Last month, a presentation by Western Australia’s state-owned electricity retailer, Synergy, suggested that, within a decade, residential buildings may use the grid for only 10% of their energy supply, thanks to a combination of smart building and appliances, together with solar and battery storage. The presentation, titled ‘The Challenges of Creative Destruction for the Electricity Industry’, was delivered last month by the Synergy chairman, Lyndon Rowe. In the same week the electricity retailer proposed a controversial ‘Sun Tax’ on solar power users effectively doubling the charge to connect the state’s more than 191,000 solar households to the grid. Under the proposal, WA home owners who have invested in solar technology could see their annual electricity charges increase from around Au$820 to Au$1666. Rowe, who claims to be “a believer” in rooftop solar, reasons that the annual charges of solar households don’t reflect the actual cost of being connected to the network. “I’m a believer and […]