Understanding your community's energy system is the foundation for making good decisions about its future. This fact sheet explains the key concepts in plain language.
Where your power comes from now
Most remote Kimberley communities receive electricity from diesel or gas generators operated by Horizon Power. Diesel is trucked in by road and burned in generators to produce electricity. This is expensive — remote diesel generation costs 25 to 30 cents per kilowatt-hour to produce — and it depends on road access for fuel delivery.
Residents pay for electricity at metropolitan rates (the same price as households in Perth), but the actual cost of generating power remotely is much higher. The difference is subsidised by the Western Australian Government through Horizon Power. This subsidy costs the state tens of millions of dollars per year.
What a kilowatt-hour means
A kilowatt-hour (kWh) is the standard unit for measuring electricity. One kilowatt-hour is the amount of energy used by a 1,000-watt appliance running for one hour. For example, a typical air conditioner uses about 1.5 kWh per hour, a fridge uses about 1 kWh per day, and a washing machine uses about 0.5 kWh per load.
An average remote community household uses approximately 15 to 25 kWh per day, though this varies significantly depending on the number of occupants, the condition of the house, and the use of air conditioning.
How prepaid meters work
Many remote communities use prepaid electricity meters. Residents purchase credit in advance and the meter counts down as electricity is used. When credit runs out, the power disconnects automatically. Research shows that disconnections occur frequently in remote communities — between 14 and 59 times per customer per year in some locations. The prepaid system can impose additional costs on households that buy credit in small, frequent amounts.
What solar changes
When solar panels are installed in a community, they generate free electricity from sunlight during the day. This reduces the amount of diesel that needs to be burned, cutting both costs and emissions. With battery storage, some of that solar energy can be saved for use at night.
In the Kimberley Communities Solar Saver program, the savings from solar generation are shared equally among all households as energy-saving credits on their prepaid meters — averaging approximately $450 per household per year. The credits appear automatically; households do not need to do anything different.
Key numbers for the Kimberley
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Solar resource (peak sun hours/day) | 5.5–6.0 |
| Cost of remote diesel generation | 25–30c per kWh |
| Cost of remote solar generation | ~7c per kWh |
| Average KCSS household saving | ~$450 per year |
| Remote communities in WA | 117 |
| Communities with HP responsibility (since Jul 2023) | 117 |
Knowledge is power — literally
Understanding how your energy system works puts you in a stronger position to make decisions about its future. When someone proposes a solar project for your community, you can ask informed questions: How much of our energy will come from solar? What happens at night? Who owns the system? Where do the savings go? A feasibility study answers all of these questions with numbers specific to your community.