This presentation was delivered at the New Economy Network Australia 2018 conference in Narrm (Melbourne). (https://www.neweconomy.org.au). The aim of the presentation was three-fold. First, contextualise the national energy conversation prior to the installation of Tesla’s 'big battery’ at the Hornsdale Power Reserve in South Australia. Second, problematise the battery's inception on Twitter, its lithium-ion composition, and the media discourse that never explicitly addresses excessive energy usage as a cause of grid instability. Finally, third, propose that while the big battery industry is still seeding in Australia - & before the controversy settles - an opportunity exists to normalise new socio-ecological practices (such as our appetite for energy) that works within our planetary boundary and confronts climate change. I emphasised that this proposition is possible by relating it to the battery icon on our mobile devices (the icon is a communication strategy that influences energy practices). I then concluded by explaining how Earth is a 'battery' and proposed the question of how to take our relationship with our mobile device battery and scale it to big batteries (that support renewable energy), and to the 'biggest' battery (Earth).

1. The Tesla battery
and our appetite for energy
Aleesha Rodriguez | @_aleeshajoy
Image source: https://good-design.org/projects/tesla-powerpack-neoen-hornsdale-wind-farm-2/

2. ‘Big batteries’
More-than-human things
can become the ‘stuff of
politics’ – they have the power
to spur, feature in, and in turn,
shape controversies
NENA Conference 2018. Aleesha Rodriguez, Digital Media Research Centre, QUT. Say hi @_aleeshajoy

3. July 2016
South Australia’s
‘energy crisis’
Malcom Turnbull:
‘Wake-up call’ for
state leaders trying
to hit ‘completely
unrealistic’
renewable targets.
8 February 2017
SA heatwave &
third blackout
SA region
‘Black System’
event
28 Sep 2016
Second blackout
event in SA
27 Dec 2016
ScoMo:
‘This is coal.
Don’t be afraid’
9 Feb 2017
Practice of ‘load
shedding’ – where power
is cut for a time period (a
forced blackout) to
protect the system from
excessive demand.
Result of more than 350
powerlines coming down.
97.2% of blackouts are
caused by local poles and
wires
0.24% of blackouts caused
by insufficient generation
(AEMC, 2017).
Average $230 MWh
in SA.
$65 MWh in the
rest of the country.
‘energy
security’
Image source: https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/fossil-fuels-blame-sa-power-crisis Image source: https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/is-clean-coal-the-answer-for-australia/news-story/9ac10a28522bc2c5c3624fa7686e6f52
NENA Conference 2018. Aleesha Rodriguez, Digital Media Research Centre, QUT. Say hi @_aleeshajoy

4. The Twitter bet
9 March 2017
Mike Cannon-Brookes
reaches out to Elon Musk
via Twitter
NENA Conference 2018. Aleesha Rodriguez, Digital Media Research Centre, QUT. Say hi @_aleeshajoy

6. 9 March 2017 14 March 2017 7 July 2017
11 March 2017 31 March 2017 29 November
2017
The Weatherill
government announce
new $150 million
renewable energy
technology fund to
build a 100MW battery
by summer
Tesla Motors and
French wind farm
developer Neoen win
tender to supply
100MW battery
Tender for
100MW battery
close with 91
expressions of
interest
Hornsdale Power
Reserve begins
dispatching power to
the grid, one day
ahead of schedule
The Financial Review
report that Cannon-
Brookes, Musk, & SA
Premier Jay
Weatherill discuss
the wager via call
The Twitter bet
‘Policy by Tweet’ – as described by Marc Hudson
NENA Conference 2018. Aleesha Rodriguez, Digital Media Research Centre, QUT. Say hi @_aleeshajoy

8. “People fundamentally want to press a button and get electricity, they want to get their lights turned
on. And the second thing they want is they want that electricity to be as clean as possible because they
want a better planet for their children…The questions is how we get there, how do we deal with
entrenched interest?... There is a whole lot of people holding us back from getting there as soon as
economically possiblefor consumers and for everybody else."
– Mike Cannon-Brookes (14 March, 2017)
Elon Musk's offer to halve Tesla's battery price for SA a game changer, says Mike Cannon-Brookes. Lateline, abc.net.au.

9. Li-ion battery
prices falling
Bloomberg New Energy Outlook 2018:
‘Cheap battery storage’ means it will
be possible to ‘finesse’ the delivery of
energy ‘to help meet demand.'
NENA Conference 2018. Aleesha Rodriguez, Digital Media Research Centre, QUT. Say hi @_aleeshajoy
Image source: https://about.bnef.com/new-energy-outlook/

10. Image source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-batteries-recycling-analysis/metal-recyclers-prepare-for-electric-car-revolution-idUSKBN1DH1DS

11. Parker, S. & Mountain, B. (2018). Tesla big battery: It earned a lot more money in
second quarter. Retrieved from https://reneweconomy.com.au/tesla-big-battery-it-
earned-a-lot-more-money-in-second-quarter-80892/
NENA Conference 2018. Aleesha Rodriguez, Digital Media Research Centre, QUT. Say hi @_aleeshajoy

12. July 2016
South Australia’s
‘energy crisis’
Malcom Turnbull:
‘Wake-up call’ for
state leaders trying
to hit ‘completely
unrealistic’
renewable targets.
8 February 2017
SA heatwave &
third blackout
SA region
‘Black System’
event
28 Sep 2016
Second blackout
event in SA
27 Dec 2016
ScoMo:
‘This is coal.
Don’t be afraid’
9 Feb 2017
Practice of ‘load
shedding’ – where power
is cut for a time period (a
forced blackout) to
protect the system from
excessive demand.
Result of more than 350
powerlines coming down.
97.2% of blackouts are
caused by local poles and
wires
0.24% of blackouts caused
by insufficient generation
(AEMC, 2018).
Average $230 MWh
in SA.
$65 MWh in the
rest of the country.
‘energy
security’
Image source: https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/fossil-fuels-blame-sa-power-crisis Image source: https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/is-clean-coal-the-answer-for-australia/news-story/9ac10a28522bc2c5c3624fa7686e6f52
NENA Conference 2018. Aleesha Rodriguez, Digital Media Research Centre, QUT. Say hi @_aleeshajoy

13. Our appetite for energy is the ‘energy crisis.’
Deploying big batteries to sustain, unsustainable levels of consumption,
is not confronting climate change.
Big batteries are vital in low-carbon energy systems and the industry is just beginning.
The discourse (language/meaning) that accompanies big batteries can play a role
resetting energy expectations.
To leverage this opportunity, we need to first understand the current
national conversation on big batteries.
In order to identify possible intervention points and strategies.
NENA Conference 2018. Aleesha Rodriguez, Digital Media Research Centre, QUT. Say hi @_aleeshajoy

14. While the big battery industry is still
seeding in Australia - & before the
controversy settles - an opportunity exists
to normalise socio-ecological practices
(such as our appetite for energy) that
work within our planetary boundary and
confronts climate change.
NENA Conference 2018. Aleesha Rodriguez, Digital Media Research Centre, QUT. Say hi @_aleeshajoy

20. Image source: https://good-design.org/projects/tesla-powerpack-neoen-hornsdale-wind-farm-2/
Aleesha Rodriguez
Digital Media Research Centre
Queensland University of Technology
Say hi @_aleeshajoy
aleesha.rodriguez@hdr.qut.edu.au