Electricity retailers will soon be required by the federal government to offer free electricity to households for at least three hours a day under what’s been dubbed the Solar Sharer Offer (SSO).
How Will The Solar Sharer Electricity Offer Work?
Announced by Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen, the Solar Sharer Offer will require retailers to have a standing offer time-of-use (ToU) electricity plan that provides free electricity to households for at least three hours in the middle of the day.
It’s called “Solar Sharer” as this is the period during the day when solar energy exports into the grid are at their peak; thanks largely to the more than 4 million rooftops across Australia with solar panels. Wholesale electricity prices are generally very cheap during this period as a result, and increasingly moving into negative pricing territory at times.
Percentage of wholesale electricity prices below $0 MWh and above $300 MWh. Source: Solar Sharer Offer (SSO)
Consultation Paper 2025–26
It’s envisaged the SSO will be introduced in July next year in three Default Market Offer (DMO) regulated states — in New South Wales, South-East Queensland, and South Australia; with view to expanding it across Australia in 2027.
Customers who sign up to the Solar Sharer Offer will need to have a smart meter; and to really benefit from it, be willing and able to move a decent chunk of their electricity consumption to the window it is being offered; e.g. 11am – 2pm.
Added: As some commenters have pointed out below, the free hours could be particularly handy for those with electric resistive hot water systems if they can put them on a timer. Some EV owners could also benefit, by using the time to top up their vehicles.
The devils in the detail yet to be settled are other aspects of the SSO, such as supply charges, free hours window and tariff rates outside that.
Some electricity retailers have already introduced market offers with ‘free’ electricity. AGL is an example, and supply and usage charges on its “Three For Free” plan are higher than its “Smart Saver” that doesn’t have free hours.
These free hours market offers will be able to continue, but the Solar Sharer Offer will serve as a benchmark price.
What’s This ‘Standing Offer’ And ‘Default Market Offer’ Bizzo?
A standing offer is a type of electricity contract that a customer is placed on if they don’t choose a market offer for whatever reason. A Default Market Offer (DMO) is the maximum price that energy retailers can charge for these standing offer contracts. It’s meant to act as a safety net to prevent customers on a standing offer from being charged excessively high prices.
NSW, SEQ and SA are DMO-regulated regions, with the Default Market Offer overseen by the Australian Energy Regulator. Other states have different arrangements regulated by state bodies. For example, Victoria has the Victorian Default Offer (VDO), which is administered by that state’s Essential Services Commission (ESC).
The DMO price also acts as a reference price, to which market offers are compared. While a minority of residential electricity customers are on standing offers – approximately 8% – these offers also set the scene for pricing of market plans. When the DMO price goes up or down, market plans usually follow.
Solar Sharer is a part of the government’s broader Default Market Offer reforms process.
“Reform to the DMO will strip out unnecessary costs and expand protections to all standing offer customers and small customers in embedded networks, including renters and apartment dwellers,” said Minister Bowen.
Broader SSO Benefits
The Albanese Government says Solar Sharer will lower electricity costs generally by reducing peak demand in the evenings as customers shift more of their consumption to the free electricity window.
“A lower evening peak has flow on effects throughout the system, minimising expensive peak electricity prices and reducing the need for costly network upgrades and interventions to ensure grid stability,” states the announcement.
The SSO will also provide households without solar panels some of the financial benefits of having a system. While they’ll need to have a smart meter, all customers in NEM jurisdictions should have smart meters by 2030.
A Boon For Home Battery Owners?
Solar battery owners may be salivating over the thought of getting three free hours of electricity a day to charge up their energy storage systems for nix; particularly on low/no-sunshine days. And there’s certainly many more battery owners now than there was just a few months ago due to the Cheaper Home Batteries program. Around 108,000 systems have been installed and commissioned since launch, and the number is rapidly increasing.
For some households considering a home battery, there may be a temptation to get a really big storage system in preparation to take advantage of free hours; and perhaps foregoing installing solar panels altogether. Those approaches may not work out. And again, other important details of the Solar Sharer Offer are yet to be nutted out.
Electricity Retailers Caught Off-Guard
The announcement was a surprise to many, including electricity retailers. The peak body representing those businesses, the Australian Energy Council (AEC), wasn’t happy with what it says was the government’s failure to consult on its Solar Sharer scheme.
“This lack of consultation risks damaging industry confidence, as well as creating the potential for unintended consequences,” said AEC Chief Executive Officer, Louisa Kinnear yesterday.
Unintended consequences such as electricity prices potentially rising outside the free hours window (including evening peak times), higher supply charges and a further erosion of feed-in tariff rates are legitimate concerns as the costs of the SSO must still be borne somewhere. And that impact could extend beyond households taking up the SSO.
The AEC (and everybody else) now have an opportunity to have their say on the Solar Sharer Offer through a consultation that has just launched. The Federal Government is seeking feedback on the SSO’s design on issues including:
- Tariff design.
- Impacts on consumers.
- How the SSO will work in with other reforms.
- Consumer risks.
- Opportunities and risks associated with implementation.
The draft Solar Sharer Offer consultation paper can be viewed here. Feedback needs to be submitted by 5:00pm AEDT on Friday, 21 November 2025.
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I love that they’re being a bit more strategic now, targeting households. At the same time it reinforced for me how much we’re still fighting the elephant in the room in electricity, the privatisation of much of the sector years ago, which makes reform very hard. If anything the shift to renewables is making that worse, not better, we’re now privatising down to the level of the household, becoming micro-grids. Fantastic in many ways, but in terms of the longer-term management of the grid I think creates a series of headaches, to have essential social infrastructure in the hands of ordinary people.
Well said Nick, I have always been against transferring the cost if power generation to the public purse but this is what we get from incompetent political parties and greedy corporations.
Congratulations Chris Bowen.
A welcome inititiative for all who long to see the power imbalance corrected; not just beween lunchtime and dinnertime, but also between consumer and retailer.
It’s there to help retailers, when the price goes negative and there is too much power in the grid. the mug punter is the last person they intent to assist we are just their cash cows, they are just dressing it up to make it sound great for the consumer and themselves. Most people are at work and few will benefit from it, and any reduction in peak time consumption will be nominal at best.
A bold move by the government, but it is needed to shake up the status quo.
It will be interesting to see if those of us still on flat rate tariffs with smart meters are forced off the flat rate to get access.
If nothing else, I would at least like my hot water to have access to the free power window.
If retailers are forced to comply then they’ll just up the consumption rates around the non-free hour period to compensate. AGL has already done this as mentioned in this article.
i agree chances are something else might rise. But retailers are not free to just up the other rates unilaterally on this plan.This is part of the DMO and prices are regulated by AER.
They are of course free to cry poor to AER each year and explain why they need more money to sponsor sports teams, offer honeymoon pricing to attract new customers and run a big call centre to haggle with anyone who has noticed they are being screwed over.
Some 3hr free in the middle of the day plans already exist in the market today (OVO and Globird to name at least two providers)
I needed to switch from my Flat Rate tariff to a TOU one when I made the switch to one of the existing 3hrs free plans (OVO in my case)
I have a home battery (40kWh) (and solar – 13.2kW) and two EV’s so the 3hrs free in the middle of the day was excellent during winter (low solar production) and on many poor solar days to ensure my home battery was at 100% by 2PM every day. We also often top up charge one of our EV’s during that window too if it’s at home
Spring (on good solar days) and likely some of summer – PV charges the battery before the 3hrs really kicks in (still EV charge). Peak summer with higher overnight battery use may need 3hrs free again
The practical result is that our battery gets us through the night till 11AM the next day every day so far, so we never use any peak or shoulder electricity and thus never get charged for electricity use
“We also often top up charge one of our EV’s during that window too if it’s at home”
That is a beneficial aspect to the proposition, that seems to have been missed by most people posting comments about the proposition.
One of the aspects to that aspect, is this – in some USA states (that are decades ahead of Australia, when it comes to electrification), is reported that fleets of school BEV buses recharge at peak supply times, and, discharge, via V2H, at peak demand times, when the school buses are not being used for transportation (between pickups and deliveries).
Also, with states such as California, being decades ahead of Australia, in terms of electrification, if Australia would have an equivalent of the Copper Charlie induction stove, with inbuilt battery (so it can be connected through a single phase 10 power socket), charging the stove batteries, in such a free electricity period, could reduce grid peak demand during the evenings, and make cooking dinner, cheaper.
Hi Bret,
The 110v peasants are putting batteries in stoves because it’s difficult for them to run a dedicated stove circuit in many cases, whereas we can often get away with a 2.4 or 3.6kW nominal supply when you rip out a gas stove.
Batteries are clever, but a stopgap compared to having decent supply.
ie Americans drink drip feed coffee because their kettles are unbearably slow.
Depending on who you read, South Australia ties with California in terms of renewables uptake. Both beat the s#it out of Queensland where they seem intent on going backwards.
Bret,
The Australians putting in 30 kWh of cheap batteries now have a far superior solution, as the *whole house* is time-shifted to off-peak/free/solar. My brother’s mere 25 kWh battery has powered their electric cooking for more than 5 years now. My 46 kWh isn’t weirdly stuffed into a stove either, but powers the whole house, off-grid – not a fossil electron in sight. (Those Americans still use measurements from the 1700s, and batteries in stoves is just as old-fashioned, I think. Did you know that 1 US firkin = 15 pottles?)
We are though slow to transition transportation. Denmark has battery powered rural shuttle trains, replacing diesel. If only each multi-car city household would swap one ICE for a BEV commuter, national emissions would take a big hit. It seems to be “Not me, my emissions don’t count.”, but multiplied by several million, they do. And a BYD Atto1 is only $25k, I hear, an MG4 $33k, ideal when the old ICE buggy needs to go – and a delight to drive.
The only intended beneficiary of this scheme is the Federal Government. Every time the Government intervenes in markets to reinforce their agenda they distort the market. Then the market adjusts pricing to comply and also return their prior revenue levels. The Government already has a pricing agency and reviews contracts etc. please leave the market alone. As this article says these schemes are offered already and typically have higher charges outside the “free”window, and I would not be surprised if that includes higher fixed charges? It’s the oldest sales pitch in the book usually by the seller but in this case the Government!! “Wow,look free electricity!”. I am afraid Minister Bowens credibly as a safe hand on delivering an incredibly optimistic energy policy has fallen again.
So another good reason to NOT put in an expensive, less reliable, moving parts to fix, heat pump hot water service, but to install the cheap and reliable and quiet and location agnostic resistive storage hot water tank.
Lets face it, when the energy costs are low (ie use own solar), or zero, we can fit a cheap timer to run the hot water during the free period and we will not be penalized for export and/or get hot water for ZERO cost.
How good is that!
Perhaps we should install another hot water tank as well (or get a really big one) and store the heat to heat our house using a hydronic system too,….or just get a big battery so we can make heat or cool after dark with a reverse cycle air con.
If 40% of our energy is used for heating and cooling then a bit of smart and small investment will save heaps.
I ripped out my useless heat pump hot water system when the tank split just outside the 10 year warranty ( mid blue mountains , heat pumps don’t work well in cold wet air) and replaced it with an instant electric hot water system! Since I’m trapped at home most of the time due to MECFS disability, I can shower/bath during solar hours….and I do just about everything electrical during solar hours! Put it this way, my daily use is 3kw average, and I export 16kw average, sooooo
I must say, my electricity use is minimal, my solar produces far more than I use, even when charging my ev, but being on the DSP with a mortgage, means I also can’t afford a battery to store my power….Instead, I get the horribly low 4c kW fit, and pay for power outside solar hours grrrr.
Having an instant electric hws inside, in a cold environment, is still better than a big tank outside that needs electrical heating, and runs the risk of running out of hot water.
I’m very much the same as you and bought a green catch diverter that I set on solar only and get free hot water except the 1 cent fit on offer i would’ve got !! It sends as little as 200 watts to the hot water up to 3.5 kw the size of the element I’ve got !! Even on a cloudy day any excess solar goes to heating the water even if it takes all day until the thermostat switches it off, there’s a booster but I’ve never used it !! It’s better than a time switch as they pull power from the grid on a cloudy day !!
It depends if you can afford 700 bucks for a diverter !!
Reminder – SolarQuotes is now owned by Origin. So the critique is very much biased from a retailers perspective. Great result for consumers and those with batteries!
Thank you Shane for that BIG tip.
I did not know Solar Quotes is now one of the FF brigade.
THAT’s nice to know!
(Although it does make me wonder how long this forum will stay 100% independant).
I get the concern, but the article you both just read has an entire section on the benefits of this policy to battery owners. Here’s SolarQuotes founder Finn Peacock on why he sold to Origin, which has no input on what we cover in the blog.
The DNSP’s are going to suffer massive power draws for those three hours and the sudden switch on/off will be a problem for them I think? Why wouldn’t the first step be to just move all controlled load timing to daytime and make them offer that for free? That would save people having to pay for electricians to move their HWS to their general supply circuits to enable them to use their solar
Mark,
The problem which is intended to be fixed by the free supply is *inadequate* power draw, compared to midday supply, and harmful fossil fuel use in the evening. Much increased midday demand is what is required – that’s not a problem, rather a promoted network solution. (Household timers will not be crystal locked – hundreds of thousands of tiny loads trailing off like a gossamer swarm of gnats can hardly be likened to a grid transient, I suggest, now that spinning ironmongery and bulging boilers are anachronisms, wheezing out the door.)
Anyone rationally choosing to move to that ToU tariff will move their HWS timer to the midday period. If it had been hard wired to a DNSP-controlled ToU switch, then that’s an issue for the owner, I guess. (Mine’s on a GPO, with a 2.4 kW element, so almost any capable timer will do. My brother’s likewise. The ToU switch would be free, and take under a minute of button pushing.)
Adaptation involves effort, less if agile.
This makes a resistive hot water a great proposition !!
Compared to a heat pump they’re half as cheap last twice as long cheaper to install and maintain as no moving parts hotter water no noise or pollution and free hot water !!
Honestly I don’t get the benefit, and the danger is already apparent.
Demand spikes around breakfast and dinner i.e. the peak periods when all the jobs demanding high energy use are crammed in together. It’s not physically possible to avoid this. Thus there’s no benefit to most. But retailers are unlikely to be happy to offer free power so rates either on this plan, or all plans will see a rise to offset the cost.
Who will benefit? Energy corporations building battery farms. Under the plan they have guaranteed free recharge, and then can sell at peak or high times, assuming they aren’t already operating under a commercial paradigm. Those with EVs at home, or in personal car parks with chargers e.g. executives and board members and thus can refuel for free. And maybe homeowners with batteries that they can’t refill with their own solar.
As always, if it ain’t broke why
fix(break) it?John.
My understanding differs from yours. Gridscale batteries are wholesale operators, not on retail contracts. They won’t charge on three hours of free retail electricity, but will for many midday 5-minute periods be *paid* to take the excess energy. VPP customers currently do the same – it’s energy arbitrage – a useful grid stability and efficiency contribution.
It is though, cheaper to motivate retail customers to take it without being paid.
And their resulting reduced evening peak demand saves them money, while obviating unnecessary fossil-fuelled generation or gridscale battery cycling.
So, as it demonstrably *is* broken, why not fix it?
Erik, I accept that ‘gridscale batteries’ are more likely to be wholesale operators, but I’m trying to think who benefits, & it’s not the average consumer.
Household customers with large solar + battery won’t need free power since their solar will refill a battery in the hours before, then switch to exporting, unless it’s one of the rare ‘no-solar’ days, in which case sure they’d benefit but they won’t choose that plan for the 1% days over plans with lowers costs & higher FiTs. Commercial customers might benefit, but they aren’t the target of Bowen’s plan. Households as ‘arbitrage sinks – soak free power, use or sell outside the window? That’s pure cost shifting, not savings.
Speaking as someone who sees pain but no gain with Bowen’s plan, I’d much rather keep necessary fossil fuel generation, but I do agree gridscale batteries are undesirable – which is why my area fought against them, & won, for now.
You see the system as broken, I don’t, or at least not in the same fashion!
I see the system as broken (although that, in itself is a trendy way of convincing Joe Public something MUST be done).
If a “system” forces people to use an expensive polluting method, when a cheaper non-polluting method is available – something is wrong.
For most consumers the 3-hour free windown will mean their electricity is free when they don’t need it – when they are at work and don’t even know thay could arrange loads to use that free power. The only way they will know is when their power bills rise for no increase in daily consumption.
Why? Becasue the retailers see this as yet another way of making profit with a believable excuse. I did the sums when my retailer offered me a very low off-peak rate for a 3 hour window from 11AM to 3PM. The rest of the consumption rates more than compensated the retailer. If I used a flat amount of power over the full 24 hours my bill would be way more than at their best flat rate.
John Alba: – “…I do agree gridscale batteries are undesirable – which is why my area fought against them, & won, for now.”
John, where do you think Australia’s affordable, reliable, sufficient-for-our-needs energy will come from in the coming years/decades?
• Not from coal – 60% of the currently operating coal-fired generator units in the NEM are 40 years or older, & they won’t be operating by 2035;
• Not from gas – the Australian east coast gas 2P reserves-to-production is less than 17 years – see the AEMO’s Gas Statement of Opportunities – March 2025, Figure 27. Gas will only get scarcer & more expensive;
• Not from nuclear – no earlier than 2050s.
If sufficient vocal people keep objecting to wind farms, solar farms, pumped-hydro energy systems, battery energy storage systems, & power lines, then what will keep the ‘lights on’ in the years/decades to come?
Burning more carbon-based substances is ‘civilisation suicide’!
Any mention of energy providers being encouraged to switch on controlled load during the high solar supply period ?
17 January 2024: An update on your controlled load
Hello Nigel,
We’re letting you know that Origin is overseeing your controlled load hot water – there’ll be no change to your controlled load rates as a result of this. Controlled load offers a more favourable electricity rate during certain times of the day for some appliances in the home, in this case, hot water. Your controlled load hot water is no longer managed solely by your distributor, Ausgrid, so moving forward this means that you need to contact us instead of Ausgrid for any queries you may have.
Don’t worry though, there’s nothing you need to do – unless you have solar heated hot water or other controlled load services (if you do, there’s more details on this below).
You might notice your controlled load hot water heating at slightly different times and there’s a good reason for that. With excess energy and renewable energy …
Why would they?
Why? To stabilise the grid when the voltage is too high.
(and they already do, since Jan 2024 in my Sydney area)
Good in principle – reduces chances of emergency feed-in curtailment as well.
Having solar and batteries, my main concern is around the potential further reduction of Feed In Tariffs (FITs). Of course, they can do this at any time regardless, but this would be an easy trigger for the retailers.
To my knowledge FITs are not regulated by the AER’s DMO safeguards (I hope that I’m wrong – please correct me if so). So potentially, there may still be a small monthly charge if the FITs don’t manage to cover the daily connection charges.
Yes, there is Amber etc, but that has other drawbacks…
Yes, this is the first step further to reduce the FIT and finally to stop them all together. The Energy Companies will not pay you for solar export and to give it for free. The time of Robin Hood has long gone..
If there’s no FiT, what’s the point of staying on the grid Ilian? You’ll be paying daily connection fees for a service you don’t use – assuming a battery of sufficient capacity, and a decent solar system, with exports being of zero value, or possibly even costing you money depending on what happens with any future ‘sun tax’.
But hey, if most of us can go off-grid without any drama, it won’t be our problem, right?
And to maintain profitabilty, all they need to do is increase the supply charge.
$4 a day and power is free.
The SSO is an attempt by the government to change people’s electricity usage habits. They want everyone to use more electricity during the day and less during the morning and evening peaks. And rightly so, there is often way too much electricity in the network during the day due to solar which can overload the system. For those folks who are at work during the day you can use the time delay functions on your dishwashers, washing machines, dryers and air cons to capitalise. A timer on your electric hot water tank though is probably the best money saver. It may encourage those with gas hot water systems to switch over to standard electric hot water tanks. I think heat pump sales will take a hit because there’s no financial advantage in using less power to heat your water when the electricity is free in the first place. The power companies will probably put the peak rates up which will make the payback times on batteries faster. I think it’s a good strategy.
You are exactly right !! ✅️
I always wonder about the comment to use time delay functions on washing machines, so if I put the washing in, set the timer and go to work, yep I get the benefit of it being powered for free from my solar, however come home after work to a load of wet musty clothes that need drying.
So how do I dry these clothes, and use more power as they take longer to iron after being left scrunched up for half the day.
The life of equipment is too long compared to the frequency of policy changes. I ran gas to the house 20 years ago because this was the government mantra at the time. My gas heating, stove, and instant hot water are still working fine and I am not replacing them just because of policy changes.
The solar panels are 2 and a bit years old and I already saw FIT dropping from 15c to bugger all. The best we can do is to use as much as we can when the sun is shining.
Now the emphasis is on household batteries. Next – free electricity in the middle of the day. Every policy can backfire. Then a new policy change follows.
Why can’t wholesalers and AEMO devise a long-term strategy to ensure stable electricity supply with simple pricing structure? Instead, the job of maintaining a stable grid is outsourced to the consumers.
Grid batteries are the answer. Long-term investment. Let the professionals do it.
Magy B: – “My gas heating, stove, and instant hot water are still working fine and I am not replacing them just because of policy changes.”
What if your gas supplies become scarce and/or unaffordable?
Gas is only going to get scarcer and more expensive in the coming years.
https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/gas-cooking-benzene-children-mb3180/#comment-1724858
Burning more carbon-based substances is ‘civilisation suicide’!
https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/lcdocs/submissions/91844/0026%20Geoff%20Miell.pdf
I am fully aware of the dangers of carbon fuels. I am now. Was the government aware of this 20 years ago? I wasn’t. Or was the govt influenced by the gas producers? So, please don’t try to guilt trip me. My only fault is that I succumbed to the narrative of the day.
Let’s not idealise the virtues of renewable energy producers and batteries. Rare earths scarcity, no reliable recycling technology for solar panels and batteries.
And what about equipment like gas stoves, heating etc, which go to landfill while still in working condition just to follow the new incentives the government has whipped up? This will backfire, believe me.
Early adopters, be my guests. I will wait until I need a change, either gas becomes prohibitively expensive or equipment fails.
BTW in China I saw many kilometres of wind turbines spreading to the horizon. And all of them were turning. In Victoria the wind turbines stop when the demand is low. Grid batteries, not household batteries are the answer.
Magy B: – “Was the government aware of this 20 years ago?”
Yep. The IPCC was established in Dec 1988 to provide policymakers with regular scientific assessments on the current state of knowledge about climate change. The first Assessment Report was published in 1990.
https://www.ipcc.ch/about/history/
I’d suggest a succession of governments, of all tiers, have been aware of the dangers of carbon fuels for at least 3½ decades, but all have chosen to ignore these warnings while continuing to encourage &/or approve more fossil fuel developments, even now. For example:
https://australiainstitute.org.au/initiative/coal-mine-tracker/
It seems Australian democracy is still for sale & big corporations, including fossil fuel interests, are pulling the strings.
https://www.tempestsandterawatts.com/p/how-fossil-fuel-cash-is-powering
It seems to me many Australians continue to vote for politicians/parties apparently paid for by fossil fuel interests.
You are preaching to the converted. I read a lot about IPCC and the Oz govts playing by the music of coal and O&G industries. I also have friends, who like you, keep an eye on the info and educate me. I am all for getting rid of the carbon emissions.
My beef is with these promotions, which are short-sighted, over-sold by hyperventilating politicians.
Solar panels were meant to pay off in x years. Then the FIT dropped, because too much electricity on the low voltage side makes the grid unstable.
Then, incentives for batteries. They will never pay off, unless you go off grid. The more ppl do this, the more the wholesalers will lose from connection fee not collected.
The 3 hours free will benefit ppl with batteries and it might not stabilise the grid after all.
All these schemes are just band aids for the hot issue of the day. They change way too often, I don’t trust them
There is no long-term program, the onus is on consumers. Households are competing w/ alum smelters and power plants.
Removing the hype Magy, we are being royally played at both ends of the spectrum, at one end corporations and external govt are raping our resources and our govt lets them so they keep paying their royalties whilst passing none of that back to us.
At the same time, nations that we sell our cheap energy resources to continue to emit most of the carbon with the very same resources & build their nations wealth while we have turned into a service nation not producing much at all besides our ag sector.
I’m not against reducing emissions but when fellow Australians can’t afford to heat or cool their homes the balance has swung too far too quickly.
The cost of energy generation should be borne by the very corporations that are passing the cost onto all of us. How is that equitable or sensible given that we emit 1% of CO2? Have a good day….
This thread is becoming a Net Zero discussion.
The point I was making was that government incentives change too quickly, are based on short-term goals. No long-term strategic thinking. Some ppl buy a new phone every 18 months. They might be OK with installing everything the govt suggests. I wait for my phone to break before replacing it. I’ll wait for my gas equipment to break before replacing it. It is not because I don’t believe in carbon emissions reduction, but because I was fooled once, that’s enough.
As about the 1% emissions, this is not an excuse to do nothing. We keep saying that China is the biggest polluter. However they are doing something. I saw many km wind turbines on both sides of the road, stretching to the horizon left and right. All turning! Huge power lines. I want to know what is the strategy and how they do it, batteries or not?
Here everything is left to the market, where the rules keep changing. The households and industries are in the same playing field.
Hi Magy,
The market led my parents to install an oil heater around 1972.
However by 1980 it was gone and I recall the hole in the wall for the flue was turned into a cat door.
We had an excellent market based mechanism to reduce pollution & drive innovation.
It wasn’t actually a carbon tax, but that didn’t stop the propagandists sinking good policy with a dumb 3 word slogan.
The long term damage caused by Abbott’s LNP and his braying “are the tax” are incalculable.
And 15 years on the Nationals are still desperately trying to stoke a coal fired culture war.
Head over to https://www.facebook.com/groups/MyEfficientElectricHome/ and they’ll explain why gas is bad for your health.
Getting rid of your gas appliances, and the daily charge, is good.
Magy B: – “This thread is becoming a Net Zero discussion.”
I’d suggest if we/humanity collectively don’t solve the worsening climate crisis in a timely manner then civilisation will likely collapse well before the end of this century & billions of people are likely to suffer & die.
“…every little bit that you burn, every piece; chunk of coal; every gallon of gas; it’s like a little ratchet making the planet a tiny bit hotter effectively permanently, right?”
https://youtu.be/uGeTrezHMNU?t=1254
Magy B: – “I’ll wait for my gas equipment to break before replacing it.”
If everyone has an attitude similar to yours then a rapid transition away from fossil fuel use won’t happen to save us.
Magy B: – “It is not because I don’t believe in carbon emissions reduction, but because I was fooled once, that’s enough.”
It seems to me you are making excuses for you to continue to do nothing to reduce your own GHG emissions that you have control over.
Keeping my gas is the wrong thing to say on this forum, got it. Thanks everyone who tried to educate me about carbon emissions, health risks etc. I know. I follow this website for many years and read much more.
Noone answered my question: Does the Aus govt have a long-term energy strategy? Or it’s a series of policies, fixing the unintended consequences of the previous one? Incentivise rooftop solar created extra supply. Incentivise batteries, ppl go off grid, fragments the grid. Entice them to stay plugged in by giving 3hrs free. Early adopters may benefit or convince themselves that they do.
More importantly, how about the delicate grid? Are we trying to run industry on house batteries? Batteries installed now will have to be replaced just when the coal plants will go. Who will pay for the replacement? What if we elect another Tony Abbot? Do we need blackout https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Iberian_Peninsula_blackout for govt to realise that renewables require different control?
Magy B (at November 10, 2025 at 11:12 am): – “Does the Aus govt have a long-term energy strategy?”
Did you try websearching your question?
In my opinion, governments at all levels aren’t doing what’s REQUIRED to avoid civilisation collapse. The Laws of Physics are not negotiable. Net zero by 2050 is FAR TOO LATE!
See Slide #20 in the PowerPoint attachment in my Submission (#26) at:
https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/lcdocs/submissions/91844/0026%20Geoff%20Miell.pdf
Magy B (at November 10, 2025 at 11:12 am): – “Or it’s a series of policies, fixing the unintended consequences of the previous one?”
Probably. Politics is about perceptions, not facts.
Climate change is such a wicked problem that humanity has never had to face, & governments have generally short-term horizons.
3 tragedies that challenge climate policy are the tragedies of the horizon, of the commons, & of the transition.
https://policyoptions.irpp.org/2022/02/tragedies-challenge-climate-policy/
David Jamieson: – “How is that equitable or sensible given that we emit 1% of CO2?</i"
Australia is the 5th largest GHG emissions contributor country overall, when exports are included, & the 2nd largest fossil fuel emitter by exports.
We/humanity all share the same atmosphere. GHG emissions do not respect geopolitical boundaries.
https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/battery-rebate-to-deliver-a-coal-plant-of-power-in-18-months/#comment-1728274
Global warming is already disrupting ecosystems. It is disrupting human health and livelihoods, food security & our water supply. It is disrupting economic growth. We’re on the road to “climate ruin.”
https://globaia.org/habitability
Consequences for us already include for example:
* Loss of the living Great Barrier Reef likely by about 2050.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DKxpUFYmnA
* The Earth System is already committed to more than 20 m of sea level rise.
Hi David,
In relation to your 1% remark, we are 0.3% of world population.
When did shirking become a point of national pride?
Just like our olympic performance, Australians are world champion polluters. Per head we’re dirtier than the US & UK.
And that doesn’t include the pollution we have exported, along with our manufacturing capacity, to cheap labour countries.
While Australians might be the “dirtiest polluters” due to the size of the country and food exports, lets not forget that those efficient same farmers per person might also provide the most food to other nations too,…. perhaps we should cut our emissions per head by limiting food production,…at least then we can help reduce the high carbon footprint of other nations too,… once their methane emissions from starved people has subsided.
Hands up all those willing to stop eating now so the future for others is easier.
Thinking a bit more about this – the other thing they could introduce as part of this idea, is to force all the controlled off peak hot water to be provided for free at the same time as the 3 free hours are available, that way even people with old style meters would get a sip at the well.
Great! So now non solar homes can reap the benefit of the solar system I and millions of others have invested a lot of money in.
I think this labor government has taken in too much sun!
They all do Peter…. this incompetence is all by design… the good ol boil the frogs slowly technique…
Furthermore . . who actually will benefit?
1. Those without solar. 3 “free” hours sounds dandy, but we all know power companies will compensate by raising kwh costs either side of the “free’ window – so zero, or negative zero gain for those people.
2. Those with solar installations. You are losing out too. Discounting the few darkest days, your system at midday is pumping out maximum efficiency, which for most averages 5 – 10kwh. The vast majority of homes do NOT consume that amount, per hour, anyway. So your “free” 3 hours of power has been free all along! The only difference may be that you get to export a few more kwh to the grid for the measly 1 or 2c the government now gives us, but you better make good use of those few extra cents because you’ll need them to pay. Again, zero to negative zero gain!
To benefit, you would need dedicated timers$$$ to run everything at once, incl. plugging in your car, home battery, HWS and start sucking 10 to 20kwh or more! Otherwise – NA!
“midday is pumping out maximum efficiency”
Depends where you are. If the network operators force curtailment, or the line voltage goes too high, your inverter will drop out. Having other users pulling that power into their appliances will reduce/delay/negate that effect.
Yesterday in Sydney, from 9AM-12, both my inverters were throttling back!
Thanks Nigel, that backs up my theory even more. All the more reason to not sign up to the “3 for free” plans as then you can utilise the power your inverters are producing.
Interesting about your controlled load hrs being changed? In Geelong ours has always been roughly 11pm to 7am, but what are your hours now? Daytime?
I also have floor heating on a second controlled load, so things may become a little interesting in future!
If you have enough solar, no point signing up for free window.
…but if you don’t have ENOUGH solar?
(e.g. in winter, or very big batteries, or a well used EV)
I haven’t monitored Controlled Load since last year, but it varied a lot:
2024-04-28 8:30-8:45, 10:30-11:00, 23:30-??
2024-04-30 0:00-0:25?
2024-05-01 1:00-1:35, 10:00-10:40?
2024-05-02 2:30-2:55, 9:30-9:55, 21:45-??
2024-05-03 22:20-23:00, 23:45-0:00?
2024-05-04 9:00-9:20, 22:20-23:10?
2024-05-05 21:50-23:00?
2024-05-06 3:45-4:00, 21:45-22:30?
2024-05-07 3:30-3:45?
2024-05-08 1:00-1:30, 8:50-9:45, 20:35-20:50?
2024-05-09 22:20-22:55?
2024-05-10 22:30-22:40?
2024-05-11 3:55-4:10, 22:15-22:40?
2024-05-12 5:40-5:50, 23:50-??
The question marks are because I was monitoring load, not voltage, and once the thermostat clicked off, who knows what the network was doing
So controlled load does not equal off peak.
Use a timer, or do like I do and only turn the HWS on when you want to.
I find this a weird alignment.
To benefit from this DMO, a customer has to move loads to that window, so arrange an electrician to come out and move their hot water circuit onto a timer, actively set their pool timers and run dishwashers etc. People who are not willing to invest an hour looking for a suitable plan won’t do this.
For the grid to benefit from this, then a significant number of those on DMOs need to adjust their consumption behaviour.
The Venn diagram of the target user type for this initiative vs being stuck on a DMO is vanishingly small.
It seems to be a sweetener for the battery owners; allowing them to charge for free and then sell when the demand peaks. This will stop them from going off-grid.
However, surely there will be unintended consequences.
I feel it’s a disincentive for newbies going to solar (without a battery) for the first time.
Three hours free electricity, right when solar output is at its peak means their planned solar wont make as much useful power. Ie no benefit to them.
And what of the FIT during those free hours? Does it still apply?
I would guess those plans that offer the free power would have neglegable FIT anyway.
To qualify for the battery rebate you need to have solar installed already or as part of your install. FiT is already so low that solar only installations only make sense if you can self consume. It just means virtually all new installations would include a battery. I’m ok with that. The reason FiT goes to zero or even below is because no one needs the power then. So the panels may be producing at their optimal level but it isn’t useful unless there is something you can do with it yourself.
I am all in favour of encouraging time shifting loads where that’s possible. But to me this policy isn’t going to achieve that. Peak rates will just be bumped up to offset losses during this time. Almost everyone on a DMO who is subject to more expensive peak rates can’t take advantage of the free hours and so will be likely worse off overall
Battery owners can already get such plans with Globird and maybe a handful of others or play arbitrage with Amber. The DMO is just for people too time poor to actively choose an appropriate plan. That cohort is unlikely to be programming their battery anytime soon. They also aren’t the ones getting timers installed for hws