Recording available here

Overview

Australia is a world leader in the per-capita deployment of rooftop solar photovoltaics (PV) with more than three million households realizing benefits including reduced energy bills and improved energy security. However, these benefits are unevenly distributed. Research shows First Nations residents of public housing in remote Australia who are mandated or elect to use prepay, experience frequent ‘self-disconnection’ from energy services, a known indicator of energy insecurity. Upfront capital costs combined with the lack of a precedent in connecting solar PV has long meant prepay households are locked out from realizing the benefits of energy transition in regions host to world class renewable energy generation potential. This seminar details preliminary research from a case study of rooftop solar for prepay in Australia’s remote Northern Territory. In addition to reduced electricity expenditures, rooftop solar PV can improve experiences of household energy insecurity, reducing the incidence of involuntary ‘self-disconnection’ due to an inability to pay. Support for rooftop solar can mitigate frequent exposure to disconnection and bring multiple co-benefits for priority communities, including First Nations families living in public housing who prepay for access to energy services.

Speaker

Brad Riley is a Research Fellow at the Australian National University’s Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR) and works on the ANU Grand Challenge Zero Carbon Energy in the Asia-Pacific investigating First Nations benefit in the energy transition.