A statement from David McElrea, CEO of The Smart Energy Council
There has been intense media speculation in recent days about the future of the Cheaper Home Batteries Program. Let’s get a few facts straight.
The program has been extraordinarily successful, rolling out more than 600,000 batteries in a little over a year. It’s helping Australians with the cost of living, bringing down electricity prices, giving households greater control over their energy, strengthening Australia’s energy security and reducing dangerous climate pollution.
As the most recent AEMO report shows, batteries set the wholesale price in almost half of dispatch intervals in the National Electricity Market during the September quarter. Average NEM wholesale prices have fallen by nearly a third compared with the same quarter last year, with batteries playing an important role in that reduction. By charging during the day and discharging during the evening peak, batteries are helping flatten the duck curve.
There have been few government programs that have achieved so much in so little time for relatively modest public investment. This is a co-investment between households and government, with benefits reaching well beyond households with batteries. It’s making a huge difference at a time of intense cost-of-living pressures.
Having said that, as we saw last year, the extraordinary popularity of solar and batteries can mean demand runs too hot. That reflects the excellent value they offer Australian households. We don’t want another solar coaster or battery coaster, with the damaging boom-and-bust cycles we’ve seen in the past. We are a responsible industry, here for the long term, committed to providing high-quality products and services to Australian households and businesses.
There is, however, a fundamental difference between responsibly managing a successful program and abandoning it altogether. That’s why the Liberals’ commitment to get rid of it is so disappointing.
The Smart Energy Council will continue working closely with government to protect the program, maintain confidence in the industry and ensure more Australians enjoy the benefits of solar and storage. Our members know that protecting the Cheaper Home Batteries Program is our number one priority as an organisation. We will keep working hard to represent their interests and ensure Australian households and businesses can continue to benefit from this remarkable program.
ENDS
Media Contact
Email: media@smartenergy.org.au
Phone: +61 448 972 192
Website: www.smartenergy.org.au
About the Smart Energy Council
The Smart Energy Council is the peak independent membership body representing Australia’s renewable energy industry. We are a not-for-profit organisation and registered charity, advocating on behalf of our members and the wider industry for strong energy policy, increased investment, energy security and sustainable industry growth. Our work spans residential, commercial and industrial distributed energy resources (DER), including solar PV and battery storage, rooftop solar, electrification, electric vehicles and smart transport, renewable manufacturing, large-scale renewable energy, electricity grid development and emerging energy technologies. We represent our members’ interests nationally and internationally, including across the Asia-Pacific region.
If your organisation operates in the renewable energy sector, become a member to support our work, strengthen our collective voice and help shape the industry’s future.
