Today’s forecast electricity price rise for Australia’s eastern states (through the Default Market Offer) sends a clear signal to both governments and energy consumers that more support is needed for all households to get access to renewable power resources.
Solar Citizens CEO Heidi Lee Douglas said:
“Unreliable, ageing coal-fired power and the use of expensive gas to cover their frequent breakdowns is driving household energy prices up. The solution is cheap household renewables for households. But 60% of Australians are currently locked out of these known cost of living solutions.
“To deal with network investment driving up energy bills, Federal and State governments need to help households with the cost of installing household batteries and other storage to keep those costs down.
“With big energy companies making record profits, relying on them is a path to continuously increasing energy bills.
“We need more Australians to be able to take back control of their energy through solar and batteries at home. And we need to scale up the lowest cost energy available to us now: which is renewable energy.
“It’s concerning that in the lead up to the federal election, we've heard only whispers from both major parties about how they would cut household energy bills. Voters across the country need firm commitments, like a federal household battery rebate and other assistance for energy upgrades.
“Around four million Australian households have already slashed their bills by around $1,000 a year by getting rooftop solar, and they are calling out for more affordable solar batteries.
“Solar Citizens is calling for a national target of a million home batteries and a Federal Battery Rebate scheme to stabilise the energy grid and keep prices down for all households.
The greatest future risk for energy bills is nuclear energy, which would double energy bills for solar households and increase bills for other households too.
For more information on the impact of nuclear power on rooftop solar see: https://www.solarcitizens.org.au/nuclear_vs_solar
Media Contact: Carolin Wenzel 0434 983 633 [email protected]