In the long run this sort of model probably makes sense, but it’s far too soon as it discourages solar and battery uptake and increases the relative burden on the poor.

Once we have more solar and batteries than we can possibly use, an unlimited model with a monthly fee would be best (like how we pay for internet access), but that’s probably 10+ years away.

You can send in a submission (closes this Friday) , created by Solar Citizens, an independent, community-based organisation to object to the Australian Energy Market Commission’s proposed rule change to increase fixed charges. This is what they say:

“Here’s what we know: Independent modelling of this proposed rule change would see electricity bills for households with 8kW of solar and a 20kWh battery increase by roughly $400–$700 every year under the AEMC’s proposal. [1]

Higher fixed network charges would wipe out a significant share of the savings solar owners have spent thousands of dollars to achieve — and will stretch out solar and battery payback periods, cutting the return on these investments. 💸

This is not what you signed up for, and it’s unfair to introduce these changes now.

Plus, by wrecking the return on investment, it sends a clear message to the households thinking about installing solar and batteries: ‘you can’t trust big energy to cut your lunch, so don’t bother’.”

Submission is pre-written or you can alter it. Go to: form.123formbuilder.com/…/submission-to-aemc-pric…

I wonder if you could have large enough batteries and only pay connection charges on days you need to connect.

My last house had 30kwh of battery and 21kw of solar. 90% of days we didn’t draw any net power

I understand phase balancing etc and we sent power back at the same time we drew it on another phase but we were basically ready to disconnect