Battery installers boycott 'nightmare' WA rebate scheme, causing customer delays
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Western Australia's state-based home battery rebate and loan scheme is drawing widespread criticism, with some installers now advising customers to avoid it altogether.
The scheme's bottlenecks mean some WA customers are likely to face delays in having their battery installed, which could mean they suffer a financial penalty.
"It's an absolute nightmare," Darren Magennis, manager of Perth-based installer DMG Solar, said.
"I wish there was no state rebate."
The WA Residential Battery Scheme, which launched on July 1, provides a rebate of up to $1,300 and access to an interest-free $10,000 loan per eligible household.
Western Australians can "stack" the state rebate with a federal rebate of up to $5,000, but this drops in value from January 1, 2026.
The WA program has suffered a series of technical snags, including a confusing customer portal and issues with popular batteries initially being ineligible for the scheme.
Many installers are still waiting for rebate or loan money from batteries they installed in July.
Jordan Greenwood, general manager of WA's largest home solar installer, Perth Solar Force, said "there's been a lot of teething issues".
"We were owed $500,000, last time we checked."
Almost all homes with existing solar systems are currently effectively locked out of the scheme, due to a compliance issue with energy systems installed before July 1.
In response to questions from the ABC, a spokesperson for WA Energy and Decarbonisation Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson said almost 10,000 applications for rebates had been received.
But they declined to provide further data, including how many of these applications were approved, how long approval took, or how many applications had led to a battery being installed.
The spokesperson said in a statement:
"The Scheme is still in its early stages and the government is closely monitoring its progress and working with all parties involved to ensure it operates smoothly and efficiently."
State-owned energy provider Synergy and buy now, pay later company Plenti, which is administering the loan scheme, referred questions about installation numbers to the Minister's office.
The other source of data is third-party market research.
WA installed a total of about 4,300 batteries in July and August, with most of these installations in August, according to industry research firm SunWiz.
But these data do not show how many customers used the state rebate scheme, nor how many bypassed it altogether.
In the SunWiz market report for August, managing director Warwick Johnston speculated WA's accelerating rate of installations may be due to installers avoiding the state scheme, which had slowed uptake in July.
"Part of this [acceleration] may be because installers have decided it's faster to install without being involved in the WA government program."
Anecdotally, the scheme appears to have delayed the rate of battery installations in WA in its first two months.
Many WA installers also told the ABC they were now avoiding the state scheme.
"Anyone that's signed up for an interest-free loan [through the state scheme] and have been approved, we're not doing their installations," Darren Magennis said.
Jarryd Sewell, managing director at battery installer JS Electrical, said he was owed $20,000 and would boycott the scheme until he gets paid.
"I'm not doing the state rebate jobs. All my customers are getting shitty but I don't care. I'd rather not do it and get paid six months later."
Don Xu, managing director of the large WA battery distributor Energy Spurt, said it was now "very common for companies to advise customers to avoid the state rebate because it takes too long".
Some installers reported up to 60 per cent of their customers were choosing to bypass the state rebate and loan scheme.
The WA government announced in March it would be offering rebates for home batteries from July 1, following an election promise made earlier in the year.
Then, in June, it said it was combining the rebate scheme with a separate virtual power plant (VPP) program that had been flagged for the future, but until now had no firm rollout date.
Virtual power plants give the grid operator access to home battery and solar systems when needed, regardless of the household's current needs, in order to coordinate energy supply and demand across the grid and avoid disruptions.
They also introduce extra challenges. Energy providers and network operators must convince households to take part (essentially handing over control of the energy infrastructure they've paid for), and navigate tricky questions about who is liable when something goes wrong.
Under the new policy, customers accessing the WA rebate or the zero-interest loan would have to take part in a virtual power plant for two years.
The July 1 deadline gave bureaucrats only months to hammer out complex technical standards for the batteries to be installed under the rebate and loan scheme, so that they could be compatible with the planned virtual power plant.
Synergy, the state-owned energy provider, set about testing batteries and inverters, and liaising with the dozens of international manufacturers on issues of software requirements and legal liability.
This took time.
"This state rebate doesn't feel like a scheme that has been planned for years," Derek McKercher from Perth Solar Warehouse said.
"The national rebate was planned for years and the rollout was good. The state rebate is a contrast to that, and it's appalling."
By the July 1 launch date, one battery-and-inverter system had passed the compliance testing regime and was eligible to be installed under the scheme.
"Some companies had thousands of pre-orders, but most of the batteries weren't on the list," Energy Spurt's Don Xu said.
It took until August 22 for Australia's highest-selling home battery brand, Sigenergy, to make the list.
One of the biggest names in home batteries, the Tesla Powerwall, is still not on the list.
Waiting for batteries to become eligible is not the only issue.
Synergy's technical requirements mean most households with existing solar systems have to either buy a new virtual power plant-compliant inverter or install a separate device (known as a gateway device) to add batteries through the state scheme.
This gateway device, however, has not passed compliance testing and therefore can not be installed.
As a result, many WA households (almost half of which have solar panels) effectively can not yet access the state scheme.
Before paying a customer's rebate and loan to their installer, Plenti verifies a battery has been installed.
But this process appears to have its flaws.
"We've approached Plenti and said, 'Hey, what's the hold-up with the money?' And their response is, it's Synergy releasing the [meter numbers]," Derek McKercher, director of Perth Solar Warehouse, said.
Other installers were told the issue was not with Synergy, but with Plenti releasing the money.
"Either Synergy or Plenti are responsible, and if you ask either one, they say it's the other," Daniel Overd, director of sales at Positive Energy Solutions, said.
He said his company was owed about $500,000 and only six of 200 rebates for batteries installed in July had been paid.
By comparison, the federal battery rebate scheme is regulated by the Clean Energy Regulator, an independent statutory body.
Installers report this process is more streamlined and the federal rebate is usually paid within five days.
Many installers say they're booked out until the end of 2025.
With some installers boycotting the state scheme, there are customers accessing the scheme who may not have their battery installed before the federal rebate drops in value.
There are some signs the reported issues with the state scheme are being fixed.
Robbie Campbell from battery installer Plico said his company was recently paid some of the rebate and loan money for batteries it installed in July.
"We're starting to see light at the end of the tunnel," he said.
"We've probably got half of [the reimbursements] we've currently applied for, which is a lot better than zero."
Written by James Purtill, ABC News.
The scheme's bottlenecks mean some WA customers are likely to face delays in having their battery installed, which could mean they suffer a financial penalty.
"It's an absolute nightmare," Darren Magennis, manager of Perth-based installer DMG Solar, said.
"I wish there was no state rebate."
The WA Residential Battery Scheme, which launched on July 1, provides a rebate of up to $1,300 and access to an interest-free $10,000 loan per eligible household.
Western Australians can "stack" the state rebate with a federal rebate of up to $5,000, but this drops in value from January 1, 2026.
The WA program has suffered a series of technical snags, including a confusing customer portal and issues with popular batteries initially being ineligible for the scheme.
Many installers are still waiting for rebate or loan money from batteries they installed in July.
Jordan Greenwood, general manager of WA's largest home solar installer, Perth Solar Force, said "there's been a lot of teething issues".
"We were owed $500,000, last time we checked."
Almost all homes with existing solar systems are currently effectively locked out of the scheme, due to a compliance issue with energy systems installed before July 1.
How is the scheme affecting home battery installations?
The WA government has released very little data on the progress of the $337 million scheme, which was expected to cover 100,000 homes in tandem with the federal rebate.In response to questions from the ABC, a spokesperson for WA Energy and Decarbonisation Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson said almost 10,000 applications for rebates had been received.
But they declined to provide further data, including how many of these applications were approved, how long approval took, or how many applications had led to a battery being installed.
The spokesperson said in a statement:
"The Scheme is still in its early stages and the government is closely monitoring its progress and working with all parties involved to ensure it operates smoothly and efficiently."
State-owned energy provider Synergy and buy now, pay later company Plenti, which is administering the loan scheme, referred questions about installation numbers to the Minister's office.
The other source of data is third-party market research.
WA installed a total of about 4,300 batteries in July and August, with most of these installations in August, according to industry research firm SunWiz.
But these data do not show how many customers used the state rebate scheme, nor how many bypassed it altogether.
In the SunWiz market report for August, managing director Warwick Johnston speculated WA's accelerating rate of installations may be due to installers avoiding the state scheme, which had slowed uptake in July.
"Part of this [acceleration] may be because installers have decided it's faster to install without being involved in the WA government program."
Anecdotally, the scheme appears to have delayed the rate of battery installations in WA in its first two months.
Most houses with existing solar systems face hurdles accessing the WA battery rebate scheme. (ABC News: Briana Shepherd)
Many WA installers also told the ABC they were now avoiding the state scheme.
"Anyone that's signed up for an interest-free loan [through the state scheme] and have been approved, we're not doing their installations," Darren Magennis said.
Jarryd Sewell, managing director at battery installer JS Electrical, said he was owed $20,000 and would boycott the scheme until he gets paid.
"I'm not doing the state rebate jobs. All my customers are getting shitty but I don't care. I'd rather not do it and get paid six months later."
Don Xu, managing director of the large WA battery distributor Energy Spurt, said it was now "very common for companies to advise customers to avoid the state rebate because it takes too long".
Some installers reported up to 60 per cent of their customers were choosing to bypass the state rebate and loan scheme.
What went wrong?
Installers and other industry observers say the scheme was delivered without enough foresight or planning.The WA government announced in March it would be offering rebates for home batteries from July 1, following an election promise made earlier in the year.
Then, in June, it said it was combining the rebate scheme with a separate virtual power plant (VPP) program that had been flagged for the future, but until now had no firm rollout date.
Virtual power plants give the grid operator access to home battery and solar systems when needed, regardless of the household's current needs, in order to coordinate energy supply and demand across the grid and avoid disruptions.
They also introduce extra challenges. Energy providers and network operators must convince households to take part (essentially handing over control of the energy infrastructure they've paid for), and navigate tricky questions about who is liable when something goes wrong.
Under the new policy, customers accessing the WA rebate or the zero-interest loan would have to take part in a virtual power plant for two years.
The July 1 deadline gave bureaucrats only months to hammer out complex technical standards for the batteries to be installed under the rebate and loan scheme, so that they could be compatible with the planned virtual power plant.
Synergy, the state-owned energy provider, set about testing batteries and inverters, and liaising with the dozens of international manufacturers on issues of software requirements and legal liability.
This took time.
"This state rebate doesn't feel like a scheme that has been planned for years," Derek McKercher from Perth Solar Warehouse said.
"The national rebate was planned for years and the rollout was good. The state rebate is a contrast to that, and it's appalling."
By the July 1 launch date, one battery-and-inverter system had passed the compliance testing regime and was eligible to be installed under the scheme.
"Some companies had thousands of pre-orders, but most of the batteries weren't on the list," Energy Spurt's Don Xu said.
Australians are buying increasingly large batteries to maximise government rebates. (Supplied: Perth Solar Warehouse)
It took until August 22 for Australia's highest-selling home battery brand, Sigenergy, to make the list.
One of the biggest names in home batteries, the Tesla Powerwall, is still not on the list.
Waiting for batteries to become eligible is not the only issue.
Synergy's technical requirements mean most households with existing solar systems have to either buy a new virtual power plant-compliant inverter or install a separate device (known as a gateway device) to add batteries through the state scheme.
This gateway device, however, has not passed compliance testing and therefore can not be installed.
As a result, many WA households (almost half of which have solar panels) effectively can not yet access the state scheme.
Why are installers not being paid?
Installers said Synergy and Plenti gave them conflicting reasons for the delay in being paid the state rebate and loan money they were owed.Before paying a customer's rebate and loan to their installer, Plenti verifies a battery has been installed.
Installers send the unique identification code for the customer's electricity meter to Synergy, which confirms the battery is active, and then tells Plenti.
But this process appears to have its flaws.
"We've approached Plenti and said, 'Hey, what's the hold-up with the money?' And their response is, it's Synergy releasing the [meter numbers]," Derek McKercher, director of Perth Solar Warehouse, said.
Other installers were told the issue was not with Synergy, but with Plenti releasing the money.
"Either Synergy or Plenti are responsible, and if you ask either one, they say it's the other," Daniel Overd, director of sales at Positive Energy Solutions, said.
He said his company was owed about $500,000 and only six of 200 rebates for batteries installed in July had been paid.
By comparison, the federal battery rebate scheme is regulated by the Clean Energy Regulator, an independent statutory body.
Installers report this process is more streamlined and the federal rebate is usually paid within five days.
What does this mean for customers?
The value of the federal rebate scheme drops by 9.7 per cent at the end of 2025, and then by a roughly similar amount each year.Many installers say they're booked out until the end of 2025.
With some installers boycotting the state scheme, there are customers accessing the scheme who may not have their battery installed before the federal rebate drops in value.
WA has the world's largest isolated grid. (ABC News: Kenith Png)
There are some signs the reported issues with the state scheme are being fixed.
Robbie Campbell from battery installer Plico said his company was recently paid some of the rebate and loan money for batteries it installed in July.
"We're starting to see light at the end of the tunnel," he said.
"We've probably got half of [the reimbursements] we've currently applied for, which is a lot better than zero."
Written by James Purtill, ABC News.
