Australia is Offering Three Hours of Free Electricity Per Day to Consumers from Solar That Would Otherwise Be Curtailed

     Beginning in July 2026, Australia is offering free electricity to power consumers in three regions, New South Wales, South-East Queensland, and South Australia, for about three hours per day, mainly from 11AM to 2PM, when solar generation is high and at risk of being curtailed. There are plans to expand the offer throughout Australia in 2027. The goal is for consumers to shift their high power use to those hours, saving money in the process. The program is known as the Solar Sharer Offer (SSO). As the graphs below show, solar generation spot prices often go negative in the middle of the day when generation exceeds demand. The power not being used is simply lost. With the SSO, some of that power can be consumed instead of simply being lost. It can also decrease demand at other times during the day after being shifted to the free hours window. The graph below shows how solar overgeneration has increased as a result of Australia's rooftop solar boom.

     EV owners and those with electric resistive hot water systems can simply use timers to shift powering them to the free energy window. Solar Sharer is a part of the government’s broader Default Market Offer reforms process, which seeks to shield consumers from electricity price spikes during high-demand hours. The SSO is designed to decrease those spikes by shifting demand towards the free hours. Those with home battery energy storage systems can especially benefit from SSO by charging for free. That makes SSO a significant incentive for installing a home battery.

     The free electricity is available to those with or without rooftop solar panels. There is a limit known as reasonable use that caps how much energy can be used in the free window. The program was designed with the help of public feedback, but electricity retailers were not happy about not being consulted initially, although they can add feedback now. Of concern are tariff design, impacts on consumers, how the SSO will work with other reforms, consumer risks, and opportunities and risks associated with implementation.

     The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) is advocating for a similar program in the U.S. Regions with high solar penetration, such as California, which may be ripe for it. They estimate that consumers could save hundreds of dollars per year. Ted Kelly of EDF notes:

“Australia found a way through smart policy and streamlined permitting, interconnection rules, and inspections to bring a spectacular amount of solar power online and start offering free electricity to many residential customers who don’t have panels on their homes,” says Kelly. “With the right policies at the local, state and federal level, there’s no reason we can’t do that here.”

      

 

References:

 

Free electricity? Australia’s got it, thanks to solar. Could the US be next? Liz Galst. Environmental Defense Fund. June 11, 2026. Free electricity? Australia’s got it, thanks to solar. Could the US be next?

Solar Sharer Offer to cut electricity bills. Government of Australia. 23 January 2026. Solar Sharer Offer to cut electricity bills | energy.gov.au

Free Electricity For All? Not Quite: Solar Sharer Explained. Michael Bloch. Solarquotes.com. November 5, 2025. Free Electricity For All? Not Quite: Solar Sharer Explained