Cheaper Home Batteries Expansion Signals Shift Toward Household-Led Energy Storage in Australia’s Power System

The Albanese Labor Government has announced a major expansion of its Cheaper Home Batteries program, aiming to help more households, small businesses and community groups permanently reduce their energy bills while strengthening the national electricity grid.

Under the expanded plan, the program’s funding will increase to an estimated $7.2 billion over four years, up from the initial $2.3 billion allocation. The Government expects this to enable more than 2 million Australians to install home batteries by 2030, delivering around 40 gigawatt hours (GWh) of storage capacity. This significantly exceeds the original election commitment of 1 million batteries and represents almost a fourfold increase in expected capacity.

Since its launch less than six months ago, the Cheaper Home Batteries program has already supported more than 155,000 households and small businesses to install battery storage, helping them reduce electricity bills and manage their energy use more effectively. Around three-quarters of these installations have taken place in suburban and regional areas.

The program has delivered approximately 3.5 GWh of new battery storage during this period, nearly doubling Australia’s total home battery capacity compared with levels before the program commenced. Around half of participating households also installed solar panels for the first time or upgraded existing systems.

The Government said increased uptake of home batteries is delivering broader benefits across the energy system. Stored rooftop solar energy helps smooth evening demand and reduce peak pricing, supporting grid stability and lowering costs for all consumers. Analysis by the Australian Energy Market Commission indicates that, even under conservative assumptions, higher household battery adoption could reduce energy bills across the system by around 3% annually by flattening expensive peak demand periods.

Alongside the funding expansion, the Government announced changes to the structure of the subsidy to ensure the program remains sustainable over the long term. From 1 May 2026, a tiered support system will be introduced to encourage households to install battery systems appropriately sized to their needs.

Under the revised arrangement, the roughly 30% discount will be staggered based on battery size, with the level of support moderating per kilowatt hour for medium and larger systems. The first 50 kWh of capacity will remain eligible for support, for battery systems of up to 100 kWh.

The Government said the changes reflect falling battery costs and growing consumer choice, and are designed to enable more Australians to access home battery storage while managing program costs responsibly.

The Cheaper Home Batteries program is being delivered through the existing Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme, the same framework used to support rooftop solar installations. Currently, around one in three Australian households has rooftop solar, with higher concentrations in suburban areas than in inner-city locations.

Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the expansion would build on Australia’s strong solar uptake and deliver lasting benefits for households and the grid.

He said the Government wanted to ensure more households could access batteries that reduce bills and improve energy reliability, making cheap solar power available when it is needed, day or night. Bowen added that responsible budget management had enabled the Government to expand the program while continuing to fund other priorities, including healthcare, cheaper medicines, student debt relief and tax cuts.

The Government said the policy adjustments are intended to position home batteries as the next major clean energy legacy, following the widespread adoption of rooftop solar across Australia.