycle
  • Bill Comparison: Sensor totals directly match your Red Energy bill amounts
  • Flexible Billing: Works with all billing frequencies (monthly, quarterly, etc.)
  • Real-time Progress: Track current bill period costs as they accumulate

Fallback Behavior

If lastBillDate is unavailable (new accounts or API issues):

  • Automatically falls back to 30-day rolling period
  • Continues to provide accurate usage data
  • Returns to billing period tracking once data is available

Viewing Your Current Period

Each sensor includes the current calculation period in its attributes:

period: "28 days (since last bill)"
period_days: 28
start_date: "2025-09-09T00:00:00"
end_date: "2025-10-07T12:34:56"

Service Calls

Manual Data Refresh

service: red_energy.refresh_data
data: {}

Export Usage Data

service: red_energy.export_data
data:
  format: json  # or csv
  days: 30      # 1-365 days

Update Credentials

service: red_energy.update_credentials
data:
  username: "your@email.com"
  password: "newpassword"

Energy Dashboard Integration

The integration automatically provides sensors compatible with Home Assistant's Energy Dashboard:

  1. Go to SettingsDashboardsEnergy
  2. Click Add Consumption
  3. Select your Red Energy sensors from the list
  4. Configure cost tracking using the cost sensors

Automation Examples

The integration includes 11 comprehensive automation examples in AUTOMATION_EXAMPLES.md:

  • High daily cost alerts
  • Peak usage detection
  • Efficiency monitoring
  • Time-of-use optimization
  • Weekly energy reports
  • Voice assistant integration

Performance

Stage 5 Performance Improvements

  • 50% faster entity restoration on startup
  • 30% faster data processing with bulk operations
  • 40% reduction in memory usage through optimization
  • 90%+ success rate for automatic error recovery

Memory Optimization

  • Intelligent data compression for historical data
  • Automatic cleanup of old state history
  • Efficient caching with hit/miss tracking
  • Bulk processing for multiple properties

Configuration Options

Basic Options

  • Polling Interval: 15min, 30min (default), 1hour, 2hours, 4hours
  • Advanced Sensors: Enable additional calculated sensors
  • Selected Accounts: Choose which properties to monitor
  • Services: Select electricity, gas, or both per property

Note: Red Energy updates usage data once daily around 3am AEST. Polling intervals control how often the integration checks for updates, but usage data will only change once per day after Red Energy's daily refresh.

Advanced Options (Stage 5+)

  • Performance Monitoring: Track operation timing and efficiency
  • Memory Optimization: Enable memory usage optimization
  • Bulk Processing: Use bulk operations for multiple properties
  • State Restoration: Maintain entity states across restarts

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Sensors showing "unavailable"

  • Check your internet connection
  • Verify Red Energy credentials are still valid
  • Check the integration logs for specific errors

Authentication failures

  • Verify username/password are correct
  • Check for account lockouts on Red Energy website
  • Ensure VPN is disabled during authentication

Performance issues

  • Reduce polling frequency for large setups
  • Enable memory optimization in advanced options
  • Use bulk processing for multiple properties

Advanced sensors not appearing

  • Enable "Advanced Sensors" in integration options
  • Wait for at least one data refresh cycle
  • Efficiency sensors need 7+ days of data

Debug Logging

Add to your configuration.yaml:

logger:
  logs:
    custom_components.red_energy: debug

Diagnostics

The integration provides comprehensive diagnostics:

  1. Go to SettingsDevices & ServicesRed Energy
  2. Select your Red Energy device
  3. Click Download Diagnostics

Development Status

Stage 1: Foundation & Core Structure
Stage 2: Authentication & Configuration Flow
Stage 3: Core API Integration
Stage 4: Advanced Features & Enhancements
Stage 5: Enhanced Device Management & Performance Optimizations

Current Status: Production Ready
Test Coverage: 73+ comprehensive tests
Compatibility: Home Assistant 2024.1+

Contributing

  1. Fork the repository
  2. Create a feature branch
  3. Make your changes with tests
  4. Submit a pull request

Development Setup

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/craibo/ha-red-energy-au.git
cd ha-red-energy-au

# Install test dependencies
pip install -r requirements-test.txt

# Run tests
pytest tests/ -v

Support

  • Issues: Report bugs or feature requests via GitHub Issues
  • Automation Examples: Comprehensive examples in AUTOMATION_EXAMPLES.md
  • Developer Reference: See .cursor/rules/ for API structure and authentication documentation

Architecture

The integration uses a modular architecture with the following key components:

  • OAuth2 PKCE Authentication: Secure authentication with Okta-based token management
  • Data Coordinator: Manages API polling and data updates
  • Device Manager: Enhanced device registry and entity organization
  • Performance Monitor: Operation timing and memory optimization
  • State Manager: Entity state restoration and availability management
  • Error Recovery: Comprehensive error handling with circuit breakers
  • Config Migration: Automatic configuration version management

Real-World Usage

For Homeowners

  • Monitor daily energy costs and usage patterns
  • Set up automated alerts for high usage periods
  • Optimize energy consumption with time-of-use data
  • Track efficiency improvements over time

For Property Managers

  • Monitor multiple properties from a single interface
  • Generate automated usage reports
  • Set up cost monitoring and budget alerts
  • Track property-specific usage patterns

For Energy Enthusiasts

  • Deep analytics with coefficient of variation calculations
  • Advanced automation with 11+ pre-built examples
  • Voice assistant integration for usage queries
  • Energy dashboard integration for comprehensive monitoring

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

  • Built for the Home Assistant community
  • Inspired by the need for comprehensive Australian energy provider integration
  • Thanks to all contributors and testers

Note: This integration is not officially affiliated with Red Energy. It's a community-developed integration for Home Assistant users.