At a time when Australian households and businesses are dealing with significant energy bill increases, consumer attention sharpens on how bills are calculated and communicated as well as how consumers can manage their energy costs. 

For this reason we have sought to understand how consumers are managing their energy bills and to gauge their interest in different types of retail electricity pricing structures that may provide them with more control over the size of their bills.

Energy Consumers Australia engaged Essential Research to conduct qualitative research with three groups of consumers: engaged, financially vulnerable and small businesses. We asked 59 consumers how they currently manage their electricity bills, whether they would prefer five-yearly step changes in network costs to be passed through at the start of the five year period or gradually ramped up (or down), and their preferences for different retail price structures.

The resulting report reveals consumers to be a diverse group with diverse preferences but gives clear guidance as to how this diversity can bet be navigated so that Australians are better empowered to understand how they are being charged for energy and take up options that work best for them.

Click on the cover image below to read the full report.