MEDIA RELEASE - Labor’s Community Battery Plan to Cut Bills and Emissions in Dianella

ANTHONY ALBANESE AND CHRIS BOWEN

An Albanese Labor Government will cut power bills for households, and reduce emissions, by installing an initial five community batteries across Perth.

More than one in three Western Australian households have installed rooftop solar panels.

But very few have a battery, because it’s still too expensive. This means families aren’t getting the full benefits of rooftop solar, and it’s putting pressure on our electricity grid.

That’s why Labor will install an initial five community batteries across Perth: in Coogee, Dianella, Kinross, Port Kennedy and Stratton.

This commitment will allow local households to feed solar power into the shared battery during the day and draw from it at night – cutting electricity bills and emissions, and reducing pressure on the grid.

Local households who might be unable to install solar, like renters and people living in apartments, will also be able to draw from excess energy stored in the battery.

Up to one in two households in these areas have rooftop solar. The areas have been selected in consultation with the WA Government.

All WA communities will be able to apply for a battery under Labor’s Power to the People plan, which will invest $200 million to install 400 community batteries across the country.

In WA, Power to the People will build on the trials already led by Western Power and Synergy.

This is part of Labor’s Powering Australia policy to cut power bills, reduce emissions and create jobs by boosting renewable energy.

In contrast, after nine years of energy policy chaos under the Liberals, Scott Morrison is focussed on photo-ops and marketing tricks – and attacking Western Australians.

Communities across WA deserve better – an Albanese Labor Government that will cut power bills and work for a better future for all Australians.