SwitchedOn Australia How retailers are standing in the way of cheaper power
Sep 7, 2026
Tim Ryan, an Australian energy specialist and consumer advocate, challenges the role of retailers in household electricity. They discuss why cheap solar can leave bills high, the pitfalls of Solar Sharer and virtual power plants, and how hot water, batteries and EVs could cut costs. Ryan also outlines a community-focused “Consumers’ Grid” giving households and networks a more direct relationship.
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Batteries Make Real-Time Electricity Less Necessary
- Batteries turn electricity into a buffer, allowing households to shift planned activities such as pre-cooling from expensive periods into cheap, abundant solar hours.
- Retailers resist transparent dynamic prices because fixed contracts and trading margins weaken when consumers respond directly.
Solar Sharer Turns Cheap Power Into A Shell Game
- Tim Ryan describes Solar Sharer as a scheme consumers must game by charging batteries during free hours while retailers recover revenue through higher daily fees.
- The arrangement rewards a pricing shell game rather than genuine system efficiency.
Cheap Solar Needs Flexible Loads And Coordination
- Solar Sharer targeted midday abundance but excluded electric hot water, one of the largest flexible household loads.
- A successful mass switch-on could overload networks during cloudy periods, revealing poor coordination between consumer savings and system physics.