Rewiring Australia welcomes big day for renewable energy announcements

Rewiring Australia strongly welcomes Allegra Spender’s Permanent Energy Bill Relief Plan announced today.

Millions of Australian households are already enjoying the benefits of rooftop solar, but barriers to installing this money-saving technology mean many are missing out. 

By providing no-interest loans to help homeowners install batteries and more efficient electric appliances, the cost of living would be eased for many households, while also cutting emissions. 

The Permanent Energy Bill Relief Plan also emphasises creating a fairer energy system for all types of housing, through asset write offs for rental properties to encourage the uptake of solar, batteries and energy performance improvements, as well as upgrades for low-cost housing by boosting the Social Housing Energy Performance Initiative.

“This is the kind of plan we want to see, one that supports households of all incomes, including the most vulnerable in our communities, by creating cheaper and cleaner energy,” Rewiring Australia Founder and Chief Scientist Dr Saul Griffith said.

“Creative ways, such as tax breaks for landlords to unlock savings for renters, which represent a significant amount of our homes in Australia is also a welcome part of this policy announcement.

“We are seeing from our own deployment projects that the switch from gas powered appliances and the uptake of solar is already happening on the ground, but policies like this would speed things up a lot.

“In my own community in the Illawarra, we found through the Electrify 2515 Community Pilot that 77% of applicants are interested in home batteries, but they also flagged the cost as a barrier to entry.

“So, it’s pretty clear at this point that investing in our renewable energy sector will pay dividends at the ballot box, and at the end of the month when the energy bills come in.”

Western Australia’s Government has also today announced a plan to help double the number of home batteries to store renewable energy in homes.

The $5,000 rebate per household and interest-free loans of up to $10,000 will be on offer as part of the $387 million dollar battery package.

“It’s pleasing to see some meaningful action being taken to help homes upgrade energy systems to store their own energy,” Dr Griffith said.

“We know from our work that people want to be able to store energy on their properties, and the hard work of groups, such as Electrify WA, have helped get the message across to decision makers.”

Contact: Kathleen Ferguson - 0421 522 080