ECA CEO Rosemary Sinclair participated in a panel discussion at the launch of the ENA/CSIRO Electricity Network Transformation Roadmap: Interim Program Report Launch at Parliament House, Canberra on 3 December 2015

The following is a short summary of some of her remarks.

How would you summarise the key challenges and opportunities facing the electricity industry in the coming decade?

Challenges – consumers want more control over energy services and costs. There is an issue for industry to address over Social Licence.

Opportunities – the move to bi-directional energy and information management platform creates new value for consumers.

Challenges – managing into this future while maintaining security and safety of supply.

Opportunities – for networks to be partners of choice for the emerging Energy Services Market entrants and their customers e.g. Building IQ, Pooled Energy.

Around the world the energy industry hasn’t generally been thought of as the most customer-oriented industry. In your opinion, what are the critical ingredients for the energy industry to reinvent itself with Australian customers, in all their diversity, squarely at the centre?

To understand the unifying concept of Long term interests of Consumers from the perspective of the consumers.

Current data points – a survey of 1000 households across Australia over weekend 28-29 November 2015 showed 75 % of people think electricity is expensive; 90% of people are doing or thinking about doing something about this e.g., using economising measures (light bulbs); efficiency measures (batteries); environment measures (solar panels). This level of response suggests a significant Social Licence issue.

Closing remarks

Networks should seek to be the “value partner of choice” for new entrants. But there are clearly huge amounts of work to do to create network and retail information platforms that are “flexible and fast.”