Daniel Mercer

2 weeks ago | abc.net.au | Daniel Mercer |Tyne Logan

Western Australia's biggest electricity system could be sliding towards a crisis as customers not shielded by taxpayer subsidies are hit by eye-watering price rises. Businesses have reported electricity price hikes of up to 50 per cent or more, prompting warnings some are scaling back their operations or could even be sent to the wall in the face power of bills costing thousands of dollars more a month.

3 weeks ago | abc.net.au | Daniel Mercer

For all of Australia's success with the adoption of rooftop solar, an enduring problem has been the lack of access to the technology by renters, those living in apartments and the disadvantaged. A new project is aiming to overcome this challenge by allowing solar households to sell their excess generation to consumers who don't — or can't — have any panels themselves.

3 weeks ago | abc.net.au | Daniel Mercer

Maree Tynan knew that her cottage in Mittagong, in the New South Wales Southern Tablelands 110 kilometres south of Sydney, was the place for her more or less the first time she saw it. It was more than four decades ago and, in time, her and her late partner turned what was a getaway into their permanent home. During that time, Ms Tynan has seen her fair share of changes in Mittagong and in so many other ways besides.

1 month ago | abc.net.au | Daniel Mercer

When all the hype and the fury is stripped away, the decision to extend the life of the gigantic North West Shelf gas plant boils down to one thing. "It's really all about Browse," says RISC Advisory boss Martin Wilkes in relation to the huge gas field off the Kimberley coast of Western Australia. Browse is one of the country's biggest untapped resources projects, with gas reserves large enough to meet the equivalent of Australia's entire domestic demand for almost 20 years.

1 month ago | abc.net.au | Daniel Mercer

In Sydney's south west, Anneliese Alexander's home has long been solar powered. She and her husband installed solar panels not long after buying the place about 13 years ago. Since then, they've expanded the system to 13 kilowatts of capacity — enough to charge their two electric vehicles as well as the house much of the time. Her motivations for getting solar were always straightforward. "At that time, it was for two reasons," said Ms Alexander, who works at a social services provider.