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EnergyAustralia has today launched its inaugural community battery energy plan, enabling lower priced electricity for thousands of customers across Sydney, the Central Coast, Newcastle and Maitland.
EnergyAustralia’s new initiative, Community Battery Ease, enables local households, including renters and apartment dwellers, within 13 community battery locations the potential to save around $200 on their average bill. This initiative, in partnership with New South Wales electricity distributor Ausgrid, supports the growth of neighbourhood-level mid-sized batteries.
EnergyAustralia Head of Customer Assets, Renae Gasmier, said: “Community batteries when done with consumers at heart, are a win-win for communities and help accelerate our progress towards a decarbonised power system. Generating, sharing and using energy closest to its source can be a more affordable way to produce energy, and this is the first time we are bringing this to life through our EnergyAustralia Community Battery Ease product.
“We’re pleased to be working with Ausgrid, as its through our use of their Australian first community battery network tariff that we are able to leverage this to create our innovative product. Small-scale rooftop solar systems now provide more than 17GW of capacity across the National Electricity Market. We’re constantly looking at ways for consumers to reduce their energy costs and widen access for all so no one gets left behind.”
Community batteries store energy when prices are low, often during the day when solar production is at its peak. The battery stores this energy and makes it available for use later, such as evenings, when people are using more electricity for cooking, heating or running appliances – this stored energy is fed back into the grid. By distributing locally stored energy during these high demand periods, community batteries help alleviate pressure on the grid and promote the use of renewable energy.
Ausgrid’s Group Executive Distributed Services, Rod Amphlett Lewis, said: “We’re pleased to collaborate with EnergyAustralia on this Energy Storage as a Service (ESaaS) initiative, and in particular their use of our innovative network tariff enabling direct energy savings to local households.
“Our community battery program lowers the cost for households by delivering network benefits, facilitating greater integration of renewable energy and supporting home electrification. It’s fantastic to see EnergyAustalia’s Community Battery Ease innovation, and the cost benefits of more affordable energy for customers in those local areas.”
This new affordable electricity tariff for consumers is approximately 29% less than the reference price*, with customers receiving 24 cents p/kWh off-peak, and 30 cents p/kWh peak. Participating homes with rooftop solar can trial a virtual home battery experience and earn a 6c/kWh feed-in tariff on their excess solar energy. There is no lock in contract, with customers able to opt out at any time.
Community Battery Ease will be available for eligible customers in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs, Lower North Shore and Northern Beaches, along with suburbs in Sydney’s West, Southwest and South, the Central Coast, Newcastle and Maitland.
Households interested in EnergyAustralia’s community battery energy plan should check availability for their home and sign up on EnergyAustralia website’s Community Battery Ease (energyaustralia.com.au).
This is the latest in a range of initiatives led by EnergyAustralia to unlock the benefits of customer energy assets. Aligned programs include:
Solar Home Bundle - is EnergyAustralia’s comprehensive solution for homeowners looking to embrace renewable energy. By signing up with Solar Home Bundle for seven years, customers get a complete solar panel and battery system, expertly installed and managed, at zero upfront cost, delivering greater predictability in costs.
Battery Ease is our BYO-battery product that lets customers get more from their home solar and battery system. With Battery Ease, customers are credited for sharing their energy as part of our Virtual Power Plant and we also optimise their battery charge and discharge - no effort required on their part.
Energy Masters is a new South Australian pilot funded by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency that helps EnergyAustralia make the most of customer home energy appliances. By optimising how customers use energy, EnergyAustralia can improve efficiency and network performance.
Project Edith is an 18-month dynamic network pricing trial led by NSW Distributed Network Services Provider Ausgrid that EnergyAustralia is partnering with. This project will help unlock better Virtual Power Plants, allowing you to maximise the value of your home energy assets, is better for the community by giving more homes access to clean energy, and better for the network with smarter management of capacity.
For more information on EnergyAustralia’s customer energy asset initiatives, please visit: What we do (energyaustralia.com.au)
*29% less than the electricity reference price. Lowest possible price of $1,289 (incl. GST) for an average home using 3,900 kWh per year on a time of use tariff without controlled load in the Ausgrid network area.
Residential customers in certain postcodes across NSW only. Conditions apply. Your bill will differ based on your usage and meter type. We also have a standing offer available at standing-offer-home.