More local solar, storage key to keeping lights on in heat

The Queensland Conservation Council is calling for more government support for household solar, storage and energy efficiency in response to power outages across the state.

"Unfortunately, due to climate change we’re seeing more frequent and extreme heat waves and other weather events and this puts our electricity grid under a lot of stress," said Stephanie Gray, campaigner at Queensland Conservation Council.

"There is no magic solution to make sure the lights stay on in the face of extreme weather but there are many steps we can take to make our energy system more resilient.

"Generating more power closer to where it's used with household and community-scale solar and storage can play a huge role in reducing electricity demand and grid stress.

"Solar and storage microgrids are really valuable for isolated or remote communities that rely on vulnerable long-distance network infrastructure or even diesel generators.

"We're also seeing an increasing number of people able to avoid blackouts all together by using household batteries or even some models of electric cars.

"There's still a lot more that governments can do to make sure that all Queenslanders have access to solar and storage, particularly renters and social housing tenants.

"The other really key measure that we'd encourage the state and federal governments to invest in is improving energy efficiency.

"We've seen some progress in this space to date but there is so much more we can do in Queensland to help households and businesses be more energy efficient.

"We know that many Queensland homes are not energy efficient so they get unhealthily hot in summer and cold in winter, which means people are using much more electricity than they should have to to keep their homes within a healthy temperature range."