by Paula Samson, Melville City Climate Action Network
You may have already heard of Electrify Everything for Everyone. But you may be asking yourself – Why?
Australia is the lucky country when it comes to sunshine and solar. Many households have seen the benefits of having solar panels on their roof and many also complain of the low feed in tariff from their solar energy production to the electricity grid. But many may not be aware of a bigger “Electrification Tipping Point” that has occurred.
Electrification means upgrading your gas appliances and petrol car with efficient, electric alternatives and powering these with renewable energy, like rooftop solar and a battery, to lock in ongoing bill savings and lower emissions.
Australia is one of the first countries worldwide to pass an “electrification tipping point” in home energy economics. The electrification of homes and vehicles can now deliver both cost-of-living savings and emissions reductions simultaneously – a win-win. This includes the upfront costs, and total costs of bills and financing more than 15 years.
This has been confirmed in the Cross-Party “Residential Electrification Parliamentary Report March 2025.
An electrified home in WA will spend $3,500 less per year on average than a home with gas appliances and a petrol vehicle that upgrades all their gas appliances and petrol car.
Compare these figures – Synergy Standard electricity tariff is $0.32/kWh. The lifetime cost of rooftop solar is only $0.05/kWh and is the lowest cost energy for homes. Now the Synergy Midday Saver is a game changer at $0.08/kWh from 9am to 3pm.
A home battery can store that cheap power and make better use of any excess solar power previously getting a low feed in tariff. The stored power can then be released to cover the busy evening time. Combined with super-efficient electric appliances and getting rid of the gas supply charge so having just one energy account all adds to the savings.
For readers concerned about pollution – “Electrification is the fastest way to decarbonise our economy, plus it brings a huge range of benefits for households and communities:” stated by Saul Griffiths from Rewire Australia.
Twenty per cent of emissions in Australia come from households so “dinner table decisions” are powerful! – excuse the pun! More powerful than any other area of the economy. These household ‘dinner table decisions’ are about how to heat your home and your water, how to cook your food, what vehicles to drive, and where to get your electricity from (eg solar and home battery).
Reverse cycle air-conditioning for heating and cooling uses heat pump technology. Similarly, heat pump technology is use in heat pump hot water systems. These use one quarter of the power of gas hot water systems or conventional electric hot water systems. Induction cooktops are faster, more efficient, healthier to use and easier to clean than gas cooktops.
Electric cars are cleaner, quieter and cheaper to run. Solar charging is the equivalent of paying $0.13/Litre in a petrol car, grid electricity charging is equivalent to $0.80/Litre (petrol prices are currently around $1.90/litre).
Reaching the electrification tipping point emphasises the importance of facilitating electrification for every Australian. Today, not everyone can access the benefits of electrification on a level playing field.
Low-income households will find it harder to electrify because of upfront costs and access to finance, yet will get the greatest relative financial benefit if they do electrify because they spend a higher proportion of their income on energy bills. Renters and apartments face some of the largest barriers to electrification, often with lack of access to solar and electric vehicle charging at home, and where they are low-income households, this compounds the equity impact.
We pay about $60 billion per year to foreign countries for their oil. The switch to EVs means we can power our transport on Australian sunshine instead and spend that $60 billion within our communities. That really is a win-win!!!
More information at www.melvillecitycan.org.
