Nicolas and Jingting

NSW | Repower homes

“We pay nothing for electricity through the summer, and our winter bills are much lower. Overall we are saving about 80% on our power bills.”

While most Australians’ energy bills have been rising fast, Nico and Jingting’s bills have become dramatically cheaper – even though their energy usage has gone up since their son Enzo joined the family.

A few years ago, they installed solar panels on their roof, buoyed by the savings on their electricity they decided to convert their entire home to run on cheap, renewable energy. While they saved for the renovation they used a portable induction to cut their gas bill. 

Soon they were able to make more permanent upgrades, swapping to more efficient appliances, adding an induction cooktop in the kitchen and replacing their gas hot water with a heat pump hot water system. Combined with more mindful electricity usage the family has been able to significantly ease their cost of living.

“Now we have a new kitchen with an installed induction cooktop, but the portable cooktop was really affordable and easy to use until we did the kitchen renovation.”

But many Australians have not been so lucky and are missing out on the opportunity to slash their bills, left at the mercy of market fluctuations and price gouging by private energy companies. People in regional Australia, low and middle-income earners, renters, apartment dwellers, and marginalised communities are being left behind without fair access to the benefits of solar and energy efficiency.

The good news is, with urgent investment from our government to reduce the cost of home energy upgrades, rooftop solar, and batteries now, we could expand access those households that have been locked out until now and give more Aussie families the chance to cut their energy bills for good, just like Nico and his family did.