Submission to NSW Office of Climate Change and Energy (OCCE) on Promoting Innovation for Energy Consumers

PIAC made a submission to the NSW Office of Climate Change and Energy (OCCE) in response to the consultation paper on promoting innovation for energy consumers. PIAC welcomed the NSW Government action to identify opportunities for consumer-focussed reform and recommended potential reforms be focussed on a clear and consistent objective and principles. The objective and principles should address equity, sustainability, resilience, efficiency, and accelerated action on climate change. 

PIAC highlighted the OurPOWER collaboration and recommended it as a suitable framework for the development of objectives and principles to guide consumer and community focussed energy reforms.

PIACs submission included detailed responses to all aspects of the consultation paper, with recommendations including:

• NSW Government-lead reforms to accelerate an equitable rollout of advanced metering before 2030, ensuring all consumers have metering that enables their benefit from reforms in energy technology, energy management and flexible operation of the energy system.
• Ensuring de-energisation for the purposes of debt management cannot be done remotely and must be proceeded by in-person notification and assistance offers.
• Ensuring energy embodied in hot or cold water provided in embedded network, is billed as energy, and regulated accordingly.
• A DER strategy ensures DER is implemented and utilised in a way that supports equity, and optimises the benefits to all consumers, the climate, community, and energy system.
• Data, digitisation and the development of new market services is implemented in a way that strengthens support for consumers and actively addresses vulnerability.