Plan to switch off air-con, pool pump and hot water remotely to shore up power grid

Being able to turn off solar isn’t enough. The Government now wants electricity retailers to be able to switch off your air-con and pool pumps.

Household air conditioners, pool pumps, hot water systems and electric vehicle chargers would be switched off remotely when the power grid is under pressure, under changes planned by the State Government.

The appliances could also be switched on externally - rather than by the householder - when there is not enough demand in the system, the Energy and Mining Department says.

Reforms are needed because of the impact of rooftop solar but would apply to all households.

Compulsory new requirements for these energy-hungry appliances to have technical capability for remote control have been agreed by the nation’s energy ministers but South Australia wants to move faster than other states.

Household air conditioners, pool pumps, hot water systems and electric vehicle chargers would be switched off remotely when the power grid is under pressure.

“While SA supports a national approach ... national progress does not match the growing significance of minimum demand and peak demand challenges in SA,” the department says.

Energy and Mining Minister Dan van Holst Pellekaan said the changes aimed to cut costs for households which opted in to their retailer using the remote controls.

“These are important measures to deliver lower bills for households which choose to participate, by rewarding them with access to the cheapest available electricity,” he said.

“It will be completely up to consumers whether they accept offers from retailers, such as cheaper power for heating water or charging electric cars when there’s more abundant renewable energy available in the grid.”

Energy and Mining Minister Dan van Holst Pellekaan.

The changes follow new State Government rules that all new solar systems must be capable of being switched off remotely. This was first applied on March 14 when more than 10,000 SA home solar systems were stopped from exporting power.

The new reforms look at the other side of the equation - giving electricity system operators more control of the demand side.

Opposition energy spokesman Tom Koutsantonis said it was a “lazy” approach to the issue.

“If Labor wins office we will be using an overabundance of solar power to produce green hydrogen rather than turning people’s solar panels off,” he said.

“Then, we would use that green hydrogen to power our 200MW hydrogen power station when the grid is tight rather than turning household appliances like airconditioners off in heatwaves.”

The department acknowledged changes would add cost to appliances and reduce the range of models available.

Modelling for the government puts these costs at $27m to $45m but says benefits would be $70m to $95m, because of a reduced need to upgrade the electricity grid.

In saying how changes would be implemented the department said: “It is proposed that the Energy Products (Safety and Efficiency) Act 2000 will be used to create an offence for offering for sale air conditioners, electric vehicle chargers and pool pump controllers, that do not comply with an energy performance standard relating to demand response capability.”

The Department said energy ministers nationally have already agreed that water heaters sold from 2023 must be capable of being turned off (emergency load shedding).

It says the Department’s preferred option was for SA to have “early adoption of the energy ministers decision” and to go further - with inclusion of capability for bigger hot water tanks to be switched on to increase demand.

On radio, Mr Van Holst Pellekaan said he had “no intention” of making the new standards compulsory and that, at this stage, the Government was only interested in trialling the technology.

Targeting only select appliances would avoid turning off entire households during rolling blackouts of suburbs.

It is expected households with solar could continue to power their appliances behind the meter.

The department is consulting industry on when to introduce the changes, with a range of dates between July this year and 2025. Different start dates may be used for different appliances. They would be fitted with devices to dial down use to half or three-quarter power or to be switched on and off.

Companies had until last week to make submissions to the department on the reforms.

The changes comes as a trial is set to begin in July by SA Power Networks to enable households to double the amount of electricity they sell from their solar system into the grid most of the time. However, when there is an excess, limits would be scaled down.

If households do not accept the “flexible exports” option, they would have a fixed limit considerably less than the existing default setting.

SA Power Networks said initially, it will be apply to new or upgraded solar in the southern suburbs with about 800 homes affected. Exactly which suburbs will be involved was yet to be finalised.

“Flexible exports and other initiatives we are undertaking will mean more South Australians will have the opportunity to install solar and gain the benefit,” SAPN general manager Mark Vincent said.

“The outcome for individual customers depends on a host of factors and customers should talk to their solar installer about specfic benefits.”

Mark Vincent, general manager strategy and transformation, SA Power, Networks.

Under existing rules, a default limit of 5 kilowatts is set for household solar exports.

The new options would be a flexible limit of up to 10kW or a fixed limit of 1.5kW.

While initially only applying to the trial area, SAPN aims to extend the options across SA.

By 2025, SA Power Networks aims to double how much solar it can accommodate in the system by making reforms and upgrades to its network.

Clean Energy Council client services manager Mike Stone said flexible limits were a smarter option than imposing lower or zero export limits.

“In the long run it will mean more South Australians will be able to invest and benefit from solar,” he said.

SA Power Networks said the flexible limits program was separate from a bid to have households pay a fee to export power. That proposal awaits a final decision by the Australian Energy Market Commission and would not apply before 2025 at the earliest.

While SA is ahead of other states in renewable energy, others are catching up. On Tuesday night, wind power alone provided a record 5430MW of power - 26 per cent of national electricity market supply - just before midnight, according to the Australian Energy Market Operator.

Originally published as Plan to switch off air-con, pool pump and hot water remotely to shore up power grid