We all know that renewable energy is the future, but how can we ditch coal and gas in our own lives and homes? Plug In! is full of pro tips and essential information for your electrification journey.

Over 4 million homes and businesses in Australia have installed solar power systems. This represents about 37% of all households. Tim Webster explores how to electrify your home with solar energy and reduce your reliance on fossil fuels with Australian-American inventor, engineer, and renewable energy advocate Saul Griffith.

“This is a great example of a government making household electrification easier for households. Navigating a major energy upgrade can be tricky, even when there are major personal finance gains from doing so. This will slash peoples’ power bills, and provide peace of mind during the process,” Rewiring Australia CEO Francis Vierboom said.

“There are practical steps households can take with the support of governments to protect against this sort of bill shock. Empowering communities to switch to electric appliances, run by rooftop solar and stored by battery, is the first step,” Rewiring Australia CEO Francis Vierboom.

Rewiring Australia says communities will play an important role in protecting households from price hikes, after the Australian Energy Market Operator warned of a surge in electricity infrastructure costs.

“There are plenty of reasons to get off gas, and this latest decision by the AER to make it cheaper to disconnect, and more expensive to stick with it just adds to the growing list of incentives to go electric,” Rewiring Australia CEO Francis Vierboom said.

“We are looking forward to working with Labor to achieve its renewable goals, and we also want to encourage the government to continue to accelerate electrification and bill savings for Australian households - including finance that works for low income homes, a strategy for rental energy bills, and further incentives to drive down the upfront cost of electrification," said Rewiring Australia CEO Francis Vierboom.

“We strongly support this proposal from the Greens. We don’t want renters to miss out on cheaper and cleaner energy, so this is a great initiative,” Rewiring Australia’s CEO Francis Vierboom said.

Rewiring Australia chief executive Saul Griffith said adding the battery to the household helped add about $900 of savings each year.

Rewiring Australia is an organisation that advocates for policies to help households get off fossil fuels and become more efficient, and its CEO Francis Vierboom says Australia is a perfect fit for household batteries. "We've been so successful with solar, it does put Australia out in front on this challenge. We've got a really strong renewable grid already that's already over 40 per cent powered by renewables."

Tabled on Monday, the Residential Electrification report outlines a “pretty strong consensus position” that households will save money by shifting from gas to electric appliances and systems, says Rewiring Australia CEO Francis Vierboom.

“We know households are struggling. But we also know there is a solution that makes sense and Australia is well on the way to making the most out of our sun. We are world-leaders in rooftop solar. It makes complete sense to store it at our homes.”

Advocates for renewable energy suggest that switching to an induction stovetop, an electric hot water system, and an electric vehicle can significantly reduce carbon emissions—while saving you thousands over time.

“This tipping point shows Australians can save money on energy bills and cut emissions as soon as they electrify. This is a far better deal than what an energy bill rebate or fuel excise can offer,” Co-Founder and Chief Scientist of Rewiring Australia Dr Saul Griffith said.

“Our research shows that if we invested in helping people switch from fossil fuel appliances, and ran their home using solar and batteries, we would make a much higher return on the energy bill relief spend,” Francis Vierboom said.

“Our waning coal-fired power plants are letting us down, while our energy bills go up. We need more reliable, and cheaper energy,” Rewiring Australia’s founder and Chief Scientist Dr Saul Griffith said.

"We are already seeing it in Electrify 2515, but having these projects across the nation will really accelerate building the electrical grids of the future," Dr Saul Griffith said.

Electrification is the quickest and cheapest way to quit expensive fossil fuels and slash energy bills. These pilots deliver rich insights into how consumers and tradies use and install technologies.

"Australia is the leading rooftop-solar nation. Pilots like these will allow us to invent the clean consumer energy model for the whole world."

Rooftop solar and distributed energy resources will deliver the cheapest form of energy whereas nuclear energy will likely be too expensive and slow to solve any problems for Australia, said Rewiring Australia founder and chief scientist Dr Saul Griffith.

“Thanks to this policy, more Victorians will have lower energy bills and healthier homes,” said Chief Executive Officer Dan Cass. "We back the Victorian Government’s plans to help households make smarter energy choices by only replacing gas heating and hot water with cheaper, electric alternatives.”

“If Australia electrified the whole domestic economy, we’d save $1.7 trillion by 2050; any Australian household that electrifies their car, their cooking, their heating (will save),” Griffith says.

"Electrification is already smashing energy bills for millions of Australian consumers and this announcement will share that benefit to 50,000 households who most need it", said Rewiring Australia Executive Director Dan Cass.

“Australia desperately needs a new deal in energy markets that puts consumers on the same footing as institutional investors and big energy companies,” said Rewiring Australia Executive Director Dan Cass. "Consumers are the biggest and most reliable investor in new energy capacity through solar, batteries, electric appliances and electric cars.

“Australian households are showing the world how to reduce emissions and bills and electrification will deliver even greater impact,” said Dan Cass, Executive Director of Rewiring Australia.

“Electrify 2515 is about a community solving climate change together. This will be the first community where we show the world ‘this is how we do it’ to positively impact climate change while improving the lives of people. In a nutshell, the community that electrifies together, thrives together.”

“Encouraging battery installation is a smart way to reduce energy bills and bring down emissions,” said Rewiring Australia Executive Director Dan Cass. “The greatest source of household emissions is energy use and households make up a large portion of national emissions.

Rewiring Australia co-founder Saul Griffith, who helped write US President Joe Biden’s signature Inflation Reduction Act that invests in projects to battle climate change, is on a mission to get Australia to run entirely on renewable energy by helping households make the switch to cut carbon emissions and lower energy bills.

"If you're a house that's got the three major gas appliances you can save about $800 a year just by switching them over to electric."

"Optimistically, we'll have written a playbook of electrification for communities."

The Electrify 2515 community pilot program will see 500 homes converting their hot water, cooking and heating systems to renewable electricity, with subsidies of up to $1000 available for appliances.

"Australia is already the leading rooftop solar nation. Pilots like this will be used to invent the clean consumer energy model for the whole world."

Rewiring Australia co-founder and chief scientist Saul Griffith is finally about to see his ambition to electrify suburbs around his home near Wollongong come to life.

"The world is moving towards electrification – it’s cheaper for householders and better for the environment. The technology is ready and the way this community has campaigned so hard for this pilot shows Australians are ready too."

The project will generate insights into consumer behaviour, attitudes and energy bill savings to better inform how home electrification could be scaled across Australia.

"Finance of electrification is a cheaper way to run a household than paying cash every week for fossil fuels."

"We can say this is truly a world first, it will show the way to deliver cost-of-living savings to all Australians."

“The pilot aims to create the electric future in a real community today,” said Dr Saul Griffith, Rewiring Australia Co-founder and Chief Scientist.

Dan Cass, executive director of Rewiring Australia, said rooftop solar was a cost-of-living solution for poorer households. “Rich families don’t need to save money on bills, which is why the mansions of Toorak and Woollahra rarely sport a super-sized solar array sufficient to offset their high-energy lifestyles,” Cass said.