Rewarding flexible demand: Customer-friendly cost reflective tariffs and incentives

Chief Investigators

Dr Rob Passey  (UNSW)

Purpose of project

This Opportunity Assessment aims to develop and demonstrate innovative, flexible and dynamic pricing and incentives for customers to encourage load management and to reduce costs to energy customers. Through trials, regulatory sandboxes, testing and customer research, this theme will accelerate adoption of dynamic and more cost reflective pricing, increase price responsiveness, demand management systems and support efficient use of distributed energy resources (DER) and smart appliances.

Impact of project

This theme aims to expedite the participation of Australian residential consumers in demand and DER management through cost-reflective tariffs, supporting technologies and decision support tools for customers. The implementation of these changes will initially use existing processes to change prices and incentives. The roll out through sandboxes and testing will similarly be through changes using existing processes and infrastructure. In particular, AEMO’s planned Wholesale Demand Response Mechanism (WDR) provides the future potential for residential consumer participation in the wholesale electricity market.

Project partners – industry and research

UNSW (Lead), AGL, Ausgrid, Energetic Communities Association, EPRI, Horizon Power, Monash, PIAC, QUT, Renew Energy, St Vincent de Paul

Industry Reference Group members

AGL, Ausgrid, CSIRO, Department of Planning, Industry and Environment NSW, Energetic Communities Association, Energy Consumers Australia, Energy Networks, Horizon Power, PIAC, QUT, Renew Energy, SA Power Networks, St Vincent de Paul, Swinburne,Victoria University