Lisa Singh

A Shorten Labor Government will help Tasmanians slash their power bills by setting a new national target of one million household battery installations by 2025.

From 2020, Labor’s Household Battery Program will provide a $2,000 rebate for 100,000 households on incomes of less than $180,000 per year to purchase and install battery systems, as well as low-cost loans for households.

For Tasmania this could equate to some 2,500 new battery systems.

This would triple the number of battery systems in Australian households compared to today’s numbers. The massive boost will also help manufacturers scale up production and reduce their costs. 

The Smart Energy Council estimates that new household solar and batteries would allow most homes to save more than 60 per cent off their power bills.

This is an important policy for Tasmanian families who want to bring down power prices and embrace renewable energy. 

Labor’s energy investment framework delivers certainty for Tasmania’s renewable industry, our home owned Hydro Tasmania. 

That is good for our state because we are putting renewables front and centre in that mix.

We’ve already seen how projects like the CONSORT Bruny Island Battery Trial is providing energy certainty for regional Tasmanians and this policy will make batteries affordable for many more Tasmanians.

When the sun goes down, or when electricity usage is at its peak, consumers can draw on their own stored energy.

A Shorten Labor Government will also invest in a Neighbourhood Renewables Program so that renters and social housing residents can also benefit from cheaper and cleaner renewable energy.

We will establish community power hubs to support the development of renewables projects in local communities – such as solar gardens on apartment rooftops, community wind farms, energy efficiency upgrades for social housing, and grants for community groups to pilot new projects.

Australia is in an energy crisis under the Liberals. Electricity prices have increased by nearly 19 per cent over the past three years – three times faster than wages growth.

The Liberals, including Tasmanian Senators Abetz and Colbeck, haven’t been able to agree on a policy amongst themselves, and aren’t up to leading the country in the right direction.

Labor’s Plan for More Renewable Energy and Cheaper Power will be good for households, good for the economy and good for the environment.

It will help deliver 50 per cent of power from renewables by 2030, keep power prices lower, and create tens of thousands of jobs in the renewables industry.

Only Labor will deliver cheaper power bills, more renewables and more jobs for Australians.