Transcript:

Well now the new scheme that could save you hundreds on your power bill, even get it for free. What it does, it cuts out the middleman and allows customers to take more control over what they pay. Elise Baker explains how it works.

I was sick and tired of taking power at the rates given by the normal retailers.

So instead of the middleman setting the price, this is the buyer and the seller, and this is a nice way for them to be able to trade with each other and cut out the big energy companies.

When it comes to electricity prices were usually at the mercy of those big power providers, but a new trial could give us a much needed circuit breaker. For years customers have been hostage to the energy companies, and they've been the only places that they can either buy energy from or sell energy to.

Electricity retailer Energy Locals has teamed up with software company Enosi to put the power back in the hands of consumers. Participants are able to buy and sell their solar power through a trading platform at prices they negotiate themselves.

So works by a solar customer registry, and they are able to choose the price of which they are willing to sell their excess solar for. People without solar are able to register and then choose the price that they're willing to buy someone else's excess solar for and where those two meet in the middle and where there is someone exporting energy at the same time as somebody is importing energy from the grid who doesn't have solar, then there'll be a match.

You can choose to trade directly with family, friends, or neighbours or others within the energy trading community.

And this means I just set a price that I'm willing to accept. And if there's somebody else there willing to match it, then those trades happen that kind of anonymously in the pool. And then if there's more energy available than that, or there's no prices available, then it just goes through to default trades with the retailer. So you just pay the normal price for the rest of the energy.

I'm making money because I'm selling it at a better rate than just the default grid rate.

Ross Yellen, who has solar panels on the roof of his home, joined the trial earlier this year.

It was an absolute piece of cake. You've obviously got the solar stuff that needs to be pre-set-up. I wanted to take control of who I was selling my energy to. I want you to get a reasonable price from it.

And you don't have to have solar yourself to get involved

A bunch of reasons why people don't have solar, but they were still like, to be able to buy it from somewhere. There are other customers that aren't using all of their solar, because sometimes they're just not there during the day to use it all when it's being generated. And this is a nice way for them to be able to trade with each other and cut out the big energy companies.

But due to current market rules, fixed energy, transportation and regulated environmental charges will be added to all trades.

We'd like to think this has a bit of a game changer in the industry. Really how far it's going to change the game. Is down to customers.

The biggest pool of people out there trading it's also now presenting some real competition to the existing players.

We're trading right across the grid. So anywhere from kind of Adelaide to Maroochydore you can sign up and trade your energy.