“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."

"Optimistically, we'll have written a playbook of electrification for communities."

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.

"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."

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.

"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."

The project will generate insights into consumer behaviour, attitudes and energy bill savings to better inform how home electrification could be scaled across Australia.

"Finance of electrification is a cheaper way to run a household than paying cash every week for fossil fuels."

"We can say this is truly a world first, it will show the way to deliver cost-of-living savings to all Australians."

“The pilot aims to create the electric future in a real community today,” said Dr Saul Griffith, Rewiring Australia Co-founder and Chief Scientist.

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."

"Consumers are getting their tariffs changed without notice and we’re pushing ahead with sun taxes before solar soaking is in the market: just two examples where it’s obvious the energy market is set up to make it easy to run for central regulators and large energy companies, not cheaper and easier for consumers."

“If we really believe in nation building, we would figure out how to finance every single Australian household to completely electrify.”

“Household electrification is the fastest and most cost effective way to reduce emissions and ease the cost-of-living by bringing down power bills for good,” said Rewiring Australia Executive Director Dan Cass.

Rewiring Australia Executive Director Dan Cass welcomed the move by the New South Wales government. “This is a really excellent policy and we hope other states and the federal government back in the direction led by New South Wales,” Mr Cass said.

“Incentivising households and businesses to take up batteries means more cheap solar power in the grid and reduces our reliance on harmful fossil fuels. Yet again, households are the heroes in the energy transition,” said Rewiring Australia Executive Director Dan Cass.

Now that Origin Energy is being paid by taxpayers to keep Eraring coal fired power station open it should be forced to sell electricity at fair prices, to serve the interests of its taxpayers not just shareholders, Rewiring Australia said today.

"This is about taking some risks and making some investments. Not everything will work but the point is they can start to build up the general capacity in this country for a renaissance of manufacturing focusing on the areas where we have strengths."

Tonight’s federal budget includes important commitments to build clean energy manufacturing, reform its energy market and improve the nation’s electrical skill base, critical steps towards universal electrification of the nation’s homes, according to Rewiring Australia.

Expanding the gas industry until 2050 and beyond contradicts the government’s own work on a Net Zero Plan and will result in higher energy bills and a devastating increase in greenhouse gas emissions, said Rewiring Australia following the release of the Future Gas Strategy.

Chief scientist at grassroots organisation Rewiring Australia Saul Griffith said the legislation would put Australia in step with other countries already investing in their own futures and ensure the profits do not flow overseas.

“We need the government to coordinate Australian public and private investment in the processing of critical minerals and development of technologies from home-grown innovators in green metals. This will leverage Australia’s competitive advantage as a clean energy superpower and ensure the profits do not flow overseas."

Australia has one of the largest take ups of rooftop solar in the world, but new research shows a majority of those who oppose it, do so because of the price.

"Everyone is going to need a way off the fossil fuel ship. Our proposal for flexible, safe, government-backed finance that’s accessible across incomes will ensure that upfront costs don’t get in the way of slashing bills and emissions for every property in Australia."

“We know if we really had high adoption across Australian households, that would save them $1.7 trillion between now and 2050. We really shouldn’t think of this as what it’s cost to the government is, it’s what can this investment recoup to Australia in terms of savings over the long haul?”

Would any party really stand in the way if the government introduced a policy to cut bills, give consumers greater control over their household energy and address the climate crisis?

The federal government is being urged to help homeowners reduce power bills and carbon emissions by lending them cash to install solar panels, home batteries and even to buy electric cars.

Founder of Rewiring Australia Saul Griffiths is proposing that Australia needs a HECS style loan program for solar energy. He told Raf Epstein that Australian's could both slash climate emissions and energy bills if they go ahead with his plan.

It is possible the federal government will step in with its own loan products for electrifying households as suggested by scientist Saul Griffith in AFR Weekend. But with the likelihood of means testing there will still be an enormous lending opportunity for the banks.

Into this space comes Rewiring Australia’s intervention like a breath of fresh air in a tired, stale argument.

“If the government makes an investment like HECS, it will deliver permanent cost-of-living relief, solve the problem of light vehicle pollution, and propel Australia to the top of the class in climate action,” Dr Griffith said.

Australia has the highest solar radiation of any continent and rooftop solar is the cheapest energy in the world. An investment from the government now will make Australia more energy-resilient and self-sufficient and save Australians from increasing power bills.

"Millions of rooftop solar systems are now connected to the grid. The market needs to change to a system that can manage and co-ordinate these small renewable energy generators."

“This is a policy patch on a leaking ship,” adds Rewiring Australia energy market reform adviser Vikki McLeod. “Households will be the heavy-lifters in a future energy market, and we need to write that potential into the market rules now. We need to start looking at how we can unlock the benefits that customer energy resources (CERs) can provide at scale and at pace."

“For the first time, the best thing for the climate is the best thing for hip pockets. Their shift means the entire Australian parliament is now essentially on board. With such overwhelming consensus, we now need an aggressive, non-partisan plan to help households electrify as quickly and fairly as possible.”

The final handover report from the former Energy Security Board, released by the federal government, calls for energy distribution companies to integrate household solar into the grid. But it falls short of recommending the governance and competition reset that is required.

“We welcome the handover recommendations, but the ESB did not go far enough,” added Rewiring Australia chief scientist Saul Griffith. “Energy ministers should review governance of the NEM. “Nothing can compete with cheap rooftop solar at 5c/Kwh so it is no surprise the big energy companies are trying to thwart this competition from their own consumers."

"Australia's millions of solar households aren't being allowed to compete against their energy company in the market," says Rewiring Australia's Executive Director Dan Cass. Advocates for rooftop solar says changes are needed to Australia's electricity market, to better integrate solar users, and give them more options to find good deals when selling their energy back into the grid.

A comprehensive overhaul of the National Electricity Market (NEM) is needed to bring down energy bills and meet Australia’s 2030 emissions and renewable energy targets, according to Rewiring Australia.

Rewiring Australia founder and entrepreneur Saul Griffith said: “The technology BlueScope will deploy with this grant is marginally better than the steel it has been producing, but it is not green enough to compete in the emerging market for low or zero-emissions metal.

The transition to renewables is causing a lot of angst and anger in rural Australia as major projects like wind and solar and the transmission lines that connect them to the grid are cutting across thousands of properties. Now the federal government says it accepts the recommendations of a "community engagement review" which has found a better job needs to done of communicating how farmers will be affected. But there's concern that will do little to stop the so-called "bad faith actors" seeking to exploit local communities.

“As the climate emergency and cost of living crisis worsen, governments will need to invest big in electrification policies like this, to slash bills and emissions at the same time.”

"We are delighted that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Premier Chris Minns have taken up our policy to provide grants to electrify social housing properties. Household electrification is the fastest, most cost effective way to reduce emissions - and it also decreases the cost of living by significantly reducing energy bills."

“AEMO has moved considerably to embrace the potential of electrification but is yet to catch up with the rooftop revolution led by millions of Australian households. AEMO should be thinking outside the box and innovating ways to bring about faster and greater deployment of consumer energy technologies."

"Today’s announcement of new discounts for electric induction cooktops is another big step in the right direction, which is off dirty, expensive fossil gas and towards clean, efficient electrification"

"Hecs-style loans for household electrification would be repaid through income tax. This would put more money in the pockets of people who really need it while simultaneously allowing the nation to put its foot on the clean-energy pedal."