[asdefghyk]

RE "......what is currently by far the cheapest form of electricity (solar)....."

this is misleading and wrong. At best it is a half true statement.

My total power bill has not decreased.

Solar electrity may be cheap to produce.

However if only generates for 4-5 houra day, generates non at night or bad weather. May generate non for several days in bad (cloudy weather ) So the supply of reneables (solar ) is un reliable. To make renewables (solar ) reliable , we need big (grid size) batterys. For the grid we need new transmission lines. Predicted to be 10,ooo KM for Austrlia. Cost of new transmission network, last estimate i saw was $40 Billion AU

The government mandated smart meters will allow peoples power supply to be turned off when the likely power shortages occur.