Here are three reasons why the NSW Consumer Energy Strategy is so important:

1. Australians are facing a cost-of-living crisis – and energy prices have skyrocketed. The Strategy provides an opportunity to ensure all consumers are able to benefit from the cost savings Consumer Energy Resources (CER) can deliver.
2. Achieving the NSW Government’s target of net zero emissions by 2050 will need contribution from households and small businesses, and the Strategy should perform a central role in supporting consumers on this journey. In this respect, we’re pleased to see the broad scope of what is considered CER – including energy efficiency and the electrification of gas.
3. The 2024 Draft Integrated System Plan suggests that almost all new generating capacity expected to be installed in the future will be solar and wind. The Strategy provides an opportunity to ensure that the potential pool of flexible demand, enabled through CER, is realised and can help balance the increasing amount of variable renewable energy in the system.

Our submission to the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW), addresses a number of questions on topics such as the extent to which the strategy includes the right principles/objectives, barriers to consumer energy resources uptake for consumers and effective communications with consumers.