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Last night on @abc730 Australian Energy Council (peak body for big energy generators & retailers) said people should have to go through their retailer to do demand response, saying "that direct contractual relationship has worked very well”. Let's look at how well that's worked.
In PIAC’s submission to the AEMC’s consultation on the DR rule change last year, we note that in its 2018 wholesale electricity market performance report, the AER found wholesale DR by retailers actually decreased between 2017 and 2018. bit.ly/2KBnXxj
Research we conducted in 2018 showed only 1 of 23 NSW retailers offered DR to residential customers when contacted. It’s very unlikely customers would be able to find a retailer willing to do DR on request; over 99.99% of NSW households would be required to change retailers.
We repeated that study in 2019, after retail industry claims they were now innovating with DR offerings. We found retailers had innovated in other areas, but still only 1 small retailer offered DR when asked.
Jeff Renaud from Enel X, a global player in DR, said on last night’s program some players in the market view demand response categorically as a threat. He says the regulatory framework is what’s holding DR back in Australia.
So it's a good question journo @liz_hobday puts to the Australian Energy Council: “If even the ACCC is in favour [of opening up DR], why should people believe that you’re on the side of consumers and not on the side of preserving the market share of your members?”
