30 September 2026

Cheaper Power for Victorian Communities

Friends of the Earth is fighting alongside communities to pressure all 2026 state election candidates to support policies that will speed up our clean energy transition and make power cheaper for all Victorians.

Add your name to our 'Victorians Want Cheaper Power' petition.

The Victorian Cheaper Power Pledge

The Cheaper Power Pledge is a way for community members to ask election candidates to publicly support cleaner, cheaper energy. The pledge is based on a simple idea: investing in renewable energy and electrification can help lower power bills, reduce pollution, and create a better future for Victoria.

Click here to read the Victorian Cheaper Power Pledge.

Want to see which candidates in your electorate have signed the Cheaper Power Pledge? Click here to see the full public list of candidates who have signed - and refused!

Background: Victoria's Energy System

Victoria's ageing coal-fired power stations continue to break down and cause blackouts, and Victorian gas supplies are running out. These dirty old fossil fuels offer no secure energy future for our state.

But the solution already exists: Victoria is home to abundant, renewable sun and wind power that will never run out. Over a million Victorians are already enjoying the benefits of cheap, clean energy generated in their own homes through solar panels and batteries. However, millions of Victorians - including renters, apartment dwellers, and low-income households - continue to be locked out of accessing these benefits. We are calling on all candidates standing for the 2026 state election to offer policies that will make clean, cheap energy accessible to all Victorians to generate in their own homes.

Clean energy is already making power cheaper for all Victorians.

Even if you don't have solar panels on your own roof, the solar and wind farms in Victoria are keeping your power bills lower than what they would be if we only relied on dirty, expensive coal and gas.

Without the clean energy already in the system – now generating around half our electricity – the average household bill would have been $417 higher in 2024, a cost of $3.8 billion nationally. [1]

Clean energy is already working for all of us, by putting low-cost energy into our electricity grid. For households who have been able to install solar, switch from gas to electric appliances and add a battery, the savings go up. Nearly a million Victorian households are saving an average of $1,500 a year with rooftop solar. Add a battery and those savings climb to around $2,300. [2] For the average fossil-fuelled Victorian household, going fully electric, with solar, a battery and an EV can save up to $4,100 a year. [3]

Clean energy won’t fix everything. Outdated market rules and big energy companies profiteering are driving bills up too. But right now, it’s the only thing actually working to counter expensive coal and gas and shield us from price hikes from global disruption [4], and building more of it, faster, is the best way to lower bills.

Expensive fossil fuels and an unfair system are driving bills up. The next government’s job is simple: get more clean energy built, faster, and make sure every Victorian shares in the savings.

WHY ARE POWER BILLS SO HIGH?

1. EXPENSIVE GAS GENERATION PUSHES UP ELECTRICITY PRICES FOR EVERYONE.

Gas is the most expensive power source in Victoria's grid, and since 2015 we've been shipping most of our gas overseas, so Australian gas prices now follow the volatile international market.

Every global disruption becomes a bill hike here - with big corporations cashing in. Eight major oil and gas companies pocketed $93 billion in just three months this year as the Iran war sent prices soaring, almost double the same period last year. [5]

2. OUR AGEING COAL POWER STATIONS KEEP BREAKING DOWN, AND THAT'S WHEN PRICES SPIKE HARDEST.

Most of Victoria's coal generators are more than 40 years old. Last year alone, outages from breakdowns and repairs took the equivalent of 70 days of generation offline in Victoria. Every time that happens, we lean harder on expensive gas to fill the gap, and prices spike. [6, 7]

3. ENERGY RETAILERS ARE FINDING WAYS TO POCKET THE SAVINGS, RATHER THAN PASSING THEM ON TO YOU.

Even as electricity costs come down, some companies are increasing daily connection charges. Gas users are charged separately for gas connections. And up to 40% of Australian households are paying too much for electricity because they're not on their retailer's cheapest available plan. Those who've stayed on the same plan for years pay the steepest penalty: an average $221 more a year. [8]

References

Clean Energy Investor Group (2025), The Cost of No Renewables, https://www.ceig.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/2025-03-CEIG-The-cost-of-no-renewables.pdf
Climate Council, Battery Boom: Supercharging Australia’s Renewable Rollout (2026), https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/resources/battery-boom-supercharging-australias-renewable-rollout/
Rewiring Australia (March 2025), The Electrification Tipping Point, https://storage.googleapis.com/rewiring-aus-pdfs/The%20Electrification%20Tipping%20Point%20-%20Rewiring%20Australia%20-%20March%202025.pdf
Griffith University (2022), Gas Price and Electricity Price Relationship, No. 2022-08, https://www.griffith.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0034/1639348/No.2022-08-Gas-Price-and-Electricity-price-Relationship.pdf
The Guardian (4 Aug 2026), “Revealed: major oil firms make $93bn profits amid war and climate crisis”
Reliability Watch (2025), coal outage tracker, https://www.reliabilitywatch.org.au/blog-posts/summer-breakdowns-2026
Climate Council, Lights Out: Ageing coal and summer blackouts, https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/resources/lights-out-ageing-coal-and-summer-blackouts/
ACCC, Inquiry into the National Electricity Market, December 2025 Report, https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/inquiry-national-electricity-market-report-december-2025.pdf

Continue Reading

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