So the energy companies have Australians by the "..." in regard to charging what they like for electricity? This may be fact now but in a few years the tables will be turned. By 2018 the cost of off-grid power will be on par with charges by electricity producers and distributors.
Battery storage from solar generators will be adopted by people living in the bush. Some are so far away from the main grid that they do not have an electricity connection at all. The methods they find cost effective will be copied by city people. There are varied methods and combinations so choices can be made.
Rural towns could pool resources and create a generating system for the whole town. They will have to solve the problem of the unevenness of power flow to households which results in failing TVs, fridges and washing machines first though.
Because of costs saved from higher scale production those in higher populated centers could set up non-carbon electricity system cheaper, so hobbyists and experimenters could be first to go off-grid.
With this trend, the part-privatization of electricity by allowing another level of distributors into the market will prove to be a problem. These distributors will face falling profits and cost cutting could begin. The average consumer could face lower charges.
Non-carbon energy methods no longer need government subsidies. They are now cost effective. Indeed, set up costs are falling very rapidly. Increases in recent electricity charges due to generating companies repairing old infrastructure could be money wasted. The new electricity poles could be left standing with no active wiring in the very near future.
Conservation by Ty Buchanan
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