"Australians will have to pay more for energy in the future," Alinta chief executive Jeff Dimery said on Wednesday in an address to the National Press Club.
Whether Australians pay through taxes, or the up-front costs of an electric car, household battery and rooftop solar, it's time to be "honest" that everyone will pay more for electricity from the grid, he said.
Alinta CEO Jeff Dimery says his company is not making "super profits". (Darren England/AAP PHOTOS)
"I don't think the average Australian is prepared for that reality. Capital costs more. Labour costs more. Transmission costs are rising."
He said Alinta was not making "super profits" by price-gouging customers as critics claim, as profit margins are slim.
The company was scoping whether customers with rooftop solar and batteries could transfer or trade a portion of their output to family members, he said.
"We know it's technically possible on our platform, and it should help to alleviate some of the imbalance of home-owners dominating solar and battery installations."
Other options include inviting retail customers to be co-investors in wind farms, providing itemised bills that show what's being spent on heating and cooling and refrigeration, and suggesting replacements that could be funded by energy savings, he said.
Meanwhile, developers were pulling back on commitments to build large-scale renewables because they did not want to lock in high prices that may not be recouped, he said.
Governments must maintain clear public policy and not get "distracted" by new ideas without a firm social mandate, he warned.
Replacing an energy and industrial system based mainly on fossil fuels with one built on renewables was challenging, Mr Dimery said.
"The era of easy wins is over … the hard wins lie ahead of us," he said.
"We have a glut of daytime rooftop solar energy, at the same time as 95 per cent of all large-scale renewables are getting curtailed - basically switched off - in some hours on high rooftop solar days."
More gas plants, pumped hydro and offshore wind - supported by batteries - must be developed in partnership with households and governments, he said.
The electricity generator and retailer supplies more than one million homes and has considered a bid for Origin Energy's Eraring coal plant in NSW to keep it running beyond its intended 2025 retirement.
Alinta owns the ageing Loy Yang B coal-fired power plant in Victoria that meets one-fifth of the state's energy needs and is also a major investor in renewable energy sources.
The company may also build another gas plant in Western Australia with the state government set to close two coal-fired generators by 2029, and the market operator warning of a shortfall in the local grid.
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