Energy Networks Australia applauds the Commonwealth Government and Climate Change Authority for their commitment to maximising the role of the nation’s electricity distribution networks in delivering new, affordable and reliable energy.

Proposals to unlock the existing local grid and leverage commercial and industrial premises align with recommendations in ENA’s The Time Is Now report, released in August.

The recommendations were contained in the Annual Progress Report released today by the Climate Change Authority – and given in principle support by Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen.

ENA CEO Dom van den Berg said: “It is great to see both the Commonwealth Government and Climate Change Authority understand the power of using existing infrastructure to drive down emissions and put downward pressure on energy costs.

“We need to move beyond a static view of the ‘poles and wires’, and instead see them as a platform for unlocking solutions that give more people access to new, clean energy.

“Maximising the potential in our existing grid will rapidly increase our chances of achieving the national target for 82 percent of energy coming from renewables by 2030.

“Smartly designed incentives will help leverage the full scale of commercial and industrial premises to turbocharge renewable energy generation and storage.

“Empowering distribution network service providers to install batteries connected to the existing grid will allow local customers to maximise the benefit from their own solar.

“The Authority’s report also recognised using the benefit of using existing grid infrastructure to accelerate the roll out of electric vehicle charging infrastructure that drivers can depend on.

“Creating local grid solutions helps households and businesses generate, save and access new, clean energy locally.

“It makes sense given Australian households are world leaders in rooftop solar and we now have the potential to do the same with commercial and industrial property.”

Ms van den Berg said the ENA’s The Time Is Now presented a five-point plan to look beyond the traditional role of distribution networks as just poles and wires.

It recognised the need to maximise investment in new, clean energy solutions to advance our progress towards the 2030 goal of reducing emissions by 43 percent.

By unlocking financial and regulatory barriers, we can cut costs across the network by $7 billion annually by 2030 – and reduce power bills by $160 a year to all consumers.

“We look forward to working with the Authority on the process it will run over the next six months to get the precise design of proposed solutions right.”

ENDS