00:03From one renewable resource to another, Chris Richardson's home is part of what's known
00:08as a virtual power plant. His battery is controlled by an energy company that manages when to sell
00:14the electricity back to the grid.
00:15I guess initially when I saw that they were taking electricity out of my battery at night
00:21I was a bit, oh they can't do this, this is not fair, you know, there was uproar. But
00:26the reality was it made no difference so I was still running my house for free.
00:31But he's something of an exception. Australia's consumer watchdog has found most people installing
00:36a battery are rejecting VPPs, with fewer than a quarter signing up to such schemes. Energy
00:42experts say the stakes are high, given more than 4 million homes have solar panels and
00:47half a million now have batteries as well.
00:49Billions of savings could come from this into the future.
00:53Critics say consumers can now access the electricity market directly, cutting out
00:57the middle man.
00:58That combination turns you into a genuine power plant that can buy and sell power just
01:03like the big boys used to be.
01:04So called dynamic retailers who give households direct access to the electricity market are
01:09appealing to some, but they're not without risks. Spot prices can rise to extraordinary
01:14highs and customers caught on the wrong side of them can get burned.
01:18At home in Melbourne, Chris Richardson is comfortable with his decision to be part of a virtual power
01:23plant. The guys who have got it at work, we laugh. We just laugh. We go, why aren't
01:29people doing this? Empowering consumers, virtually or otherwise.
01:33The
01:34a
01:34You
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