With 30% rooftop solar penetration nationally (50% in the state of South Australia) Australia is living, at scale, the distributed energy resource (DER) transformation that many U.S. states can expect. In March 2026, the CHARGED Initiative—a collaboration between Advanced Energy United,
Lessons from the 2026 Charged Initiative Australia Study Tour
In March 2026, the CHARGED Initiative brought nine U.S. utility commissioners and staff on a study tour to Australia, a country that has developed a blueprint for managing an electricity grid led by distributed energy. Australia has the highest rooftop solar penetration in the world, and its utilities, regulators, and market operator have spent the …
What can US utility regulators learn from Australia’s distribution market?
Nearly two years ago, GridLab, Advanced Energy United, and RMI launched the CHARGED Initiative, a collaborative effort designed to help prepare the distribution system for electrification so that customers benefit from low costs and high reliability. The CHARGED team marked this anniversary of the growing program by leading a delegation of US state utility commissioners …
