Network costs make up roughly 50% of the average household energy bill, and they are rising. If Australia simply builds more networks, instead of using the ones we have more efficiently, the benefits of low-cost renewable energy will be offset by these costs. Also, as customers adopt solar, batteries and EVs, how we gauge over or under-investment in power networks needs to adapt. Consumers are currently paying more than they need for their electricity because networks are underutilised.
With the support of an ECA grant, the UTS Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF) developed new metrics to update 'network utilisation' to measure and improve electricity network productivity. ISF’s work considered two-way flows on the network and unmasked localised network constraints. Better measures of network utilisation (or alternative metrics clustering around a similar purpose) can address these issues to inform network planning, highlight stranded asset risks, and incentivise non-network solutions – and if network utilisation can be more effectively measured, it will deliver better outcomes for consumers and help ensure a least-cost energy transition.
ISF’s project was guided by an experienced Stakeholder Reference Group comprising advocates, regulators, networks, CER companies and researchers. These new metrics have helped highlight how efficiently networks are operating and how efficiently they’re integrating CER, which will in turn arm the AER to help ensure a least-cost network infrastructure for everyone.
