Power companies will be forced to offer three hours of free power in the middle of the day to all Australian households, under new regulations in force from next July aimed at soaking up the nation’s abundant daytime supply of solar power, helping to stabilise the grid and offering potential savings of hundreds of dollars to customers who opt in.

The Albanese government’s Solar Sharer program is available to all houses and apartments, with and without solar panels, as long as they have a smart meter and they opt in to the new plans, which retailers will not have to include automatically under current contracts.

Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the government’s move would help spread the benefits of the energy transition across the community, so people who cannot afford

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