Electricity prices have risen again across NSW, South Australia and South East Queensland following the latest default market offer increase, but some retailers are also using the changes to lift prices on supposedly more competitive market plans. Why is this happening, and why is it so difficult to get a better deal? Professor David Byrne, the Ritchie Chair of Economic Research at the University of Melbourne, explains how a handful of dominant retailers exploit consumer inertia and lack of tran...
Jul 09, 2025•47 min
A new research project is putting ‘virtual energy networks’ for households and businesses to the test. Virtual energy networks (VENs) allow consumers to buy solar energy directly from their neighbours, or sell excess rooftop solar to someone across town, or even interstate, all through an online platform. VENs are already used by some councils, schools and businesses with multiple sites, for instance to share solar generated on a community centre with an office or depots. But most energy retaile...
Jul 02, 2025•27 min
When it comes to upgrading your home to be more energy efficient or going all-electric, it turns out one of the most powerful motivators isn’t advertising, policy, or even rebates. It’s a conversation with someone we trust. But with over 11 million homes in Australia needing some kind of energy upgrade, how do we spark millions of those personal conversations? One answer is to go local. Merri-bek City Council in Melbourne has become a leader in grassroots energy transition, taking a hands-on, hu...
Jun 24, 2025•44 min
From July 1, households across Australia will be able to access the federal government’s long-awaited battery rebate, which will offer 30% off the upfront cost of installing a home battery. It’s a major push to help people make the switch to cleaner energy, reduce power bills, and support a smarter, more resilient grid. But while the rebate is generous, navigating the battery market is anything but simple. How do you choose the right battery? What should you look for in an installer? Can you sta...
Jun 18, 2025•42 min
Big changes are coming to home energy in Australia, with a new federal battery subsidy set to boost household storage. But to deliver real value, these batteries must be ‘virtual power plant ready’, able to discharge power to the grid when it’s needed most. New modelling shows that, with the right policies and incentives, this could unlock $14 billion in value, mainly from homes. Without smart settings, households risk being penalised for adopting new tech. Amber Electric is one retailer working...
Jun 13, 2025•53 min
While it's often overshadowed by solar panels, wind farms, and big batteries, energy efficiency remains one of the fastest and most cost-effective ways to cut emissions and reduce energy bills in our homes. Energy efficiency is the clean energy transition’s unsung hero that lets us do more with less, to use less power to achieve the same results by cutting waste and improving performance. A recent survey reveals what Australians think about home energy use, and although 85% of respondents priori...
Jun 03, 2025•36 min
For the first time, a major energy retailer, Energy Australia, has publicly admitted that its carbon offset product, ‘Go Neutral’, failed to eliminate the harms of burning fossil fuels. Energy Australia was forced to apologise to more than 400,000 customers who were told their gas and electricity usage could be made “carbon neutral” through offsets. The admission came after a two-year legal battle spearheaded not by government regulators, but by a small grassroots group of concerned parents. Nic...
May 27, 2025•37 min
When renewable energy developers first approached the Hay Shire Council in south-west NSW, the council saw both opportunity and risk. With the region designated as a Renewable Energy Zone and major wind projects on the horizon, they knew the energy transition could bring real benefits, but also real community division. Rather than sit back and let events unfold, they took the lead, helping ensure the community would engage with the transition. In partnership with the community, Hay Shire Council...
May 20, 2025•52 min
A critical question emerges as we push to decarbonise, electrify our homes, and modernise the grid: who benefits from the clean energy transition—and who risks being left behind? Shalanda Baker, Vice Provost for Sustainability and Climate Action at the University of Michigan and former Director of Energy Justice and Equity under the Biden administration shares her powerful insights on how the rapid shift to decarbonisation could risk repeating the inequities of the fossil fuel era if not careful...
May 13, 2025•40 min
It’s estimated Australians are spending $4 billion more each year on electricity than we need to, simply because we’re not on the best energy plan available to us. But very few of us switch retailers because the process is too tedious and opaque. Frustrated by his own painful experience trying to switch electricity retailers, Matt Peterson has turned his ordeal into a startup business that could help us all save hundreds if not thousands of dollars. Automised Energy is an automated platform that...
May 06, 2025•30 min
As Australia heads into the final week of the federal election campaign, we explore groundbreaking new analysis from the Australian National University that identifies which electorates are the best sites for renewables. While renewable developers have long known where the best sites are, local communities have often been left in the dark. In this episode, we dive into how making this data public could shift the balance of power and give regional Australia a real say in the clean energy boom. Wi...
Apr 29, 2025•31 min
The second of our series spotlighting community independents with expertise in energy as they prepare to contest the upcoming federal election. Nicolette Boele is running for a second time in the Liberal seat of Bradfield on Sydney’s North Shore. Drawing on more than 35 years of experience across climate, finance, and clean energy, Nicolette shares her perspective on Australia’s energy and climate challenges — and why she believes they’re rooted in a broader political failure. She discusses what...
Apr 25, 2025•29 min
The Federal electorate of Calare sits at the heart of Australia’s energy transition. It’s home to one of NSW’s Renewable Energy Zones, a proposed site for the federal Opposition’s nuclear energy plan, and a major agricultural region navigating rising energy costs and climate impacts. Community independent candidate Kate Hook explains why Calare is a microcosm of the national energy debate — and why she believes the electorate has more to gain from the shift to renewables than almost any other. S...
Apr 22, 2025•33 min
Rooftop solar has long been out of reach for many renters and apartment dwellers but the Haystacks Solar Garden in NSW’s Riverina has pioneered a new model for people locked out of rooftop solar. Haystacks is Australia’s first large-scale solar garden — and a recent winner of a Banksia National Sustainability Award. With 175 ‘solar plots’ generating power from the Grong Grong solar farm, this community-led project offers a new model for energy equity and a fresh take on how big solar can partner...
Apr 16, 2025•29 min
Regional Australia is on the frontlines of the renewable energy boom, but many locals feel left out of the action. Tony Inder is a sixth-generation sheep farmer from Wellington, NSW, who's found a way to make large-scale solar and agriculture work together. Tony now runs sheep under solar panels, and he says it’s been a win-win for the land, the livestock, and the local economy. His story challenges the idea that solar farms and farming can’t mix, and shows what’s possible when communities are p...
Apr 08, 2025•36 min
With cost-of-living pressures making energy a key election issue, we look at how tariff reform can impact on affordability and electrification, as well as support and accelerate the transition to renewables. Dr. Ahmad Faruqui is a San Francisco-based energy economist with over 45 years experience advising electricity utilities, regulators, and governments worldwide. He discusses why we need to reform our electricity tariffs, ways we can do that, and how consumers can benefit from a more flexible...
Apr 01, 2025•36 min
In this second episode of our series of interviews with community energy groups installing batteries we speak to Lachlan Hensey, the energy and storage project lead for Yarra Energy Foundation (YEF), one of the few community energy groups in Australia to successfully install a community battery. While most so-called ‘community batteries’ are actually installed by electricity networks, YEF navigated the significant financial, regulatory and system hurdles community groups face to make theirs a re...
Mar 25, 2025•49 min
Electricity prices are skyrocketing in many parts of Australia, and more households are facing high bills they can’t afford to pay. Complaints to the NSW Energy and Water Ombudsman jumped 57% last year, as more households struggled to pay for electricity. Last week the energy regulator proposed raising the default market offer price cap, which could make things even worse for those who don’t shop around for a better energy plan. But there is some hope for consumers—last week State and Federal En...
Mar 17, 2025•43 min
The push to electrify our homes means investing in new appliances, but many Australians struggle to find reliable information about what they’re buying. Research from the Consumer Policy Research Centre (CPRC) reveals that key details—like durability, repairability, and spare part availability—are often missing at the point of sale. While most consumers want to make environmentally responsible choices, they’re frequently misled by vague green marketing claims rather than clear, science-backed da...
Mar 10, 2025•29 min
For years, the energy industry has operated under a flawed assumption: that consumers manage their energy use like ‘mini-economists’ or ‘mini-engineers.’ But as digital sociologist Professor Yolande Strengers from Monash University argues, this overlooks the realities of how people actually engage with energy. To truly understand energy use, she says, we need to examine daily household practices and motivations. Strengers’ Digital Energy Futures project explores how our lives—and not just our en...
Mar 03, 2025•42 min
In the first of our series of interviews with community groups installing community batteries, we hear from Graeme Martin, the Director of Village Power, on what to do and what not to do if you want to install a community battery. Village Power has been beavering away to get a community battery installed in the Alphington/Fairfield area of Melbourne for over seven years. They liken the process to a game of snakes and ladders, with setbacks at every turn, because they still haven’t managed to swi...
Feb 26, 2025•30 min
Alan Pears has been helping shape Australia’s sustainable energy policies since the late 1970s. He’s a Senior Industry Fellow at RMIT University and one of Australia’s pre-eminent energy efficiency experts and environmental consultants and has advised federal, state and local governments across Australia, as well as community groups and the private sector. Alan has played a pivotal role in the development of efficient energy appliances, green buildings, energy labels for electric appliances, and...
Feb 17, 2025•50 min
Over 40 renewable energy zones have so far been identified across Australia and it’s estimated we’ll need 10,000 kms of new transmission lines built before 2050. That’s hundreds of new big solar, wind and battery projects. But for many people in the regions the lack of clear information on how new renewable projects will impact specific areas is leading to confusion and scepticism. Key concerns include the impact on agricultural land, environmental issues, and the slow and bureaucratic planning ...
Feb 12, 2025•45 min
The Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy wants the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, ARENA, to fund more suburb wide community electrification projects. Climate Council councillor Greg Bourne says it’s an important move – community involvement in energy projects is vital for the energy transition. Bourne has worked at the nexus of climate change, energy business and policy for over 30 years, and was the inaugural chair of ARENA. In a previous life he headed BP Australasia. He’s still...
Jan 31, 2025•36 min
Rosemary Grundy has done a detailed analysis of how long it will take to get a return on her investment in renewables. From the day she moved into her new house in December 2021, she’s diligently recorded how much she saves from not using fossil fuels, and how much she pays for electricity, and calculated that she’ll break even on her solar panels, batteries, and two electric vehicles in just under 9 years. Rosemary is now developing a break-even calculator to help other householders work out wh...
Jan 26, 2025•44 min
Deputy Chair of Zero Emissions Noosa, Mark Purcell, is on a mission to get 50,000 households to electrify and install batteries. He's electrified three homes, and now wants to spread the word to other householders about electrification and decarbonisation. He’s calculated that if he can get 50,000 households to electrify and install batteries one less gas peaker plant will be needed during critical hours of peak demand. But although he's fully committed to household electrification and decarboni...
Jan 19, 2025•37 min
Two years ago Brody Kenrick embarked on a journey to not just make his late 60s house carbon neutral, but carbon negative. He wanted to make sure his own house had zero carbon emissions and also displace emissions from the grid. Since upgrading his own home Kenrick has also decarbonised his son’s preschool, his parents’ house, and his in-laws. They all now make big savings on their energy bills. While he admits being a trained electrical engineer and tech savvy has been an advantage, and he and ...
Jan 12, 2025•56 min
Sarah Aubrey lived in her federation house in the inner west of Sydney for 12 years before she embarked on her electrification journey. By then she was fed up with being cold in winter and paying ever increasing energy bills. So she ditched the gas, went fully electric and efficient, and now uses a quarter of the electricity she used to.
Jan 05, 2025•40 min
When it comes to electrification everyone’s situation is different, and whilst many people are curious about home electrification, others are disinterested or hesitant – it’s seen as too complex, too costly, and too hard to find someone you can trust to do the work. Which is why the Victorian Government announced plans to roll-out ‘one-stop-shops’ that will help householders get accurate information, connect them with accredited installers and products, and apply for government rebates and incen...
Dec 22, 2024•37 min
Australia is still investing heavily in new fossil gas projects, the Australian government’s Future Gas Strategy emphasizes the continued use of gas beyond 2050, and we still don’t have a gas reduction strategy. The CEO of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), Amandine Denis-Ryan, explains how fossil gas continues to shape our thinking in Australia, why new gas supplies are not needed in the long term, and why we urgently need a nationwide plan for electrification.
Dec 15, 2024•34 min
