SwitchedOn Australia

The Electrify 2515 Community Pilot has landed $5.4 million from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency to run a world first electrification pilot. Under the pilot, 500 residents in the 2515 postcode south of Sydney will receive subsidies and support to install electric hot water, reverse cycle air conditioners, induction cooktops, and home batteries, and a free smart home energy device to track an...

By the end of the decade, it’s anticipated every home in Australia will be paying time-of-use, or cost-reflective, tariffs, rather than a flat rate for our electricity. Some households though are getting much higher electricity bills because their electricity retailer didn’t tell them they’d been put on a time-of-use tariff and have to pay more during peak periods. Brendan French, the Chief Execut...

The Federal Government has funded over 400 community batteries to be installed across Australia to provide shared storage for up to 100,000 households. Most of that funding has gone to electricity distributors, the poles and wires companies. One of those companies is Ausgrid, the largest distributor of electricity on the east coast, providing power to nearly 2 million customers. Group Executive of...

Poor air tightness of our buildings can lead to draughty, leaky, and uncomfortable homes. It can also increase our energy bills by up to 20 per cent. Senior experimental scientist at the CSIRO, Michael Ambrose, has recently completed Australia’s most comprehensive study on the ‘leakiness’ of recently built homes. He found the air tightness of new homes has improved significantly since he first con...

Brendan Lang is an electrician from Melbourne who swapped his diesel guzzling tradie ute for a Tesla. He calls his business Get off Gas and this week he provides answers to household electrification questions, such as: Do I need to rewire my house to install an induction stove? Do I need 3 phase power if I want to go all-electric? Should I insulate my home before I get rid of the gas and electrify...

A new campaign urging the federal government to invest in local energy hubs in regional areas has kicked off. It follows the release of a recent report by the Regional Australia Institute that suggests Australia’s net zero targets are under threat unless regional communities are given a seat at the table to help drive the renewable energy change. Sally Hunter is a farmer from Gomeroy country, near...

Zero Emissions Noosa (ZEN) – a community energy group in Queensland – is currently working with the Noosa Council to install a community battery in the Noosa region. They’re the only non-industry group in Queensland to receive a federal grant for a community battery. ZEN has published a recent report that acknowledges community batteries aren’t yet financially viable without government grants, but...

Household hot water systems account for a quarter of a household’s power load. Finding ways to save on the cost of producing hot water, and reduce emissions, has been the focus of much recent research. But it’s not just what we heat our water with, but when. Energy experts argue we should shift our hot water heating to the middle of the day when there is abundant solar going into the system. Not o...

22 years ago the Solar Schools initiative was founded to help schools better monitor and manage their energy use, and also educate kids about energy. The program has been ‘incredibly successful’ at helping students and schools take charge of the energy they use. In 2023 the 600 schools they work with reduced 45,000 tons of CO2 and saved taxpayers about $7.8 million. But with increasing amounts of...

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 critica...

Electrifying and decarbonising our homes isn’t always straightforward – we might not know where to start, what to prioritise, who to trust, what products to install, how much it will all cost, what rebates and incentives are available, can I get finance, what’s the best energy retailer that won’t rip me off. And despite the financial incentives that are now available for households and businesses...

Energy Efficiency Council's Jeremy Sung discusses energy standards for lighting and heat pumps and the federal government's Consumer Energy Resources Roadmap. For more information on electrification and energy efficiency https://onestepoffthegrid.com.au

In last year’s federal budget the Government allocated $1 billion to a Household Energy Upgrades program to help homeowners fast track their transition to cleaner, cheaper energy. Grace Tam is the Head of Consumer finance at the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, the CEFC, the agency responsible for rolling out the program. She discusses the importance of green finance for householders, and how dif...

Brendan Lang runs an electrification business in Melbourne that helps householders and businesses transition from gas-fuelled appliances to efficient electric ones. He’s a passionate environmentalist who has swapped his Amarok ute for a Tesla model Y. Brendan discusses why he opted for a Tesla, and provides some practical advice on the best forms of heating, when you need 3 phase power or should r...

In the absence of bipartisan support for solutions to the climate crisis, local community groups and individuals are taking it upon themselves to help drive the transition to a clean energy economy. ClearSky Solar is just one community initiative that is helping businesses divest from fossil fuels by supporting investments in clean energy and sustainable projects. They do this by linking community...

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. W...

Australia’s Energy Market Operator predicts that in the future over 30 per cent of Australia’s electricity generation and flexible demand services will come from VPPs. And many energy retailers are literally banking on consumers signing up to one. VPPs are seen as one way to coordinate and manage all the numerous small-scale, decentralized energy resources like solar panels, EVs, and home batterie...

Most energy retailers make money by accessing the wholesale energy market, whacking on a big mark up, and then selling power to consumers. The more energy we use, the more money they make. But Amber Electric is not playing the usual retailer game. They give consumers direct access to the wholesale energy market. Co-founder and Co-CEO of Amber Electric, Dan Adams, outlines how Amber is disrupting t...

Electric bikes are taking Australia by storm as more people recognise they can be used for commuting. Bike advocates argue e-bikes, and active transport, should have a large part to play in our transport future. 50% of all trips across our cities are now less than 5 kilometres – a perfect distance for e-biking. Peter Bourke, the General Manager of Bicycle Industries Australia and the Executive Off...

A popular refrain of the renewable energy transition is it will deliver an energy system that is more democratic, as well as decarbonised. That the political power of generating energy will shift from big power companies to households, as a result of us being able to generate and control electrical power from our rooftop solar, batteries, electric vehicles, etc. But this decentralised, democratic...

In the last couple of weeks the Federal Government has brought down a budget that does nothing to help householders electrify, and a gas strategy based on the premise that fossil “gas is needed through to 2050 and beyond.” Whilst the Government has promised a $300 rebate on every household’s energy bill, this one-off sugar hit is seen by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (I...

As we embrace the renewable energy transition there’s a growing interest in ‘community’ batteries – they’re seen as a way for local communities to share energy resources, especially with people who can’t afford their own batteries or solar. But Tristan Edis, the Director of Analysis and Advisory at the consultancy firm Green Energy Markets, says most of the medium sized batteries that have so far...

Amory Lovins has been writing and talking about energy policy, renewable energy, sustainability and energy efficiency for over 50 years. His views have been crucial to our understanding of energy efficiency. Lovins has advised major firms and numerous governments, authored hundreds of papers and books, and taught at several universities most recently Stanford. Time magazine named him one of the wo...

Australians are installing an estimated 940,000 new gas appliances and 800,000 new resistive electric appliances -panel heaters, oil heaters and older style electric hot water systems - every year, which are locking in significant long-term costs for heating and cooking. The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis(IEEFA) found these inefficient appliances will force Australians to ra...

A recent report from Rewiring Aotearoa has shown the rising cost of petrol and gas in New Zealand now means electric homes and EVs are more affordable than fossil fuel alternatives. Even accounting for higher upfront costs, and the interest you pay if you need to borrow to buy these appliances, the report shows a combination of EVs and electric appliances are cheaper over the lifetime of the machi...