A Drop in Interest Rates Could Boost Renewables
Long-shelved capital-intensive green-energy projects could be dusted off for construction to begin—if everything goes right
3 min
If the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates in the coming weeks, a friendlier borrowing environment could make all the difference for some mothballed renewable-energy projects.
The returns generated by such projects once they are up and running are often predictable and modest, but because they require a large upfront expenditure, frequently funded in part by debt, they are sensitive to interest-rate fluctuations.
With recent economic data suggesting the Fed has plenty of room to cut, some investors say now is the time to get moving on renewable plans.
Thomas Byrne, chief executive at solar investor CleanCapital, said a drop in interest rates would affect a “not inconsequential amount” of solar developments under consideration. “We have had projects on hold that simply don’t make economic sense for us anymore because the borrowing cost was too high. So those projects will immediately unlock,” he said.
Byrne estimates some of these projects could begin construction by the end of the year and start generating energy next summer.
Solar and wind energy in particular stand to gain from lower borrowing costs, said Srinivasan Santhakumar, principal research analyst with the research firm Wood Mackenzie. “Higher interest rates have disproportionately affected the economics of wind and solar projects,” he said.
An interest-rate increase of 2 percentage points could result in a 20% jump in the cost of producing energy for utility-scale solar power over the life cycle of a project, according to a Wood Mackenzie analysis released in April. In comparison, the same increase might boost the cost of producing energy from gas by 10% to 12%.
Some developers may wait to see a steeper drop before making moves. “It’s definitely a phenomenon, particularly for the more sophisticated, more longer-standing developers who’ve had a history of surfing the ups and downs of the interest-rate spectrum and are also aware of the consequences for their own balance sheet of a long-term interest rate rise,” said Katherine Mogg, managing director at the New York Green Bank, a state-sponsored investment fund that focuses on filling gaps in energy transition financing. Mogg said she expects to see a modest uptick in requests for proposals in the coming months.
The Federal Reserve has signalled a rate cut at its next meeting in September, and most futures investors expect a quarter-percentage-point reduction, according to CME FedWatch. More than three quarters of investors expect the Fed to lower its benchmark rate, now in a range between 5.25% and 5.5%, by at least a full percentage point by year-end.
While a cut in interest rates is a positive for renewables financing, a durable boost for green projects may require a Goldilocks economic scenario in which a cut to borrowing costs don’t coincide with rising fears of a global recession, which could in turn drive investors away from the U.S., said Ron Erlichman, partner at the law firm Linklaters.
“There are a lot of different factors, like the old cliché of ‘headwinds,’ that affect transactions,” he said, adding that large-scale projects such as offshore wind, hydrogen and carbon capture frequently rely on foreign investment.
Fears of unchecked inflation and rampant increases in the cost of materials have cooled down somewhat in the past year, he said, but the looming U.S. election brings a fresh element of uncertainty . While many see a low probability of a full rollback of the Inflation Reduction Act, the legislation that provides game-changing tax breaks for renewables, an executive branch hostile to green energy could slow project permitting or otherwise “nibble at the fringes” of the landmark legislation, as Byrne put it.
“Having done this awhile and seen the cycles in the market, I still remain incredibly optimistic about renewables and energy transition in the United States,” Erlichman said.
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The voices reshaping how Australians think about money — and why credibility matters more than reach.
6 min
The best financial advice many Australians are receiving right now is not coming from licensed advisers charging by the hour. It is coming through a phone screen, in the ten minutes between work and dinner, from creators who have built credibility the hard way: by being right, being transparent, and being specific in a space where vagueness has always been the easy default.
This is not a ranking by follower count. Follower count is a measure of distribution, not of quality. What follows is a ranking by substance — credentials, accuracy, community depth, and the quality of what an audience actually learns from following these accounts. The distinction matters, because the Australians acting on this content are making real financial decisions with real money.
1- Queenie Tan – Corporate Authorised Representative; Co-Founder & Director, Invest With Queenie & Billroo
There are finance influencers who talk about building wealth, and there are those who document it in real time with receipts. Queenie Tan belongs firmly in the second category. Starting from a $400-per-week income, Tan built her net worth past $1 million while publishing the actual numbers — income, savings rate, investment decisions — for an audience of more than 400,000 across platforms.
She is a Corporate Authorised Representative, co-founder of the personal finance app Billroo, and the author of a book that has become a practical reference for young Australians navigating ETFs, superannuation and property. What separates her from the crowded field of money educators is precision: she does not talk in principles when she can talk in percentages.
2- Alan Kohler – Editor-in-Chief, Eureka Report; Editor-in-Chief, InvestSMART Group; ABC News finance presenter, host of Inside Business.
If Queenie Tan represents the new wave of personal finance creators, Alan Kohler represents something the new wave will spend decades trying to build: institutional credibility that has survived multiple economic cycles. As Editor-in-Chief of the Eureka Report and InvestSMART Group, and a decades-long presence on ABC News, Kohler has spent more than thirty years making financial analysis accessible without dumbing it down.
His coverage of RBA decisions, market movements and economic policy is cited by podcasters, journalists and fund managers alike. He is not chasing virality. He does not need to.
3- Aleks Nikolic – Corporate lawyer; host, Big Swinging Stocks podcast
Most finance creators address the mechanics of money. Aleks Nikolic addresses the psychology — and that distinction explains why her following is as loyal as it is. Operating as Broke Girl Wealth across Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, Nikolic covers ETFs, crypto and investment strategy, but her real differentiator is a willingness to discuss the emotional architecture of financial decision-making.
Shame around debt. Fear around market volatility. The limiting beliefs that stop people acting on what they already know. In a space where confidence is routinely performed, her candour is a genuine competitive advantage.
4- Bryce Leske & Alec Renehan – Equity Mates Media
Equity Mates did not build a following. They built a media company. What began as a podcast by two friends learning to invest has grown into Australia’s most established investing media brand, covering ASX stocks, ETFs, global markets and fund manager interviews across podcast, social and YouTube.
The longevity is the credential. Equity Mates has operated through multiple market cycles, a global pandemic, and a generational shift in how Australians engage with investing — and its audience has grown through all of it. When the hosts speak, their listeners know they have been paying attention for years.
5- The Lazy CEO – CEO & Founder, Showpo; Shark Tank Australia investor
The metric that matters most on social media is not followers — it is engagement, because engagement signals trust. Jane Lu, known as The Lazy CEO, maintains an engagement rate of approximately 1.15 per cent on Instagram, which is exceptional for a finance account of his size. Her 242,000-plus followers are not passive consumers: they ask questions, share experiences and apply what they read.
Her content focuses on business finance and wealth building, and the active comment sections are the clearest possible evidence that her audience does not merely scroll past.
6- Tash Invests – Founder, Tash Lends; Forbes Australia 30 Under 30
Tash Invests built her following on a premise that sounds simple but is rarer in practice than it should be: she publishes the actual numbers. Not approximations or ranges or anonymised case studies — her salary, her savings rate, her portfolio value, her net worth, updated and on the record.
Having bought her first property at twenty-two and grown her documented net worth past $1 million, she has become the primary reference point for young Australians trying to understand what building wealth on a moderate income genuinely looks like. The specificity is the product.
7- David Scutt – APAC Market Analyst at StoneX Group
The authority of most finance social media content rests on research and reading. David Scutt‘s authority rests on having done the job. A former Treasury Dealer at Arab Bank and the Commonwealth Bank, former ASX Business Supervisor, and former Global Markets Editor at Business Insider Australia and anchor at ausbiz TV, Scutt now brings that direct market experience to his role as APAC Market Analyst at StoneX Group, rather than relying on secondary commentary.
When he discusses foreign exchange movements or ASX dynamics, it is not because he has read about them. It is because he has traded them.
8- Meddy Demars – Investing & crypto content creator
The gap Meddy Demars fills is specific and underserviced: connecting global macroeconomic events to the practical reality of Australian investors. When the US Federal Reserve adjusts interest rates, when inflation data moves, when commodity prices shift — most Australian finance content either ignores the local implications or translates them poorly.
Demars, operating across TikTok and Instagram from Sydney, does the translation well: explaining what global conditions mean for Australian stocks, savings rates and investment portfolios in terms that are accessible without being condescending.
9- Simran Kaur – Founder, Friends That Invest
Friends That Invest is arguably the most successful community-building exercise in Australian personal finance, and Simran Kaur is the reason why. The New Zealand-based creator — whose audience is predominantly Australian — built a podcast, a book and a social media presence around a single insight: that the personal finance world was not speaking to young women, and that the consequences of that gap were significant.
The measurable cultural shift that followed — women engaging with investing concepts in communities that had not previously existed — is the kind of impact that most financial literacy programmes aim for and rarely achieve.
10- Effie Zahos – Money Editor at 9News
Effie Zahos is one of Australia’s most recognised financial commentators, appearing regularly across 9News, A Current Affair, Today and Today Extra as 9News Money Editor. Her role puts everyday money questions, from mortgage rates to cost-of-living pressures, in front of a national broadcast audience.
Before television, she spent years as editor of Money magazine, building the editorial foundation for her current commentary. She is also Director and Money Commentator at InvestSMART, an ambassador for Canstar, and a published author, with her financial advice available in print as well as on screen.
That combination, decades of editorial experience, an active broadcast presence, and a body of published work, is what makes her commentary carry weight beyond any single platform or post.
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