New modelling suggests rooftop solar panels could save the federal government billions of dollars.

An independent report underscores keeping coal-fired power stations open for longer to drive down the cost of electricity.

But it shows the market will eventually favour cheaper sources of renewable energy over new coal.

Australian Energy Market Operator Managing Director Audrey Zibelman tells Ross Greenwood it will still cost money to prepare for this transition.

“If we’re able to use distributed energy resources in a sense of helping combine it with storage and make it more useful for the grid, we could save another $4 billion on top of the $2 billion we identified from the plan.

“Those are the types of things we need to be thinking about.”

Click PLAY below to hear the full interview