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Rewiring Australia launches Electric Saul, a free AI-powered tool that gives households personalised advice on getting off gas and going electric.
Read ArticleA Rewiring Australia survey finds few home battery owners have joined virtual power plants, with loss of control and lack of trust holding them back.
The gas industry has been accused of unleashing a “scare campaign” before the Victorian election as it pressures the state government to reverse a ban on gas in new homes.
Rewiring Australia's Calum joins ABC Radio Canberra Mornings to talk about balcony solar.
Go Electric Canberra opens registrations, crediting Rewiring Australia and Electrify Canberra volunteers for four years of community advocacy.
Rewiring Australia CEO Francis Vierboom joins The Daily Aus podcast to talk about Electric Saul and how households can make the switch.
Electric Future, working with Rewiring Australia and Electrify Canberra, will help up to 1,000 households in Canberra's south electrify their homes.
Banks is chosen for the $8.2 million Go Electric trial, with Rewiring Australia research showing households could save up to $5000 a year.
The federal government backs Go Electric Canberra, a trial for 1,000 households led by Electric Future and supported by Rewiring Australia.
The Electrify Australia campaign launch features on ABC The World Today, with a short grab from Saul Griffith.
Francis Vierboom on the Electrify Australia campaign and why helping farmers electrify is the durable answer to oil price shocks.
Read our Balcony Solar media release where we are calling on governments to urgently update outdated rules so millions of renters and apartment residents can access safe, affordable plug-in balcony solar.
Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said all states and territories had agreed to look at how plug-in solar and batteries could work in Australia to give apartment dwellers and renters more control over their bills.
More than 30 organisations, including Rewiring Australia, launch the Electrify Australia campaign calling for stronger support for electric appliances, equipment and vehicles.
Kristen McDonald speaks with ABC Newcastle Breakfast about new NSW funding for community-led energy support.
Kristen McDonald speaks with Craig Reucassel on ABC Sydney Breakfast about new NSW funding for community-led energy support.
The NSW Government is investing $4.7 million in 12 community and not-for-profit energy organisations, including Rewiring Australia, to help households cut their energy bills.
Australian experts share tips for cutting water heating costs and emissions, with a call out for Electric Saul.
Rewiring Australia analysis finds renters are paying $440 million to keep gas connected, and calls for landlords to cover gas connection charges.
Saul Griffith talks to John Stanley about Electric Saul, an AI tool trained on the context of Australian electricity.
US outlet Canary Media looks to Australia's free power program as a blueprint, with comment from Rewiring Australia founder Saul Griffith.
Kenyan news site Streamline covers the launch of Electric Saul, the free AI electrification planner from Rewiring Australia and Google.
Rewiring Australia launches Electric Saul, a free AI-powered tool that gives households personalised advice on getting off gas and going electric.
#EXCLUSIVE: An Australian inventor has built an AI tool to guide you through the maze of energy options and help slash your household bills, providing relief for Aussies struggling with skyrocketing power prices. #9News
This year's federal budget included an $11.9 billion National Fuel Security Plan; $3.2 billion of that is to physically stockpile diesel and jet fuel. But what if instead we worked out how to use less diesel? Frances Vierboom, chief executive of non-profit renewable advocacy group Rewiring Australia, said Australia had an obvious problem.
This summer, people in parts of Australia and the U.K. are getting their electricity for free. And it's all thanks to renewables. Both countries have so much wind and solar that surge into the grid regularly, it leaves the electricity system operators with a good problem: more power than they know what to do with.
Francis Vierboom joins Breakfast with Melinda James to react to the business solar news, following Rewiring Australia's report released two weeks earlier.
Rewiring Australia CEO Francis Vierboom speaks to PM about the business solar upgrade, a new frontier many businesses will be keen to explore.
The Saturday Paper's coverage of the expanded renewables scheme links to Saul Griffith's essay on electrification.
Charles Coppel writes about electrifying his home, inspired by Saul Griffith's The Big Switch, and recommends Rewiring Australia's guide to the home electrification process.
Video interview with Rewiring Australia on how home electrification can help tackle Australia's energy crisis.
Households could save about $2000 per year by using their car to power the home most of the time, according to Rewiring Australia analysis.
Rewiring Australia has put forward five policy strategies it believes will prompt landlords to electrify the properties they own, starting with minimum rental standards in every state and territory requiring gas appliances like hot water systems and heaters to be replaced with efficient electric alternatives at end of life.
Rewiring Australia wants renters to be able to reap the benefits of renewable energy, including powering their homes from their cars. Rental properties are significantly less energy efficient than owner-occupied homes, especially in low socio-economic and regional areas.
Kristen McDonald, a director at Rewiring Australia, says the case is “even more compelling now” for electric upgrades to home appliances, solar panels, batteries or cars. “Because once you do have them in place, they’re permanent savings for you,” she says.
Experts say expanding oil infrastructure, instead of embracing electric vehicles, would ignore basic economics
“Even in a record-setting month, during a national fuel crisis, when filling up an EV costs a small fraction of the petrol equivalent, six in seven new car buyers still chose a petrol car,” Vierboom said.
Rewiring Australia welcomed the federal government's move to retain the electric vehicle fringe benefits tax (FBT) exemption, while warning the country remains far from mass EV adoption.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen has seized on the fuel crisis to underline the need for electrification and renewable energy. But a lot of Australians have already done it. Households are spending their own money, taking the risk, and figuring out how to cut fossil fuels out of their lives.
We should be working towards a lowest-cost energy system that also rapidly addresses climate change. Fortunately, these things are no longer in conflict. A zero-emission, all-electric Australia is also going to be the lowest-cost energy system.
Motorists are abandoning petrol and diesel vehicles as the effects of the fuel crisis continue to bite in the lead-up to Easter, with public electric vehicle chargers recording a 20 per cent spike in use. Rewiring Australia chief executive Francis Vierboom said the fuel crisis presented a moment of opportunity to government.
With fuel prices surging across the country, electric vehicle advocates are calling on the federal government to keep a tax incentive that makes it cheaper for people to buy new EV's.
The number of households using gas for heating and cooking in some eastern states has declined for two consecutive quarters as high prices, milder winters and increasing connection costs encourage more Australians to rely solely on electricity.
Rewiring Australia CEO Francis Vierboom said the policy was working exactly as intended. “The PC is looking at spreadsheet emissions. They’re not looking at the actual transformation that has to happen in the economy,” he said.
Francis Vierboom, the chief executive of advocacy group Rewiring Australia, says solar and batteries act as a gateway for more comprehensive electrification measures, including disconnecting gas appliances and adding an electric vehicle.
Rewiring Australia chief executive Francis Vierboom said even without solar panels, electric appliances were more efficient, and NSW should follow Victoria’s lead in phasing out gas.
We all know that renewable energy is the future, but how can we ditch coal and gas in our own lives and homes? Plug In! is full of pro tips and essential information for your electrification journey.
Over 4 million homes and businesses in Australia have installed solar power systems. This represents about 37% of all households. Tim Webster explores how to electrify your home with solar energy and reduce your reliance on fossil fuels with Australian-American inventor, engineer, and renewable energy advocate Saul Griffith.
“This is a great example of a government making household electrification easier for households. Navigating a major energy upgrade can be tricky, even when there are major personal finance gains from doing so. This will slash peoples’ power bills, and provide peace of mind during the process,” Rewiring Australia CEO Francis Vierboom said.
“There are practical steps households can take with the support of governments to protect against this sort of bill shock. Empowering communities to switch to electric appliances, run by rooftop solar and stored by battery, is the first step,” Rewiring Australia CEO Francis Vierboom.
Rewiring Australia says communities will play an important role in protecting households from price hikes, after the Australian Energy Market Operator warned of a surge in electricity infrastructure costs.
“There are plenty of reasons to get off gas, and this latest decision by the AER to make it cheaper to disconnect, and more expensive to stick with it just adds to the growing list of incentives to go electric,” Rewiring Australia CEO Francis Vierboom said.
“We are looking forward to working with Labor to achieve its renewable goals, and we also want to encourage the government to continue to accelerate electrification and bill savings for Australian households - including finance that works for low income homes, a strategy for rental energy bills, and further incentives to drive down the upfront cost of electrification," said Rewiring Australia CEO Francis Vierboom.
“We strongly support this proposal from the Greens. We don’t want renters to miss out on cheaper and cleaner energy, so this is a great initiative,” Rewiring Australia’s CEO Francis Vierboom said.
“We know households are struggling. But we also know there is a solution that makes sense and Australia is well on the way to making the most out of our sun. We are world-leaders in rooftop solar. It makes complete sense to store it at our homes.”
Rewiring Australia is an organisation that advocates for policies to help households get off fossil fuels and become more efficient, and its CEO Francis Vierboom says Australia is a perfect fit for household batteries. "We've been so successful with solar, it does put Australia out in front on this challenge. We've got a really strong renewable grid already that's already over 40 per cent powered by renewables."
Rewiring Australia chief executive Saul Griffith said adding the battery to the household helped add about $900 of savings each year.
Tabled on Monday, the Residential Electrification report outlines a “pretty strong consensus position” that households will save money by shifting from gas to electric appliances and systems, says Rewiring Australia CEO Francis Vierboom.
“This tipping point shows Australians can save money on energy bills and cut emissions as soon as they electrify. This is a far better deal than what an energy bill rebate or fuel excise can offer,” Co-Founder and Chief Scientist of Rewiring Australia Dr Saul Griffith said.
Advocates for renewable energy suggest that switching to an induction stovetop, an electric hot water system, and an electric vehicle can significantly reduce carbon emissions—while saving you thousands over time.
“Our research shows that if we invested in helping people switch from fossil fuel appliances, and ran their home using solar and batteries, we would make a much higher return on the energy bill relief spend,” Francis Vierboom said.
“Our waning coal-fired power plants are letting us down, while our energy bills go up. We need more reliable, and cheaper energy,” Rewiring Australia’s founder and Chief Scientist Dr Saul Griffith said.
Electrification is the quickest and cheapest way to quit expensive fossil fuels and slash energy bills. These pilots deliver rich insights into how consumers and tradies use and install technologies.
"We are already seeing it in Electrify 2515, but having these projects across the nation will really accelerate building the electrical grids of the future," Dr Saul Griffith said.
"Australia is the leading rooftop-solar nation. Pilots like these will allow us to invent the clean consumer energy model for the whole world."
Rooftop solar and distributed energy resources will deliver the cheapest form of energy whereas nuclear energy will likely be too expensive and slow to solve any problems for Australia, said Rewiring Australia founder and chief scientist Dr Saul Griffith.
“Thanks to this policy, more Victorians will have lower energy bills and healthier homes,” said Chief Executive Officer Dan Cass. "We back the Victorian Government’s plans to help households make smarter energy choices by only replacing gas heating and hot water with cheaper, electric alternatives.”
"Electrification is already smashing energy bills for millions of Australian consumers and this announcement will share that benefit to 50,000 households who most need it", said Rewiring Australia Executive Director Dan Cass.
“Australia desperately needs a new deal in energy markets that puts consumers on the same footing as institutional investors and big energy companies,” said Rewiring Australia Executive Director Dan Cass. "Consumers are the biggest and most reliable investor in new energy capacity through solar, batteries, electric appliances and electric cars.
“If Australia electrified the whole domestic economy, we’d save $1.7 trillion by 2050; any Australian household that electrifies their car, their cooking, their heating (will save),” Griffith says.
“Australian households are showing the world how to reduce emissions and bills and electrification will deliver even greater impact,” said Dan Cass, Executive Director of Rewiring Australia.
“Electrify 2515 is about a community solving climate change together. This will be the first community where we show the world ‘this is how we do it’ to positively impact climate change while improving the lives of people. In a nutshell, the community that electrifies together, thrives together.”
“Encouraging battery installation is a smart way to reduce energy bills and bring down emissions,” said Rewiring Australia Executive Director Dan Cass. “The greatest source of household emissions is energy use and households make up a large portion of national emissions.
Rewiring Australia co-founder Saul Griffith, who helped write US President Joe Biden’s signature Inflation Reduction Act that invests in projects to battle climate change, is on a mission to get Australia to run entirely on renewable energy by helping households make the switch to cut carbon emissions and lower energy bills.
"If you're a house that's got the three major gas appliances you can save about $800 a year just by switching them over to electric."
The Electrify 2515 community pilot program will see 500 homes converting their hot water, cooking and heating systems to renewable electricity, with subsidies of up to $1000 available for appliances.
"Optimistically, we'll have written a playbook of electrification for communities."
"Australia is already the leading rooftop solar nation. Pilots like this will be used to invent the clean consumer energy model for the whole world."
“The pilot aims to create the electric future in a real community today,” said Dr Saul Griffith, Rewiring Australia Co-founder and Chief Scientist.
"Finance of electrification is a cheaper way to run a household than paying cash every week for fossil fuels."
"The world is moving towards electrification – it’s cheaper for householders and better for the environment. The technology is ready and the way this community has campaigned so hard for this pilot shows Australians are ready too."
"We can say this is truly a world first, it will show the way to deliver cost-of-living savings to all Australians."
The project will generate insights into consumer behaviour, attitudes and energy bill savings to better inform how home electrification could be scaled across Australia.
Rewiring Australia co-founder and chief scientist Saul Griffith is finally about to see his ambition to electrify suburbs around his home near Wollongong come to life.
Dan Cass, executive director of Rewiring Australia, said rooftop solar was a cost-of-living solution for poorer households. “Rich families don’t need to save money on bills, which is why the mansions of Toorak and Woollahra rarely sport a super-sized solar array sufficient to offset their high-energy lifestyles,” Cass said.
Today's decision by the Allan Government to exclude cooktops from Victoria’s Gas Substitution Roadmap is a temporary delay in the inevitable electrification of the state’s household appliances.
Gas and electricity companies deliberately make energy confusing for people - but this planner will empower Victorians to make informed decisions to reduce their bills and emissions.
We look forward to working closely with the new Assistant Minister Josh Wilson to deliver cleaner, cheaper energy to Australian households. It's time for Australia to go for gold in the consumer energy transition, and with the right policies, we can secure a place on the podium in the race to Net Zero.
Rewiring Australia's executive director Dan Cass said the electrification of households and cars could deliver hundreds of billions in savings to consumers over the next 20 years if it was fair and transparent.
“We know electrification is winning the energy wars because over 3.7 million households have already gone solar, and hundreds of thousands are now rushing to electrify”
The Queensland government’s launch of ‘Local Renewable Energy Zones’ (L-REZ) in Caloundra and Townsville may prove to be a significant opportunity for energy market realignment and innovation.
Rewiring Australia Co-founder Saul Griffith says Australia has the “easiest path” to “electrify” its economy. “The reality is Australia has the easiest path to electrify its economy of probably any economy and we have the most benefit to gain from it."
Electrification is the shortest circuit to a clean energy system for Australia and the fairest way to get there. Rooftop solar is the world's cheapest delivered energy, and nuclear cannot compete.
“Some countries that are small, cold, and with higher population density and minimal solar and wind resources will need nuclear to replace fossil fuels - but Australia has literally the opposite population and geographical characteristics."
