SwitchedOn Australia

Richard Smithers and his partner Lisa have taken their family home in Melbourne fully off gas, but it wasn’t part of some long-held masterplan. When they renovated in the early 2000s, climate concerns were there, but electrification wasn’t the priority. Several years later, a mix of timing, technology and circumstance pushed them to go all in - they ditched the gas, installed solar, a battery and...

Home battery installations are surging under the federal rebate scheme, alongside a wave of marketing promising massive systems at bargain prices and energy independence. But installing a battery involves more than plugging in a piece of hardware. How its installed is just as important, as well as having an installer who’ll be around to fix any problems. Whilst most batteries are of a high standar...

Gas prices are rising as global conflicts tighten supply and expose Australian households to volatile international markets. But millions of renters remain locked into using gas, even though cheaper electric alternatives like heat pump hot water systems are easily available. The barrier is a split incentive - landlords pay for appliances that tenants have to use. Harry Barber from Electrify Yarra...

Electricity disconnections are meant to be a last resort in Australia. There are rules designed to protect people who get electricity bills — retailers are supposed to offer payment plans, hardship support, and only disconnect when there’s no other option. But as households buckle under the combined pressure of rising energy bills and the broader cost-of-living crisis, disconnections are rising. N...

Balcony solar, small, plug-in systems you can hang off a balcony or fence, has exploded in Germany, with millions of households now generating their own power. Low cost solar panels and micro-inverters, regulatory changes that allow simple plug-in installation without the need for an electrician, and soaring energy prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have all driven the surge. What began as...

As rooftop solar, home batteries and electric vehicles transform how energy is generated and used, Australia’s electricity networks are being forced to adapt. At last week’s Energy Networks conference in Adelaide, consumer energy resources were top of mind for many network leaders, even though networks in Australia are constrained by rules designed for a one-way grid and prevent them from dealing...

As renewable energy projects expand across regional Australia, the question of who benefits is becoming increasingly important. Governments are introducing community benefit guidelines to ensure host regions share in the economic gains – WA is the latest - but results so far have been mixed. Kim Mallee, a co-director at the Community Power Agency, argues that community benefits can’t be treated as...

Rooftop solar, home batteries and smart technology are transforming Australia’s electricity system and helping many households cut their power bills. But a controversial draft review from the Australian Energy Market Commission has sparked debate about whether electricity pricing is shifting costs onto people who've invested in consumer energy resources, or alternatively, those who can least affor...

What if the clean energy transition is ultimately led not by utilities or renewable energy companies, but by the data and AI industry? Luis F. Gonzalez, Chief Data and AI Officer at Aboitiz Power, argues that as data and energy become more intertwined, it will be the data sector that finances, shapes and champions decarbonisation. He says AI doesn’t just consume electricity — it changes the econom...

Australia’s home battery rollout is accelerating, but many households may not realise they’re buying systems that are effectively locked to a single manufacturer’s software. Tech entrepreneur Simon Hackett explains why a lack of interoperability strips consumers of real control over batteries they’ve paid for and how closed, cloud-controlled systems risk higher costs, stranded assets, and weakened...

Apartment residents are largely shut out of Australia’s rooftop solar advantage, with only 3.5% of apartments having solar. In this episode of SwitchedOn Australia, we explore whether balcony solar could change that by allowing apartment owners and renters to plug into cheap, clean power without owning a roof. Brent Clark, CEO of Wattblock, explains why balcony solar has taken off overseas — parti...

Australia’s retail energy market promises competition and choice, yet many households feel confused, overcharged and stuck. Former chair of Victoria’s Essential Services Commission Ron Ben-David argues the problem isn’t just high prices, but a market design that assumes consumers behave like textbook economists. He explains how “buyer beware” has produced a loyalty penalty, rising mistrust and an...

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...

Last August, Dr Saul Griffith joined SwitchedOn Australia live on the Gold Coast to talk about his new book Plug In! which shows why households are central to driving Australia’s clean energy transition. He explains how electrification can cut emissions fast, save money, and reshape the way we use energy at home and in our communities. Saul shares insights from his career advising governments, inc...

Grassroots footy is already feeling the heat of climate change, from flooded clubrooms and damaged ovals to training sessions cancelled as temperatures climb. Footy for Climate CEO Lex Lynch explains how nearly 600 community footy clubs have needed emergency assistance since Black Summer, revealing just how vulnerable the game has become. He shares how AFL players, fans and volunteers are working...

At Narara Ecovillage on the NSW Central Coast, residents have built something rare: an embedded network and electricity retailer that’s owned and run by the people who use it. NEV Power, their volunteer-driven, not-for-profit utility, coordinates rooftop solar, a community battery and a smart microgrid so households can share energy, ride through outages and draw far less from the wider grid. It’s...

Last winter, Declan Kelly set out to test whether a retail plan offering three hours of free electricity could heat his Central NSW Coast rental for nothing. The experiment, which previews what millions of households may soon try under the Federal Government’s Solar Sharers scheme, revealed just how far tariff-shifting can get you in a leaky Australian home. Kelly managed to lift the indoor temper...

Ten regional Victorian towns have been told their gas supply will be shut off next year because the gas company, Solstice Energy, says it’s too expensive to deliver. Around 1,145 households in places like Marong, Swan Hill and Orbost now have to choose between shifting to bottled LPG or attempting a rapid switch to electric appliances — with limited support. Environment Victoria has been working o...

Australia could soon be throwing away huge amounts of renewable energy simply because there’s nowhere for it to go. It’s partly why the Federal government has announced its Solar Sharer scheme – a way for households to mop up free, excess electricity for 3 hours in the middle of the day. But is Australia in danger of building a high-renewables grid that leans too heavily on households to solve str...

Australia is on the cusp of building more renewable infrastructure in the next decade than in the previous three combined, but the way we build it could make or break regional communities. One of the biggest challenges isn’t turbines or a transmission towers, it’s housing: where will thousands of construction workers live in towns already in a housing crisis. A new report from RE-Alliance argues w...

Parents for Climate CEO Nic Seton unpacks the next chapter in the group’s fight against misleading climate claims. After securing a major settlement against Energy Australia earlier this year — which led to an apology to 400,000 customers and the withdrawal of the company’s Go Neutral product — the Parents have turned their sights to the claims made by other energy retailers, and the government sa...

This week’s hearings of the Senate inquiry on information integrity on climate and energy revealed how deeply divided the national conversation about renewables has become. Even as Australia accelerates the rollout of new transmission lines, solar farms and wind projects, many regional communities feel that change is happening to them, not with them. Professor Sara Bice from the Crawford School of...

Tens of thousands of First Nations households across northern Australia are living with the constant threat of power cuts — some being disconnected from electricity nearly every week. Lauren Mellor from Original Power and Dr Tom Longden from Western Sydney University discuss their new report, The Right to Power – Keeping First Nations Communities on Prepayment Connected, which exposes the staggeri...

Australia’s clean energy transition is colliding with a surge of misinformation — from viral claims about whale deaths caused by off-shore wind farms to industry-backed ‘community’ campaigns designed to sow doubt about renewables. Disinformation is now pervasive and coordinated. It damages democratic debate and urgent climate action, and creates confusion and erodes support for climate change acti...

Australia’s electricity sector is decarbonising — but not fast enough. While the Renewable Energy Target has been doing the heavy lifting to incentivise the rollout of wind and solar, it doesn’t require fossil fuel generators to cut their emissions. For years governments have avoided putting a price on carbon, fearing it would drive up power bills. But new modelling from the Grattan Institute show...