Our submission (PDF, 285.33KB) to the NSW Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART)'s consultation on monitoring the retail electricity and gas markets in 2025-26 makes the case that market monitoring should focus more explicitly on consumer outcomes, not just market activity, to better understand who benefits from energy market reforms and who may be left behind.
Our submission recommends a stronger focus on affordability, participation and fairness as the energy transition accelerates. We propose:
- Additional monitoring of the Solar Sharer Offer
- The impact of same-name energy plans on consumer understanding
- Electricity disconnections for non-payment
- Trends in gas connections and tariff structures
- The uptake and outcomes of energy efficiency and electrification programs
- Life support customer registration trends; and
- The implementation of embedded network reforms
We also highlight emerging issues including new gas connection charging arrangements, consumer protections for virtual power plants and other new energy services, and the potential impacts of growing data centre demand on energy consumers.
We consider IPART's NSW consumer-focused monitoring role particularly important as energy markets become more complex.
Our submission recommends (PDF, 285.33KB) that monitoring reports examine distributional impacts across different consumer groups, identify where reforms may not be delivering fair outcomes, and provide evidence to support policy and regulatory improvements where consumers face harm or barriers to participation.
