What Is the Smart Grid?

Electricity bills have been climbing. Here's why that matters.

If you've opened an electricity bill recently and felt your stomach drop, you're not alone. Households across New South Wales have watched their power costs rise year after year, and for most of us, the options to do anything about it have felt either too expensive, too complicated, or simply out of reach.

Buying solar panels has been the standard advice for years. But it's advice that's only ever worked for a specific type of household, one that owns the property, has tens of thousands of dollars available or strong enough credit to finance, and plans to stay put long enough to see a return. For everyone else, solar has never been on the table. Not a difficult decision. Not an expensive one. Just not possible.

The Smart Grid is a different model entirely. And right now, it's available to qualifying homes in Campbelltown.

So what exactly is the Smart Grid?

The Smart Grid is thousands of homes acting as one connected energy system, rather than thousands of homes each trying to manage electricity on their own.

Here's the simple version: NRN installs solar panels, a battery, an EV charger, and a small device called the Smart Link on qualifying homes. NRN owns all of it, you don't buy anything, and you don't pay anything upfront. In return for hosting the equipment on your home, NRN pays you a Smart Grid Credit every month. That credit lands directly on your electricity bill.

Your home becomes part of something bigger. The Smart Link connects your home to every other home on the Smart Grid, allowing the system to send power where it's needed most, whether that's your neighbour down the street or a suburb across the city. Power gets made where it's used, not shipped hundreds of kilometres from a distant power station and lost along the way.

That's the Smart Grid in plain terms: A network of homes generating and sharing clean energy, with each household getting paid for being part of it.

How does your home fit into this?

When your home is on the Smart Grid, the solar panels on your roof generate electricity during the day. Your battery stores what you don't immediately use. The Smart Link monitors all of it in real time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

When the whole network is coordinated this way, hundreds or thousands of homes all managed together as a single system, the value it creates in the electricity market is substantial. That coordination is what allows NRN to negotiate Smart Grid Plan rates with participating energy retailers, and it's what funds the Smart Grid Credit paid to every Host.

You don't need to understand the mechanics to benefit from them. All you need to know is that your home hosting the Smart Grid Equipment is what makes the credit possible, and that credit reduces what you have pay on your electricity bill every single month.

What does "hosted" mean, and why doesn't it cost anything?

Traditional solar is a purchase or a finance product. You own the panels, which means you also own every repair bill, warranty issue, and performance problem that comes with them.

The Smart Grid works differently. NRN installs the equipment and NRN owns it. You host it at your home. Because NRN owns the equipment, NRN is responsible for monitoring it, maintaining it, and replacing anything that stops working, at no cost to you, for the entire length of the agreement.

This matters more than it might first seem. Solar and battery systems do require ongoing attention. When you own the system yourself, all of that is your problem. When NRN owns and operates it, none of it is. Here's what that means in practice:

• If something stops working, NRN fixes or replaces it. You won't receive a bill, a call, or a repair quote.
• Your electricity bill stays the same regardless of whether your power comes from the grid or from your own solar and battery.
• The Smart Grid Credit still lands on your bill every month, even if the equipment is temporarily offline.
• NRN monitors the Smart Grid Equipment 24/7, if there's a problem, it's NRN's job to chase it, never yours to noti.

One small step worth taking once your equipment is installed: let your home insurer know the Smart Grid Equipment is on your property and ask for it to be noted on your policy. Because NRN owns the equipment, it doesn't need to be covered by your insurance, but your insurer should be aware it's there. In most cases this won't affect your premium, but it keeps everything above board and avoids any ambiguity if you ever need to make a claim on something unrelated.

For people who've thought about solar but been put off by the cost, the complexity, or the ongoing commitment, the hosted model removes all three barriers at once.

What is the Smart Grid Credit, and how much is it?

The Smart Grid Credit is a payment from NRN that lands on your electricity bill every month. It is not a discount, a rebate, or a percentage off your usage rate. It's a payment, applied to your bill, every month you remain on the Smart Grid.

The amount depends on the size of the system installed on your home, which is based on your household's energy needs. There are four tiers:

• Smart Grid Home: $75 per month ($900 a year)
• Smart Grid Family: $90 per month ($1,080 a year)
• Smart Grid Plus: $120 per month ($1,440 a year)
• Smart Grid Max: $160 per month ($1,920 a year)

On top of the credit, you move onto a Smart Grid Plan with a participating energy retailer. Each quarter, NRN compares your total electricity cost against equivalent plans in your area. If another plan would have cost you less, NRN tops up your Smart Grid Credit to make up the difference. That's the Always Better Off guarantee: your total energy cost is cheaper.

Why Campbelltown?

Campbelltown is where Australia's first hosted Smart Grid is coming to life. NRN has been assessing homes across the region, and more than 49,000 have qualified. The first phase is limited to 1,500 homes, with applications closing Sunday 19 July 2026.

This isn't a pilot. It's the beginning of a rollout that will expand suburb by suburb across the country. Campbelltown is first because the local grid profile, housing density, and community profile make it the right place to prove the model at scale.

If your home is in the Campbelltown area, there's a genuine possibility it qualifies. Checking takes under three minutes.

What if you rent?

The Smart Grid isn't just for homeowners. If you rent, your landlord hosts the Smart Grid Equipment, and the Smart Grid Credit comes to you on your electricity bill every month, on the same terms as any owner-occupier Host. NRN can speak to your landlord or property manager on your behalf if that's easier.

For landlords, the picture is equally compelling. The equipment is installed at no cost, maintained for the life of the agreement, and the property becomes more attractive to tenants and buyers alike.

Is there a catch?

It's a fair question. Anything that sounds this straightforward usually has a catch buried somewhere.

Here's our answer to that: try it before committing to anything. The Smart Grid comes with a 60-day trial.

Here's exactly how it works:

• From day one of the trial, the Smart Grid Credit lands on your electricity bill. No waiting for installation.
• On day 60, you decide whether to continue. There is no pressure, no penalty, and no automatic lock-in.
• If you walk away, you keep every dollar NRN has paid you and nothing has been installed on your home. Nothing to undo.
• If you choose to continue, installation is scheduled and NRN owns and operates the equipment from that point forward.

The buy-out option is also worth knowing about. You never have to buy the equipment, but you always can. The price to purchase it drops every month on a pre-agreed schedule. At the end of the agreement term, it's yours for nothing.

How to check if your home qualifies

Visit nrn.com.au/campbelltown, or scan the QR code if you've received an NRN letter. The check takes about three minutes, you'll upload your electricity bill and find out which Smart Grid tier your home qualifies for.

You can also call the team directly on 1800 671 946, or visit the NRN pop-up at Macarthur Square, Centre Court, open from Thursday 11 June through to Sunday 19 July 2026.

Applications close Sunday 19 July. The 1,500-home limit for phase one is real, and it will fill.

NRN - making energy cheaper, cleaner, and fairer.