The disconnect, I believe, is more to do with them not having found a way to charge us money for something which is effectively free. They have mitigated the losses a bit by still charging for a connection to the grid, even if you are putting in more than you pull out. I don’t have solar (wish I did) but I do think that probably is the case.
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Are fossil fuels going the way of the film camera?
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The AEMO Roadmap wants renewable energy generation in Australia to triple by 2040 to replace coal fired generation.
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The real challenge perhaps lies with some alternate directions.
The latest discussion from the AEMO is driven by the principal of large scale generation under centralised control.
Just as Uber, Amazon etc have digitally disrupted their markets a future with a decentralised grid and multiple smaller local energy businesses is also likely.
Micro grids
These have potential to destroy the current business models of both the state owned electricity entities and the big electricity companies EG AGL, Origin, Alinta, Transgrid, Ergon, etc.
There is a place for the interconnecting network grid, but only as a means of trading energy. The old school notion of centralised control for stability of the national network, is further eroded if the trend towards High Voltage DC for interconnects takes off.
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And the longer we delay, the more expensive it will be.
You want higher power prices? We can do that!
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Pardon?
Didn’t the UK just return with a significant majority a conservative government. I watched theIr party leader Boris Johnston in a televised speech to the party faithful promise zero carbon, increased commitments to the NHS (national Health), spending for new hospitals, and a increased commitment to the government run education system. Sorry, left out Brexit! 
True, the UK does use nuclear power in it’s energy mix. That’s historical and not their solution to carbon neutral or zero carbon. Everything else sounds so unlike the conservative side of Aussie politics. Are we sure we have a conservative federal government, or is it some other flavour that is neither conservative nor progressive?
Electricity prices and whether they increase or decrease seem a long way removed from stark political reality. The nation still needs a plan to meet all future energy needs. The cost will be what it is. The less planned the greater the cost to us all.
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What they say and what they do may end up being complete opposites. I think it won’t take long to manifest either way.
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I suggest it was not to the party faithful, but directed toward those who were enticed to vote Tory. Being a politician of the modern type one might expect with the possible exception of Brexit spin whatever he mouthed should be taken at or near 180 degrees to understand his real agenda.
After Brexit, a trade deal with the USA, where he will be pushed very hard to sell Americans the NHS seems on the Tory agenda for starters. Environmental things? It can always wait in their world.
If nothing, politics is fascinating in how people react (and vote) and how marketing psychology seems more important than policies. Reports suggest most Tory ads were disingenuous if not outright misleading while Labour’s were not. A message in how good honesty works in politics? Argh!
edit: Speaking outside Downing Street, Johnson said the NHS would be his top priority in government, What are the odds the action that will be taken is not what those who want to hear those words expect? eg a sell off to American companies or just privatisation.
OT but relevant there and here, my other post.
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I agree.
I just find the contrast of policy and political branding between so called ‘conservative politicians’ in Australia and the UK irresistible.
Perhaps as you suggest it is
Which is why consumers should not hold great hope of our own politicians delivering our future energy needs and cheaper electricity. 
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One way to reduce bills could have unintended consequences:
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Could help consumers lower their electricity bills. “Cloud-based”, which raises security and privacy concerns. Being real-time, I imagine it wouldn’t be too hard to detect patterns of behaviour or figure out when the house is empty.
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Because I have to remain home a lot ToU tariffs would have a substantial impact to our detriment on our budget. We would be paying vastly more through the day on this kind of move. What we need is to make home generation & storage of electricity compulsory for anywhere it can be done. If it requires large subsidies from our Govts to implement it in the first place so be it. The long term benefits should out weigh the initial costs of doing so, these benefits are perhaps not money ones but lifestyle, GHG reduction, better stability of supply and similar. The grids need to be refurbished so that this large consumer generation pool can be shared around effectively & efficiently when it is needed.
Taxes would have to increase for perhaps some time but the long term result for our Society and energy equality would be vast in my opinion.
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The local Ergon network went belly-up once again yesterday, the third time in the last few months.
The first time was when one of thir underground cables failed in our area leaving hundreds of homes without power for many hours.
Then a few weeks ago, a vehicle hit a power pole not far from us leaving thousands without power and necessitating the local supermarkets dumping their refridgerated stocks.
Yesterday we had the first thunderstorm of the season mid-morning which soon resulted in many thousands being left without power across the Cairns region, with some still left in the dark last night.
The storm consisted of a lot of lightning and a small amout of rain without any strong winds.
Fortunately the only thing that occured at our home was that the main RCD switch tripped off.
Hopefully we do not get any cyclones this year or we might all be left permanently in the dark.
Ergon, the network with gold plated prices for scrap iron reliability.
I was going to call it a Mickey Mouse network but decided not to, not out of any concern for Disney’s copyright but so as not to insult a global icon.
So what ought the be doing to prevent vehicles from running into poles and lightning from striking equipment?
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I can only presume that is less costly than installing a backup generator sufficient for the freezers and cold storage, that is manually operated after a given period?
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Spoilage Insurance or tax write off of spoilage is cheaper than the generator perhaps?
Getting a bit OT, but I would think the best way for them to get through blackouts of up to a few hours would be with phase change materials, which can absorb heat at suitable temperatures for frozen goods. Saturated saline solution is my favourite, able to keep ice cream hard, or trout hard frozen for 6+ hours in an esky.
I cant believe the difficulties I have had with my energy provider Energy Australia. I am located in Queensland and was told 1 week ago when I called that there were to be no changes in rates for Queensland Customers. In less then 1 week I received an email stating that my Solar feedin tariff was being reduced.
I complained about this and was simply just run around with saying I need only be given 10 days notice of any changes. My contract has fixed rates to Mid 2020 but apparently this excludes Solar Feedin rates. So in reality I will be paying MORE for electricity.
I have checked other providers and my contract now is Energy Australia is more expensive, well it seems to be. I have asked Energy Australia, as per the new competition laws, to provide their comparison rate and discount provided.
I have been told how to find their Reference Rate but they cant provide the percentage discount of this rate which is need to complete a comparison. This is required under new ACCC documented laws.
There seems to be a lot of errors and mis information being provided with a distinct lack of clear interest.
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