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Energy retailer behind shared renewables collective collapses amid fresh market turmoil.


Australia’s volatile electricity market has claimed another scalp, with small renewables-focused retailer Maximum Energy placed in liquidation and its roughly 800 customers divvied up among the big-three gen-tailers.

The Maximum Energy website appears to have been pulled down, but according to a company profile on the Tonsley Innovation District website, the company was established in 2013, before later adding an energy retailer and aggregation arm “to assist businesses and communities to reach net zero emission targets and reduce electricity costs.”

A separate entity, called The People’s Grid, is said to be “partnered with Circular Energy” as its fully licensed energy retailer. “This means all members of The People’s Grid can feel confident that their energy supply will be safe, reliable and delivered in accordance with Australia’s strict energy regulations,” the website says.

According to its website, The People’s Grid was established in 2020 to form community energy collectives backed by a mix of small-scale, local generators of renewables – “from wine makers with solar panels to farmers with wind farms” – that are generating excess energy.

According to a 2021 profile on SmartCompany, the smart grid software platform that underpins the People’s Grid collectives was established by Adelaide-based startup Oxamii and backed by $1 million in seed funding including from international investment firm Artesian’s Clean Energy Seed Fund and other private investors. Oxamii had also participated in the University of South Australia’s Venture Catalyst program.

The SmartCompany article says Oxamii had established six community energy groups registered on The People’s Grid in South Australia and one in Sandy Point in Victoria, as at November 2021. The groups were to get a set price for their energy through a power purchase agreement that would match prices directly with energy sourced from distributed renewable energy generators.
According details on some of the energy plans still listed on the website, Maximum Energy was also the registered retailer for The People’s Grid.

Renew Economy has reached out to the People’s Grid and administrators Meertens to confirm whether or not energy collective customers are also affected by Maximum Energy’s suspension from the market.

As RenewEconomy has reported, the recent fossil fuel driven energy market crisis claimed around 10 small retailer scalps over the course of 2022-23, many of them solar, battery and renewable energy focused.