Nor a new coal-fired power plant.There is, however, a large-scale battery capable of supplying energy to 200,000 homes for two hours.It's just one of the grid-scale batteries behind a battery bonanza underway in Australia.According to data from the Clean Energy Council (CEC) this week, investment in new large-scale wind and solar fell in 2025 to one of its lowest levels in a decade And fossil fuels are still needed to keep the lights on.But as those Liddell chimneys were coming down on Tuesday, the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) was confirming a potentially important shift.The AER ordered a cut in the Default Market Offer (a benchmark for energy retailers) across several states.The reduction of up to 10.7 per cent for households and 20.9 per cent for small businesses is the first drop in power prices since the start of the war in Ukraine sent gas prices through the roof more than four years ago.AER Chair Clare Savage was clear about what's driving the reduction. "A big surge in batteries and solar into the system", she said, "is displacing the need for more expensive gas-fired generation and hydro generation at peak times".In other words, batteries are flattening the peaks in demand, and prices are finally falling as a result.So, is this the turning point the government has been waiting for?Savage is careful about predicting the future, noting there's still a risk of "global volatility" in the years ahead.As the Iran war fuel shock has shown, the international environment is highly unpredictable.Energy Minister Chris Bowen is also reluctant to forecast what might happen in the years ahead