Introducing our new sister site – One Step Off The Grid

RenewEconomy is proud to announce the launch of One Step Off The Grid, our sister site that will focus on the consumer side of the energy market, and how the uptake of rooftop solar, battery storage and other technologies will usher in a dramatic transformation of our energy system.

Australia is at the cutting edge of this revolution. Already, it has more “pro-sumers” – consumers that produce at least some of their own electricity needs – per head of population than any other country. The advent of battery storage will offer even more choice. For some, it will mean the ability to leave the grid.

But what are the social, economic, and business impacts of this transformation? How do consumers navigate their way through the complexity of tariffs, policy changes, and new technologies, and make the choice that suit their needs? Do we really want suburban households to quit the grid? Will the utilities evolve their business models?

That is why we have created One Step Off The Grid. It is a free website and will have a weekly newsletter (click here to sign up for the newsletter), although it will be updated daily.

It will provide information to consumers – in households, business and communities – on all of the latest developments, such as these new projections on commercial solar uptake, and the latest on solar, battery storage, tariff and policy changes.

It also will focus on stories of what families, businesses, communities and townships have done, and are doing. Our first “story from behind the meter” is with Greens leader Richard Di Natale, who lives off-grid near Melbourne.

We also have stories from a household off the grid in the Hawkesbury, and a Ballina car wash company that has slashed its bills by two thirds with the help of rooftop solar and energy efficient lighting.

And One Step Off The Grid will also have a special forum where readers can ask questions, and exchange information and ideas, about the new technologies.

It will offer a paid listing service for installers and other professionals, and of course we invite companies to consider advertising opportunities. You can find out more here.

There will be some overlap between the two web-sites, but RenewEconomy – which has built up a newsletter subscriber list of nearly 10,000 people, and monthly readership of nearly 200,000 unique visitors – will continue to be our flagship publication.

It will build on its reputation as the leading and must-read publication on the main developments in the renewable energy sector and climate change policy in Australia and overseas, focusing on global technology trends and breakthroughs, and stories and interviews on the initiatives and the principals players in the industry.

We hope that you find One Step Off The Grid to be a useful addition to your reading. It will issue its own weekly newsletter, while RenewEconomy will continue to issue a daily edition.

We’d love to get your feedback.

With Best Wishes

Giles Parkinson and the team.