Find out what rebates are available in your area with this guide:
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It’s also worth looking to the retailers in your region for options. EG AGL and Origin offer Solar with battery bundles and introductory discounts or rates.
Some may include payment plans over a fixed term to ease the path or opportunities to participate in a VPP (Virtual Power Plant).
Whether they offer a genuine saving over time or meet other home owners needs - they are a significant commitment.
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It is worth adding that these state government programs are lucrative enough so they attract an unexpectedly wide range of companies of varied quality offering to sell ‘the product’ regardless if free or just subsidised.
Some have been known to supply very ordinary products to fit the money on the table that only last a few years before becoming problems in their own right. As with buying anything, caveat emptor and be careful about cold contacts (SMS, email, door knockers, calls, flyers, etc).
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I think Choice should be doing a lot better than this report.
The essence of Choice is comparison.
It should be headed with a description about what consumers expect in how this switch to sustainable energy should be enabled and managed. That doesn’t just apply to house ownership, eg, flats, rentals. Clearly it also links to the transition to electric vehicles and consequently their charging, at home, when on the road.
If the Gov’t isn’t going to lead this, then advocacy groups like Choice need too.
Hence, then put together a table of what is available, what are the costs, the pitfalls, the benefits that we can easily see what is/isn’t being done federally and in each State, so we can then use it to get a better deals for the whole nation.
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I don’t follow you here. How will comparison of solar and appliance rebates between States help? How is it useful to compare one with the others as there is no choice about which one you can have?
If as a nation there are say several different pricing models, eg, mobile phones, then knowing what is available helps you understand your pricing relative to others. If there are say 5 benefits available, but your state has only applies 2; you may not have even known about the others, ie, that could be made available, but armed with both the knowledge and the comparison, then consumers have a basis for action. Eg, in the eastern states you get a lot or realtime news and current affairs on ABC, that other states don’t. Armed with the facts you can at least advocate.
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So instead of using comparisons to help people buy the best product you want them to use it to lobby for better rebates and services from their State. I am not sure that is going to be of any value as while some people will add their name to an existing campaign very few will lobby politicians directly themselves.
I think the resources Choice has would be better directed to making comparisons that help choose between products where such choice is possible and to providing general information where it is not.
You seem to be assuming that within every State there is choice. Without this typical comparison that Choice exists to do, how can we tell?
Quite the reverse. There is no choice within States, each has its policy and its qualifications for any rebate, there is only one entitlement in each State assuming any at all.
