23/08/2026
Journo assignment thought worth a share ✍️
We often think of the renewable transition through big capacity investment schemes and international climate targets.
But there’s a quieter player entering the public energy system: community batteries.
Quietly popping up in the suburbs, these are shared energy systems that lower electricity bills, reduce pressure on the grid and help reduce emissions.
But in Brisbane, the story is markedly different.
The most intriguing part of this story was the local politics surrounding the rollout.
Much of the national debate played out in the lead-up to the 2025 Federal Election.
The Australian, for example, ran the headline “Just 41 of 400 of Labor’s community batteries operational”, alongside comments from then-Opposition energy spokesperson Ted O’Brien that the “communities promised these batteries deserve an apology, not another empty commitment.”
Clearly, this failed to highlight the peculiar council decision to block battery approvals in Brisbane.
For a council of Brisbane’s size, in a state so heavily invested in rooftop solar, the decision to block community batteries raises genuine questions about what sits behind it.
