Now is the time to power up consumers on energy use

Australia now has the opportunity to make transformative changes to our electricity market to put power in the hands of consumers and businesses, according to the Chief Executive of Australia’s peak clean energy industry body, Clean Energy Council.

“We are facing an imminent need to ‘rethink energy’ to keep prices low and improve our energy productivity - particularly at peak times,” Clean Energy Council Chief Executive David Green told a conference in Sydney.

“A unique set of complex challenges are currently facing our energy market and we must act soon to meet these challenges by empowering consumers and businesses to take control of their energy use,” Green said.

Speaking at the Australian Summer Study on Energy Efficiency and Decentralised Energy, Green outlined the clean energy industry’s vision for smarter, cleaner power networks that allow energy to be generated by multiple sources, and for individuals and communities to generate their own power.

“Allowing households to generate their own electricity through things like rooftop solar panels has already been shown to alleviate the impact of peak demand in many states, reducing the need for costly infrastructure upgrades,” Green said.

“Energy storage and smart appliances can also make a significant difference to peak demand. A simple measure like automatic air-conditioner cycling, where your air-conditioner is routinely switched off remotely to cut power usage without affecting the temperature, has been shown to reduce its energy use by 25 to 33%.

“Clean energy has a strong role to play both in giving consumers a way to generate their own power and also keeping the costs of energy as low as possible.

“Science, society and economics all say that change in our energy market is necessary to slow the rapidly rising price of electricity and ensure we have a safe, stable and secure source of energy well into the future.

“With well-considered, consumer-centric policy development and a focus on energy efficiency and clean energy technologies, energy market reform becomes a hurdle we can comfortably clear.”