Solar Citizens, 1 February 2025
 2025 will be a big year for clean energy, cost of living and climate – especially with the looming federal election dominated by energy wars. But as we all roll up our sleeves for the year ahead, I want to give you a moment to celebrate your renewable energy and clean transport wins of 2024. They provide us with a strong base to build on in this Federal Election year, as we campaign to extend access to the benefits of household energy resources like rooftop solar, home batteries and electric vehicles to those currently missing out in our Solar for All campaign; and defend the current momentum for home renewable energy to Save Our Solar from the threat of nuclear reactors. (Check out our PS to find out more!) Together, we’ve had a big year of rooftop solar wins, which has only been possibly through the support of solar citizens – that’s you! National renewable energy wins! The current federal government has been making progress in opening up our energy systems to more household energy, including funding to overcome some of the barriers to electrification. However big gaps remain in their plan, not least of which is the silence on federal household battery rebates.  Solar Citizens CEO Heidi with Jerome Laxale MP, Senator Jenny McAllister and others WON! 100,000 social housing properties to receive energy upgrades with expanded Commonwealth funding The Minister for Climate Change and Energy, the Hon Chris Bowen MP, and Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy, the Hon Josh Wilson MP, announced that an additional $500 million will be spent, bringing total Commonwealth funding for the Social Housing Energy Performance Initiative (SHEPI) to $800 million. The program is expected to reach nearly 25% of Australia’s total social housing stock and deliver bill savings of up to $1,800 per year through upgrades such as insulation, electrification and rooftop solar. We will continue to advocate to State and Commonwealth governments to set a target of 30% of social housing properties to receive rooftop solar installations in the short term, setting a path towards meeting the solar potential of our social housing stock and continuing to bring down power bills for those who need it most. WON! National Consumer Energy Resources Roadmap Solar Citizens played a lead role in supporting and coordinating advocacy efforts across the environmental movement to develop a National Consumer Energy Resources (CER) Roadmap, to ensure home batteries, solar and batteries on wheels are given the respect they deserve in our energy system. Working with like-minded organisations, we ensured that our proposals to the CER Roadmap Taskforce – who are responsible for advising the Energy Minister – were well-informed and aligned with other advice from civil society. We will be watching this space to make sure the Roadmap delivers on what we all need to support more home energy production! WON! New Vehicle Efficiency Standards It’s been a long journey and taken several years but on the 16 of May 2024, the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) legislation passed the Federal Parliament. This legislation will bring more affordable electric vehicles, and more efficient fuel vehicles, into the Australian market from this January! Thank you to all of you who wrote submissions, letters and emails, who donated to our campaigns and supported our events! Read more here. WON! New National Standards to Support Vehicle-to-Grid Charging The Federal Minister for Energy announced on 9 November that new national standards were agreed on to enable vehicle-to-grid (V2G) bi-directional charging for electric vehicles (EVs). Minister Bowen expected that EV owners will be able to use their cars as household batteries-on-wheels by the end of 2024 (availability depends on timeframes for equipment suppliers and installers). Solar Citizens campaigned for accelerated V2G charging following our very successful EV Ute Roadshow and Affordable EVs campaigns. In August 2024 we released the ‘Batteries on wheels’ report on how to accelerate V2G charging in Australia, which included the publication of this new standard as well as other steps like subsidies to assist with the upfront costs of charging equipment. NSW Renewable Energy Wins! After Labor took office for the first time in 12 years, Solar Citizens have focused on briefing and pushing the new government to better support Consumer Energy Resources like home solar and batteries.  The Solar Citizens team supporting the Renew Australia for All Western Sydney listening event WON! NSW Consumer Energy Strategy Delivers First Solar and Battery Targets Solar Citizens was involved with the development of the NSW Government’s Consumer Energy Strategy, launched in September 2024. We participated in roundtables, made a submission to the draft consultation and met with the Energy Minister and her advisors throughout 2023 and into 2024. We made recommendations that were included in the final strategy including – solar and batteries for social housing, and setting targets for both solar and battery uptake. NSW is now the first jurisdiction in Australia to have specific targets set for both solar and batteries! We’ll be checking in on their progress towards the 1 million solar and battery households in NSW by 2035, to make sure they deliver on this. Read more about the Consumer Energy Strategy here. WON! NSW Household Battery Incentive In 2023, Solar Citizens contributed a detailed submission to the draft NSW Peak Demand Reduction Scheme, pushing the NSW Government for a stronger battery incentive. The government listened, and in May 2024, they announced a bigger financial incentive under the Peak Demand Reduction Scheme, which came into effect from 1 November 2024. This scheme will deliver discounts to solar households in NSW, including: * between $1600 to $2400 off the up-front installation costs of a battery for homes and businesses with existing solar, depending on the size of the battery * between $250 to $400 for connecting your household or business battery to a Virtual Power Plant (VPP). This incentive is available twice, a minimum of 3 years apart. QLD Renewable Energy Wins The change of government has led to uncertainty for renewable energy in Qld this year, with some wins under the former government at risk, such as the Energy and Jobs Plan. We have our work cut out to guide the new QLD state government on how they can better support the millions of rooftop solar owners in the Sunshine State, reduce energy bills and meet their emission reduction targets.  Solar Citizens campaigners Philippa and Joel at the Power Up The Sunny Coast event WON! Solar for Renters and social housing energy upgrades In March 2024, the then QLD Opposition Leader David Crisafuli committed to cost-of-living relief for renters by supercharging the solar-for-renters scheme. WON! $116 million for Social Housing Energy Upgrades in Queensland The Queensland Government announced in September a co-funding agreement that would unlock Commonwealth investment in energy upgrades for social housing properties, under the Social Housing Energy Performance Initiative (SHEPI). This would enable low-income residents in 32,000 social housing properties to benefit from energy upgrades including insulation, energy-efficient appliances and rooftop solar. Solar Citizens ran a year-long campaign to get States and Territories to make these co-commitments and also to install rooftop solar on all solar-ready social housing properties as-soon-as-possible, with a 30% target to be delivered in the coming few years. Whilst acknowledging the significance of the SHEPI program, we’ll continue to campaign for this greater goal. Solar Citizens Reports released in 2024: * Electrify Wolli Creek – A High-Rise Electrification Pilot – October 2024 * ‘Batteries on wheels’ How we can accelerate vehicles to grid in Australia – September 2024 * Accelerating Consumer Energy in Australia report – May 2024 * Rooftop Solar Potential of Australian Housing Stock by Tenure and Dwelling Type – April 2024 Click here to view all reports. Want to see us do more across the country? We are a small team of 7 part-time and full-time staff. If you’d like to support us to campaign in your state on any of the above initiatives, or as part of the Solar for All or Save Our Solar campaigns, then please consider becoming a regular donor. A small regular monthly donation to Solar Citizens gives us the financial security we need to expand our work into other states and territories. Sign up here to become a valued regular donor – and join our “Sunniest 500” supporters who receive special treatment, like more good news impact reports, and first round invites to attend special events. Donate now All donations over $2 are tax deductible! So if you like what we do and want to see more of it – please support the Solar Citizens hard working team with a regular, monthly tax-deductible donation!  In sunny solidarity, Heidi, for the Solar Citizens team.      Solar Citizens Greenhouse, Level 3, 180 George Street, Sydney, NSW 2000Solar Citizens acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the lands on which we work. Their sovereignty was never ceded. Solar Citizens is a supporter of the First Nations Clean Energy Network – a network led by cultural leaders working to ensure that First Nations communities play a central role and share in the benefits of the shift to clean energy. You can support their work here. |