250,000 Cheaper Home Batteries are powering the suburbs, rural and regional Australia
The Hon Chris Bowen MP
Minister for Climate Change and Energy
Member for McMahon
Carol Berry MP
Member for Whitlam
Monday 2 March 2026
JOINT MEDIA RELEASE
Over a quarter of a million households, small businesses and community organisations have now installed a bill busting battery under the Albanese Government’s Cheaper Home Batteries program, with around half of those installing new or upgraded solar systems at the same time.
Batteries help households store the cheaper, cleaner energy they generate during the day, and use it at night. That means less reliance on peak prices, a more reliable grid and putting downward pressure on prices for everyone.
New postcode-level data shows the clean energy upgrade is being led by the outer suburbs and by rural and regional communities, not the inner-city. Around 77 per cent of uptake has occurred in these regional and outer-suburban areas.
Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen and Carol Berry MP, Member for Whitlam, said the results reflect what households are telling them right across the country; people want to cut their power bills, get more value from their solar, and take control of their energy use.
The data shows strongest uptake across family suburbs, outer metro growth areas, and towns and regions where households are already leading the way on rooftop solar.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen:
“This is what the clean energy transformation looks like when it is working for Australians. It is practical, it is household-focused, and it is being led by the suburbs and the regions.
“Cheaper Home Batteries are helping families cut power bills and get more value from their solar. The postcode data makes it clear, this is not an inner-city story, it is a regional story.
“Labor is getting on with the job, cleaner, cheaper, reliable energy for every community.”
Quotes attributable to Carol Berry MP, Member for Whitlam:
“In Whitlam, 2118 families and local businesses are embracing energy upgrades that save them money and make their homes and businesses more energy efficient.
“These results show our community is getting on with it, taking up batteries and backing in a cleaner energy future that takes advantage of Australia’s abundant renewable resources.”
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