The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) has released a strategy on a page for its approach to regulating and promoting positive market outcomes for consumer energy resources. Consumer energy resources are energy resources that consumers own, such as energy generation and storage at the premises (e.g. solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles).
The strategy communicates the goal of the AER’s consumer energy resources work program. This goal is to enable consumers to own energy resources and use those resources to consume, store and trade energy as they choose in support of the broader long-term interest of all energy consumers.
The strategy also provides a bird’s eye view of how the various AER workstreams fit together holistically to achieve this goal. These workstreams cut across areas such as network integration, efficient price signals and incentives, consumer empowerment (including market development and reform), and consumer safeguards and technical standards.
The public-facing strategy aims to facilitate constructive engagement by assisting stakeholders to navigate and understand the AER’s work program. The strategy also aims to provide confidence that the different AER workstreams are working collaboratively to achieve a common goal.
The strategy also enables accountability by highlighting how each workstream aims to deliver outcomes that contribute to the goal. By mapping out these interconnections, the strategy facilitates measuring results and identifying potential gaps or opportunities.
The AER intends to update the strategy periodically given the evolving nature of markets and regulations around consumer energy resources. In doing so, the AER will continue to work closely with consumer representatives and the other energy market bodies to ensure we are progressing a shared vision together.