Australian Energy Council (ACE) Chief Executive Louisa Kinnear said while the government had taken on board some industry feedback, the current design means many customers are unlikely to see meaningful savings.
While welcoming the intent behind the offer, the AEC is concerned that the design has been rushed, limiting its effectiveness.
“We support initiatives that help make energy more affordable for consumers, and we respect that this offer is well-intended,” she said.
“However, there is still more work to be done to ensure it delivers the greatest possible benefit for customers.”
Kinnear said the offer may benefit customers who are able to shift their energy use into the free daytime period, but for many households, the savings will be limited.
“For customers who can shift their energy use into the middle of the day, this offer could deliver some benefit. But for those who are unable to change when they use electricity, they are unlikely to reduce their energy costs.”
The AEC said for this offer to work effectively, further reform to network tariffs was required to better reflect how consumers use the system and deliver fairer outcomes for both customers and retailers.
“For this offer to be effective, network tariffs need to align with the free energy periods, which is not part of the current offer design. Without this change, there is a risk that energy charges outside the free window will be significantly higher, which may disadvantage some customers.
“We will continue to engage with government on a solution that works for consumers and retailers alike,” Kinnear said.
“However, we are concerned that the offer has been rushed, meaning its full potential benefits for consumers may not be realised and that it puts pressure on the industry to implement a complex product in a very short timeframe.
“As it stands, this offer is likely to appeal to only a limited number of consumers,” she said.
“If the government was willing take a bit more time on the design and implementation of this offer, it could have a much greater impact and deliver better outcomes for more Australians, but for now, we believe this is a missed opportunity.”
The AEC said it looks forward to continuing to work with government to improve the offer and ensure it delivers meaningful, long-term benefits for energy customers.
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.