By Dr Saul Griffith, co-founder of Rewiring Australia
We’re at a critical juncture in history. Global politics is wobbling. Leaders and global markets are trying to find their feet with the re-election of Donald Trump. Many commentators are calling his election a disaster for the climate, but I’m optimistic. In my experience hope swells from the ground-up. And here in the 2515 postcode, on the other side of the world from the White House, we’re getting on with it. Through the Electrify 2515 Community Pilot, we’re testing a vision for how Australia, and the world can transition to the smart, all-electric future.
Electrify 2515 is a community-driven project aimed at electrifying our households. That means our houses and cars will be powered by renewable, electric energy instead of fossil fuels like coal, gas and petrol. This isn’t just about reducing emissions; it’s about creating a sustainable, resilient, and economically vibrant future for our community, one that can serve as a model for others.
Why Electrification?
I’ve spent over two decades working on energy technologies, and analysing energy data and global energy flows. The simple conclusion: electrification is the key to solving 80% of the world’s emissions which come from our energy systems. There aren’t enough biofuels to replace fossil fuels. There is no way to scale carbon capture to offset all of our emissions - there are simply too many. This means our only path to zero is through (a lot of) electrification.
This means shifting everything we do — from how we heat our homes, to the cars we drive, to how we cook, to our industries — from fossil fuels to electricity, which can be powered by renewable energy like rooftop solar, wind, and hydroelectricity.
In one aspect Australia leads the world. Just last month, Australia reached a new milestone of 4 million solar installations. One in three Aussie homes now have rooftop solar. Because this electricity only has to move from your rooftop to your house, it’s the cheapest energy of any form that people have ever been able to buy. This underpins the opportunity to build an all-electric energy system that also saves everyone money.
Capitalising on this rooftop miracle means using it to power everything in our lives that currently runs on fossil-fuels. The challenge we’re tackling with Electrify 2515 is not just about installing solar panels on rooftops. It’s about showing how electrification can make our whole grid smarter, more resilient, and more cost-effective. Too often, critics argue that solar energy will destabilise the grid — but our pilot will prove the opposite. By adding smarts to our electric appliances, vehicles, and battery storage in homes and on the local grid we can actually make the grid more reliable, more robust, and ultimately, lower cost.
This isn’t a theoretical experiment — we’re collecting real-world data to show how this additional electrification impacts grid stability, energy usage, and costs in a community setting. When we succeed, we will show that far from being a threat to the grid, electrification can strengthen it, make it more reliable, and lower the cost of energy for everyone.
Goals of the pilot
The overarching goals of the pilot are threefold. One, to prove the technical “stack” works. Two, to prove the economics “works”. Three, to demonstrate public support.
The technical stack is complicated in this case, because some of the technology is owned by the customer and some of the technology sits on the grid and those technologies in some basic way need to “talk” to each other. The 2515 community is served with electricity from two substations. One in Bulli and one in Wombarra. Our wires connect from one end to the other and to every home in between. Enough homes are electrifying under this project that we will be able to discern the changing nature of the loads that the electricity grid sees, the changing nature of where the electricity comes from (including our rooftops) and critically, how batteries and vehicles interact with both of those things to balance the local grid. This part of the project is why we are excited to work with Endeavour Energy to monitor the interaction between our homes and the network.
Proving the economics case is a matter of monitoring the changing nature of people’s energy expenditures. Today you have a petrol bill, a gas bill, and an electricity bill, in the future you’ll probably only have an electricity bill. Think of it as subscriptions - having three subscriptions to energy is inefficient, particularly when one of them (electricity) is 5-10 times lower cost than another one (petrol). We’ll monitor how the economics improves and even how it circulates more money in the local economy, and we’ll use that to continue to help Australian governments make sensible climate policy including how to finance and pay for it.
We are also looking for opportunities for cost reduction. Soft costs are the costs of a technology unrelated to the technology itself - permitting, labour, regulatory burden, insurance etc. Australia did a great job of optimising our regulatory environment to lower the soft costs of rooftop solar. The project will look at ways we can lower soft costs for the rest of the “electrification kit”. This will include even things like community bulk purchases which can lead to efficiencies in installation and maintenance.
Less formally, but perhaps more critically are the learnings about social licence and whether doing this as a community helps. We know that trust is critical to all of these purchases. We will be looking for evidence of how this program builds community trust that we are doing the right things and doing them together in a way that benefits the community.
The Economic Case
One of the most exciting aspects of the Electrify 2515 project is that it’s not just about reducing emissions — it’s about reducing our household energy bills and improving our local economy. Our community, like many across Australia, spends millions of dollars every year on fossil fuels. In the 2515 postcode alone, households spend around $38 million annually on petrol, gas, and electricity. That money just leaves the community on a one-way ticket — it doesn’t stay here to help local businesses, or create jobs.
But here’s the flip side: by transitioning to electrification, we can keep that money circulating in the local economy. When we install solar panels, buy electric vehicles, and upgrade to energy-efficient appliances, we’re investing in local solutions. We’ll pay local solar installers, electricians, and technicians, and as our own energy generation increases, we’ll reduce our reliance on external sources of power. This means more money stays in the community, and more jobs are created.
In fact, we estimate that in the long run, Electrify 2515 could save our community between $16 million and $20 million annually. And this money won’t just sit in a bank account — it will be reinvested in local businesses, helping to create jobs and stimulate the economy. We’re talking about potentially 100 new local jobs related to the installation, maintenance, and servicing of the electrified systems we’re putting in place. This is how we create an economy that thrives in the age of climate change.
The World’s First Electrified Community
This project is ambitious — and it’s a world’s first. While there have been small-scale electrification projects before, none have sought to electrify an entire community while demonstrating that it can improve the grid and lower costs. Our goal is to prove that electrification doesn’t just help the environment — it also strengthens the very infrastructure that powers our homes and businesses. We are in discussions with leading tech companies to bring more technology into the project to prove this out.
A New Kind of Environmentalism
For too long, environmental activism has been about shutting things down: shutting down coal plants, stopping oil drilling, protesting gas expansion. While these actions have their place, I believe it’s time for a new kind of environmentalism — one that’s about building things, creating solutions, and generating positive change that people see and feel in their lives.
Electrify 2515 is that kind of environmentalism. It’s not just about reducing emissions; it’s about creating new opportunities for our community, for Australia, and for the world. It’s about making smart decisions today that will benefit our children tomorrow. It’s about showing that we don’t have to wait for a leader, a government or a corporation to fix things. We can start right now, in our own neighbourhoods, and build a better future together.
The Path Ahead
The path we’re on is not without challenges. The bureaucracies, regulations, and financial hurdles we’ve faced in getting funding for the pilot have been significant. But every step forward has been worth it. As I look at the Electrify 2515 pilot, I see a microcosm of what’s possible when we take collective action and embrace a smarter, more sustainable future.
If we succeed, the lessons we learn here will help pave the way for other communities around the world to follow suit. It’s not just about this one neighbourhood — it’s about creating a movement that can transform cities, states, and nations. It’s about proving that the transition to a smart, electric future isn’t just necessary — it’s possible, and it’s already underway. As is learned over and over again in the political sphere, change is usually from the bottom-up.
As I said in my presentation at the Electrify 2515 pilot launch at Anita’s Theatre, this is an experiment I’m running on my community. It’s nerve-racking, sure. But I believe we’re going to succeed. And if we do, it won’t just be a win for 2515 — it will be a win for every community looking to make the leap to a clean, electrified future.
We’ve got this. And if we can do it here, we can do it anywhere.
About the writer
Dr Saul Griffith is an engineer and entrepreneur specialising in clean and renewable energy technologies. Saul has founded a dozen technology companies across 20 years in Silicon Valley and is the author of three books including `Electrify', and `The Big Switch'. Saul co-founded Rewiring Australia, a project partner of the Electrify 2515 Community Pilot. He lives in Austinmer.
