[kaelwd]

Before: 25c/kwh all day

After: 30c/kwh most of the day, 0c from 11-2

It's still worth it if you have a lot of load you can shift to the middle of the day (like a pool heater or battery), but for most 9-5 workers you just end up paying more at the times you're actually home.

Smart meters are free, most people already have one.

[bruce511]

Ahh, so the 30c rate is locked in for everyone? So they've basically price-shifted the elec so it follows production cost better?

Even if you're not home I'm thinking there are a number of ways to make use of the free elec. Hot water geyser seems like the obvious first candidate.

I'd also think heating (in winter), cooling in summer. Even if you're not there in those times, the effects will be evident for many hours after.

For those who have programmable washer/dryers or dishwashers it's also good. Even ovens on occasion.

I get that not everyone is best placed to take advantage of this, but equally improvements don't have to be an "everyone or no one" option.

[kaelwd]

No it's optional, the retailers just have to offer it.

[strken]

I thought most Australians had different pricing for peak/off-peak. I'm paying 39c/kWh for peak (3pm to 9pm) and 20c/kWh for off-peak (9pm to 3pm the next day).

[stubish]

Flat rate plans are still popular and the best choice if you can't shift your power usage out of peak times.

[kaelwd]

Yeah just a simplified example, I pay 33/16/10 peak/off-peak/midday.

[AtlasBarfed]

Get a battery

[kaelwd]

45% of us either rent or live in apartments.

[bruce511]

Sure, a battery isn't available to everyone. But I is available for many.

One would have to do the math, cost of battery versus 24kw free daily. But clearly for lots of people the math will work.

A side effect of policies like this is effectively getting people to invest capital to time-shift elec usage. That's good policy. Reducing the peaks in consumption solves other problems.

[tw1984]

> A side effect of policies like this is effectively getting people to invest capital to time-shift elec usage.

this means you don't have a functioning government/political system.

[AtlasBarfed]

Strange anticapitalist stance for hackernews

[moooo99]

I know, this doesn't really address the core issue, but is stuff like balcony solar legal in Australia?

Here in Germany, it is absolutely massive and an increasing number of people run their balcony solar with batteries that just feed into a regular Schuko Plug. It only allows to feed in 800W at a time, but there are workarounds for that as well