Expert Insights on Solar, Batteries and Power Bills

Ask most people what energy plan they're on and they can probably tell you the retailer, and maybe the rate. Ask them what network tariff their home is on and you'll usually get a blank look. Fair enough too - because most retailers never mention it.

If you have been searching for the best smart energy solutions for your home, you have probably found plenty of lists of gadgets. Smart plugs, smart thermostats, energy monitors. They are fine, but they are the small end of the opportunity. The biggest financial difference for most Australian households comes from three things working together: solar, a home battery, and the energy plan that decides what they are all worth. The hardware gets most of the attention. The plan almost never does. This guide covers what actually counts as a smart energy solution, how the main options compare, and why the plan behind your hardware matters as much as the hardware itself.

Ask someone why they haven't bought an EV yet, and there's a good chance battery life comes up. Concern about battery longevity remains one of the most common barriers to EV adoption. The worry rests on a few assumptions. But years of real-world data now tell a different story, which is great news for the record number of EV buyers in Australia last month.

We’ve spent plenty of time explaining the "loyalty tax" - that frustrating pattern where an energy retailer wins you over with a killer introductory rate, then raises your price once you've settled in and stopped checking. Now, one state has stepped in to stop it. As of 1 July 2026, Victoria became the first jurisdiction in Australia to ban the energy retailer loyalty tax outright. So how does it work, and how will it impact Victoria and other states?

The short answer: the biggest savings on an Australian power bill usually come from fixing the plan, not rationing the heater. Households on an electricity plan more than three years old pay an average of $221 more per year than those on newer plans, according to the ACCC's December 2025 National Electricity Market report. So before you start rationing showers, run five checks on your plan. None of them require a spreadsheet, just your latest bill and a bit of healthy suspicion.

You've seen the ads. $400 credit for switching. Free months of energy. A gift card just for signing up. It works, because who doesn't want free money? So who pays for all that free money? In most cases, you do. Not on the day the bonus lands in your account, but six or twelve months later, once your rates have quietly reset and you've stopped checking. A sign-up bonus is an advance, and the retailer fully intends to collect.

Chris is back with your winter update, read on to learn about what's happening with our subscription prices, the two-way tariffs announcement, our V2G program expansion and the effects of the mild winter we're experiencing.

From this July, most of the electricity networks Amber operates in will start offering two-way tariffs, which will change how much you're paid for exporting solar or battery power depending on the time of day, offering evening export bonuses of up to 15c/kWh on top of normal rates. On paper, it sounds like a massive win for battery owners. But quicker than you can say "did someone say bonus rates" traditional energy retailers are already working behind the scenes to pocket those export rates for themselves and cut battery owners out of the deal. If you think missing out on a two-way tariff designed to reward smart energy use sounds lousy, read on to find out what’s actually changing, how big energy companies are trying to exploit it, and how you can ensure your battery works for you - not your retailer.

We've made the decision to close Charge HQ - a decision we didn't take lightly. Since Amber acquired Charge HQ, co-founder Jay Banyer has brought deep EV expertise and a lean, agile mindset that's shaped how our teams build. We're grateful for everything he's contributed.

If you’ve ever tried to figure out if you're on the right energy plan for your battery, you already know the drill. You open a few retailer websites, line up the offers and within about ten minutes your eyes glaze over. The numbers don't sit side by side. The terms don't mean the same thing. And the harder you look, the less confident you feel. You’re not missing something. The complexity of trying to compare plans is entirely by design.

Solar Sharer Offer, the government's new scheme giving households in NSW, SEQ and SA three hours of free electricity every day around midday, launched today, 1 July 2026 - and we think it's a step in the right direction. Now that it's live, we want to share how it will work with Amber. We cover what Solar Sharer actually is, how the rates compare across each network region, what Amber's offer looks like and who the scheme is well suited to.

We've been talking a lot lately about the loyalty tax. A fair question has come up in response - including from some of our own community. Amber gives out referral credits when you join through a friend. Isn't that just a new customer discount wearing a nicer outfit? Aren't we doing the exact thing we criticise? It's a reasonable question. So let's go through what the loyalty tax actually is, how our referral credits work, and why the two aren't the same.