Australia could soon be throwing away huge amounts of renewable energy simply because there’s nowhere for it to go. It’s partly why the Federal government has announced its Solar Sharer scheme – a way for households to mop up free, excess electricity for 3 hours in the middle of the day.
But is Australia in danger of building a high-renewables grid that leans too heavily on households to solve structural problems?
Long-time consumer energy advocate and Senior Advisor with the Justice and Equity Centre, Craig Memery, argues large industrial loads, not households, could be doing more of the heavy lifting on demand flexibility.
He warns that renters, shift workers and anyone who can’t move their energy use to the middle of the day could end up subsidising those who can.
And he champions energy efficiency as the overlooked “no-brainer” that cuts bills, emissions and peak demand for everyone.
Anne Delaney is the host of the SwitchedOn podcast and our Electrification Editor, She has had a successful career in journalism (the ABC and SBS), as a documentary film maker, and as an artist and sculptor.
