The Cheaper Home Batteries Program (CHBP) is not simply subsidising battery installations; it is safely empowering households to become active participants in Australia’s energy transition through a mature, risk-aware and high-integrity regulatory framework.
Over half a million home battery installations have already helped put energy back into the hands of consumers since the program began mid last year.
In the past, Australia’s energy system was built around large generators supplying electricity to passive consumers. Today, through rooftop solar and now home batteries, households are generating, storing and managing their own energy.
The CHBP is helping accelerate that transition, democratising our energy system by giving more Australians access to technologies that lower energy bills, strengthen the grid and support a cleaner energy future.
A modern, decentralised energy system requires strong safety standards, effective oversight and qualified industry participants. The program has been designed with those elements from the outset. It was built on the foundations of the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES), a proven framework that has supported renewable energy adoption in millions of Australian homes for over 15 years.
Transforming any major system brings scrutiny, and scrutiny is healthy. But there is a difference between constructive oversight and criticism that is focused on isolated issues while overlooking the broader public benefit.
Some critics have suggested that safety measures are not keeping pace with the rapid growth in demand for the scheme, but this is not the case.
One of the reasons we can be confident in the safety of the program is that home battery systems are highly engineered products, with internal safety controls and performance standards independently verified through rigorous approval processes before being included on the scheme’s eligible product list. In other words, we can have confidence in the batteries themselves.Â
Importantly, we do not take that confidence for granted. While a small number of issues have emerged with manufacturers over the 15-year history of the SRES, Australia’s regulatory framework has successfully identified and addressed them.
The Clean Energy Regulator (CER) is continually strengthening compliance settings through expanded inspections (inspections began 2 weeks into the program), targeted enforcement action against poor performers, enhanced installer training, new photo and labelling requirements, and close collaboration with state and territory safety regulators and industry.
We work closely with bodies including the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to monitor risks, respond to emerging concerns and ensure appropriate action is taken where necessary, helping to maintain the high safety standards expected by consumers.
We are constantly reviewing, responding and questioning if there is more that we can do. The government has established an Industry Advisory Implementation Committee (IAIC) that is chaired by the CER to proactively raise market changes and product or installation safety concerns and consumer concerns.
Inspection results tell a very different story to the one often portrayed by critics. Far from exposing a system failing to manage risk, they demonstrate a mature regulatory framework actively identifying issues, driving improvements and holding poor performers to account.
The vast majority of installations meet required standards, while those that do not are subject to established compliance and rectification processes. The CER’s inspection program, transparency measures and close engagement with regulators and industry are precisely what high-integrity oversight looks like.
The real story of the CHBP is not one of risk ignored. It is one of risk understood, managed and continually reviewed and adapted where needed, through a mature regulatory framework. It is a story of hundreds of thousands of Australians gaining greater energy independence, lower bills and a stronger role in the nation’s energy future.
The measure of the program’s success will not be whether challenges arise. Such rapid growth requires strong oversight, and the measure of success will be how effectively risks are identified, addressed and learned from as Australia builds a cleaner, more affordable and more resilient energy system.
Carl Binning is the acting chair of the Clean Energy Regulator (CER)
