Electricity Demand Management Rationalisation

SITUATION

Our brief was to innovate solutions to reduce peak electricity demand in order to avoid capital expenditure and thereby reduce upward price pressure on consumers. This required policy, tariff, business and consumer changes to established behaviour and creation of new markets, systems and processes to achieve policy and pricing outcomes.

APPROACH

Planned and implemented a program of projects to achieve specific objectives and engage with targeted sets of internal and external stakeholders. Set up the program and coached leaders using a range of project management principles and practices, tailored to the capabilities of the organisation. The range of projects established included:

• Roadmap – developed policy and strategy into an achievable roadmap in consultation with industry, policy and consumer stakeholders.
• Solution development – broad consultation, research and development of supporting technology, methods and value chains to establish viable markets to implement and sustain the desired outcomes.
• Commercial and Industrial – reviewed the top 300 energy consumers in SEQ to discuss, identify, develop and implement effective ways to shift or reduce significant blocks of electricity demand from peak periods on the network in a way that was mutually beneficial.
• Consumer – community engagement leading to development, implementation and refinement of education and incentive programs targeting specific peak demand reduction outcomes and behaviour changes.
• Tariff trial – plan and implement trials measuring consumer reaction to a range of time-of-use price signals. This to inform further policy and pricing reform to support the desired outcomes.
• Developed a program delivery capability to work with Executive, Initiative Leads and key stakeholders to implement the program from inception, to delivery of pilots and trials, through to proving up solutions and embedding them as business-as-usual.

OUTCOME

• The program was a demonstrable success. It delivered more than the targeted 128MW of peak load reduction under schedule and under budget.
• Development and implementation of “PeakSmart” air conditioning load control via manufacturers, retailers, installers and taken up by over 100,000 consumers to deliver peak demand reduction at key times on the network.
• Efficient pool pump sales and off-peak load control for pools delivered peak demand reductions beyond target, where engagement with industry bodies (SPASA) and retailers were instrumental to the program’s success.
• The tariff trial demonstrated which pricing models would be more effective to achieve effective peak demand reduction and inform tariff policy.
• Helped change the way the business forecast, planned and implemented capital works to achieve net price reductions for consumers.