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SwitchedOn Australia

SwitchedOn Australia

By: RenewEconomy
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 Join Anne Delaney as she tracks the electrification of everything with people at the forefront of the electrification transition.All rights reserved Politics & Government
Episodes
  • Gas company shutdown pushes regional towns onto LPG, not efficient electric alternatives

    Gas company shutdown pushes regional towns onto LPG, not efficient electric alternatives
    Dec 9 2025
    Ten regional Victorian towns have been told their gas supply will be shut off next year because the gas company, Solstice Energy, says it’s too expensive to deliver. Around 1,145 households in places like Marong, Swan Hill and Orbost now have to choose between shifting to bottled LPG or attempting a rapid switch to electric appliances — with limited support. Environment Victoria has been working on the ground with affected residents and is hearing widespread anger, confusion and anxiety about a transition that’s been thrust upon regional communities. The situation stands in stark contrast to Esperance in WA, where a well-funded, hands-on, customer-centred approach helped households move off gas smoothly and fairly. Kat Lucas Healey, the senior climate and energy advisor at Environment Victoria, explains why Victoria’s process risks locking vulnerable residents into higher-cost energy options and missing the chance to help people electrify.
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    31 mins
  • Are households becoming shock absorbers for the energy transition?

    Are households becoming shock absorbers for the energy transition?
    Dec 2 2025
    Australia could soon be throwing away huge amounts of renewable energy simply because there’s nowhere for it to go. It’s partly why the Federal government has announced its Solar Sharer scheme – a way for households to mop up free, excess electricity for 3 hours in the middle of the day. But is Australia in danger of building a high-renewables grid that leans too heavily on households to solve structural problems? Long-time consumer energy advocate and Senior Advisor with the Justice and Equity Centre, Craig Memery, argues large industrial loads, not households, could be doing more of the heavy lifting on demand flexibility. He warns that renters, shift workers and anyone who can’t move their energy use to the middle of the day could end up subsidising those who can. And he champions energy efficiency as the overlooked “no-brainer” that cuts bills, emissions and peak demand for everyone.
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    53 mins
  • How the renewable construction boom can help fix the crisis in regional housing

    How the renewable construction boom can help fix the crisis in regional housing
    Nov 26 2025
    Australia is on the cusp of building more renewable infrastructure in the next decade than in the previous three combined, but the way we build it could make or break regional communities. One of the biggest challenges isn’t turbines or a transmission towers, it’s housing: where will thousands of construction workers live in towns already in a housing crisis. A new report from RE-Alliance argues worker accommodation doesn’t have to be a burden — it can become an important community benefit that a project leaves behind. From refurbishing disused aged-care homes in Wellington, to turning workforce villages into future suburbs in Rockhampton and Gracemere, to councils like Uralla planning for housing long before the workers arrive, there’s a shift happening in how some developers think about construction. RE-Alliance’s national director, Andrew Bray, discusses how the energy transition can bring a once-in-a-generation opportunity.
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    37 mins
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