Energy Consumer Australia survey finds ‘stunning collapse’ in confidence in power system

The official advocate for energy users says there’s been such a loss of faith in the power system that it jeopardises the move to renewables.

A “stunning collapse” in confidence in the power system has triggered an urgent warning by the official energy consumer advocate that the “social licence” needed to transition to renewables is now under threat.

The loss of faith is revealed in an influential new survey that also shows affordability is by far the top concern Australians have about energy, with the need to rapidly transition to green fuels a distant fourth.

In another remarkable finding, barely a third of people think they will ever buy an electric vehicle – in stark contrast to the predictions that underpin Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s pre-election promises for speedier carbon reduction.
The research was done for Energy Consumers Australia (ECA), which was created by the Council of Australian Governments in 2015, and is funded by a levy ultimately paid by households and small businesses.

ECA chief executive Lynne Gallagher said households had reacted angrily to the recent breakdown of the market that began in early June.

Ms Gallagher said the survey for Energy Consumers revealed a “stunning collapse of confidence and trust since then”.

“Australians are clearly unimpressed by the way our system is functioning and are deeply sceptical about whether things are going to get better any time soon,” she said.

Energy Consumers Australia chief executive Lynne Gallagher.

A whopping 88 per cent of households are now highly concerned or somewhat concerned that energy will become unaffordable for them over the next three years, up from 81 per cent in April.

Just 40 per cent of Australians have confidence that the overall energy market is acting in their long-term interests, down from 44 per cent.

Ms Gallagher said: “These numbers should send strong warning signals to anyone who is working to advance our progress towards a net zero future energy system in which Australian homes and businesses are powered by clean, abundant, and affordable electricity.

“To get to that better future, we need consumers to be embracing new opportunities and responsibilities, investing in new technology, making changes to how and when they use some energy and making their energy resources available to help themselves, their neighbours and the system itself,” she said.

Only a third of people think they’ll own an EV. Picture: Thomas Wieleck

Ms Gallagher said the scale of investment needed required a “social licence” from the community.

“If we can’t show consumers that the system has their interests front of mind and is able to deliver on them then Australians will be increasingly tempted to disengage from the energy system … we can’t afford for that to happen.”

The June survey also found 90 per cent of consumers are highly concerned or moderately concerned that the nation’s energy system will not be sufficiently resilient in the next three years and that as a result there will be more outages.

“Australians are entitled at a minimum to feel confident that energy will be there for them when they need it,” Ms Gallagher said.

A separate survey for ECA, run prior to the wholesale market upheaval, asked participants to choose the two most important issues for the future energy system, with 63 per cent selecting affordability as one of their choices, while only 30 per cent who nominated the need for a “rapid transition to renewable energy sources”.

That survey also found just 36 per cent of consumers think they will ever buy an electric vehicle (EV). By contrast, the federal Labor government’s Powering Australia policy is based on EVs accounting for 89 per cent of new car sales by the end of the decade.

The Powering Australia policy document promises to speed up carbon emissions reduction so that pollution levels are 43 per cent lower by 2030 when compared to 2005 levels.