What is Power Shift?
Power Shift is a body of research providing energy companies, government and regulators with evidence on which to build better-targeted and more effective, and innovative energy management services and programs that deliver outcomes for consumers.
Consumers rely on energy – electricity and gas – for comfortable homes. When energy costs cannot be managed, people’s health and wellbeing are at risk, and these are particularly significant for low-income or vulnerable consumers.
Power Shift research demonstrated that power needs to be in the hands of consumers if they are to take control over their energy use and costs, through their own actions.
Building on that research, Power Shift developed tools to help policy-makers and industry. The Supporting Households Framework will help design and develop measures to effectively assist people in managing their energy usage and costs. The Multiple Impacts Framework enables decision-makers to capture all the benefits of energy management programs, as the evidence indicates that the health and wellbeing benefits are significant, and should be accounted for.
Better measures of assistance could help rebuild consumer confidence and trust, providing consumers with the information and tools they need to manage their energy costs and usage.
On this page you will find the Power Shift Final Report and information about our key workshop that discussed the insights of the program. Deeper information about all the commissioned research and policy-maker tools can be explored on the page links below.
Power Shift Final Report
The culmination of 3 years of evidence-based research and collaboration, the Power Shift Final Report outlines the key findings of the research and how policymakers, regulators and industry can find the opportunities to empower consumers.
Power Shift Final Report
To mark the completion of the Power Shift grant, Energy Consumers Australia convened a workshop on the implications of Power Shift’s research findings for the energy market.
Power Shift Research
Power Shift produced a significant body of research, beginning with the Australian Government’s Low-Income Energy Efficiency Program (LIEEP), which engaged with over 20,000 households from 2016 to 2019, as well as commissioning additional new research.
That was shared through public forums and workshops – to read those reports or see those webinars, see our Evidence page.
Supporting further research
A proportion of the Commonwealth grant to Energy Consumers Australia was passed through to the Group of Energy Efficiency Researchers Australia (GEER) as seed funding. GEER was established by the network of researchers working on pilots funded through the Low-Income Energy Efficiency Program, and who were keen to continue to work together after those projects had finished.
Through its research and partnerships with government, industry and the not-for-profit sector, GEER works to improve the energy related wellbeing of disadvantaged and low-income people.
GEER website
Power Shift was funded through a grant to Energy Consumers Australia from the Australian Government, that commenced in September 2016.
