Solar Citizens welcomes the commitment from Energy and Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen to establish a national technical regulator for consumer energy resources (CER), with the Clean Energy Regulator announced to oversee the new framework.
Solar Citizens welcomes the commitment from Energy and Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen to establish a national technical regulator for consumer energy resources (CER), with the Clean Energy Regulator announced to oversee the new framework.
“Millions of Australians already own rooftop solar, and home batteries and EVs are beind adopted at scale,” said Solar Citizens CEO Heidi Lee Douglas. “The move will better coordinate Australia’s rapidly growing fleet of rooftop solar systems, home batteries, electric vehicles and other distributed energy technologies so they can operate together more effectively to support the electricity grid.”
Speaking at the Powering Our Suburbs forum in Blacktown on Friday 13 March, [1] Minister Bowen said:
“We are acting on the recommendation of the National Consumer Energy Resources roadmap and establishing a National Technical Regulator for consumer energy resources.” [2]
“And today I can confirm the Clean Energy Regulator will be our preferred agency to take on this role… they will ensure compliance with technical standards to deliver interoperability, so Australians get full value from their investments.”
“We are going to get the CER — the Clean Energy Regulator — to regulate CER — consumer energy resources.”
Australia already has one of the world’s highest penetrations of rooftop solar — and household batteries, electric vehicles and smart energy devices are playing an increasingly important role in stabilising the electricity grid, and enable Australian consumers to move away from fossil fuel use. The Minister stated that adoption of consumer energy resources can avoid costly network upgrades, reduce generation costs, and could deliver $19 billion in economic benefits, but only if they are integrated into the system properly.
CEO Heidi Lee Douglas said Solar Citizen supporters made hundreds of submissions since 2024, calling for the establishment of a distributed energy resources technical regulator, to establish consistent national standards, as they are essential to unlocking the full system value of these technologies.
“Consolidating technical standards and energy efficiency roles under a single authority would end policy inertia, address interoperability barriers, and harmonise standards nationally, aligning them with global best practice and ensuring consumer protection.” said Solar Citizens NEM Wholesale Market Settings Review submission author Dr Gabrielle Kuiper.
“Rooftop solar and home batteries are a major part of Australia’s electricity system - with rooftop solar already providing 14% of our electricity needs nationally, but the governance structures, technical rules and consumer protections to support consumer energy resources have so far been lacking,” Douglas said.
“Rolling out Interoperability standards is essential. They will ensure rooftop solar systems, batteries and EV chargers can communicate and work together, allowing thousands of household energy devices to operate collectively to support the grid.”
“Householders are investing billions of dollars in solar and batteries, and a national regulator will help ensure those investments deliver maximum value for both consumers and the electricity system.”
The Powering Our Suburbs forum where Minister Bowen made the announcement on Friday, was hosted by Solar Citizens, the Multicultural Leadership Initiative and Asian Australians for Climate Solutions. It brought together more than 100 community leaders, climate organisations, academics, faith groups and industry representatives.
Solar Citizens said the establishment of a national technical regulator for Consumer Energy Resources will help address long-standing barriers caused by inconsistent standards across states, networks and device manufacturers.
However, they say consumer protections must also be rolled out as part of this reform, including for virtual power plants (VPPs) as a first priority:
“At the moment households are not guaranteed a minimum profit share from their VPP provider; they may be locked into a contract or lack the ability to easily take back control of their assets when they need to. Customers also have no clear way to compare VPP offers or understand what they’re signing up to ” Douglas said.
“Making home batteries part of virtual power plants enables them to act most effectively for their owner but also for the whole electricity grid, and VPPs should become a key part Australia’s clean energy system — but take up of VPPsm will only improve if households are guaranteed a set of minimum consumer protections – including a fair share of the value their energy creates.”
Solar Citizens is calling for the new regulator to prioritise consumer protections alongside technical standards for VPPs , including transparent disclosure of VPP earnings, fair revenue sharing with households of at least fifty per cent, no lock-in contracts and the ability to easily take back control of a battery or other asset. In addition, Solar Citizens calls for the government to provide accessible information to consumers who wish to learn more about VPPS, including clearer comparison of VPP offers via the Energy Made Easy website.
ENDS
Notes
[1] Minister Bowen speech — Powering Our Suburbs forum, Blacktown, 13 March 2026
[2] The move follows recommendations from the National Consumer Energy Resources Roadmap, endorsed by energy ministers in July 2024, which calls for national interoperability standards and a technical regulatory framework to support the integration of distributed energy resources.