Australia politics live: boom in home batteries means fewer new transmission lines will be needed, models show

Aemo modelling shows electricity use will nearly double by 2050. Follow today’s news live

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

Good morning and welcome to our live politics blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Krishani Dhanji with the main action.

There will be plenty of politics to come but we start with good news: thanks to the recent boom in batteries connected to the national power grid, we’re going to save money on new transmission lines. That’s despite our power use being expected to nearly double in the next decade or so.