So John Grimes, former CEO of Smart Energy Council, Australia, presented these slides last Monday in New York, and people were asking me for them all week. It made me realize that all the handwringing technocrats are still seeking a green premium for their modular nukes or whatever when they should just see some plain facts: solar and batteries work.
This is the guts of the 15th largest economy in the world, which I may remind you is a world at war where everyone else has rising energy prices. Let me put it in simpler terms: half off.
HOW?
Since July 2025, over 500,000 homes have installed a “solar battery”. It was incentivized by a 30% rebate and the average job is a >10kwhr battery, behind-the-meter. Over 14GWhrs have been installed in just over a year. This leveraged $20B of consumer spending on what is a distributed infrastructure destroying demand for gas. That has dropped the cost. More animal pictures here for you:
That’s already old news. The latest data is even more compelling, which is why the grid operator can start passing on the savings to wholesale and retail customers. Shine is on!
See for example the most recent month figures for gas. This is why the price halved. And how. There’s a lesson in here for those playing with faux solutions. Solar + batteries work.
It reminds me of Crocodile Dundee when confronted by a couple of kids with a flick knife…
Australia’s behind the meter solar and battery story is compelling for mature markets. In the meantime, it’s the starting point for large parts of Africa and South Asia.