IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/ausecr/v57y2024i4p422-431.html

Challenges in the Consumer‐Side of the Energy Transition

Author

Listed:
  • Andrea La Nauze
  • Flavio Menezes

Abstract

The decarbonisation of the Australian economy relies on the transition of the electricity grid from fossil fuel to renewable sources. In this paper, we briefly summarise the logic behind the design of the National Electricity Market, the market servicing 88% of the Australian population. We then explore the challenges facing the National Electricity Market during its transition and emphasise key proposals aimed at reforming the consumer, or demand‐side, of the market. We highlight four challenges ‐ whether consumers will be active, whether retail markets can deliver contracts that facilitate efficient transition, whether the wholesale market will operate effectively and whether regulatory barriers can be quickly addressed.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrea La Nauze & Flavio Menezes, 2024. "Challenges in the Consumer‐Side of the Energy Transition," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 57(4), pages 422-431, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:ausecr:v:57:y:2024:i:4:p:422-431
    DOI: 10.1111/1467-8462.12577
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8462.12577
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/1467-8462.12577?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David P Byrne & Leslie A Martin & Jia Sheen Nah, 2022. "Price Discrimination by Negotiation: a Field Experiment in Retail Electricity [“Redistribution through Markets,”]," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 137(4), pages 2499-2537.
    2. Matthew Harding & Steven Sexton, 2017. "Household Response to Time-Varying Electricity Prices," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 9(1), pages 337-359, October.
    3. Koichiro Ito & Takanori Ida & Makoto Tanaka, 2023. "Selection on Welfare Gains: Experimental Evidence from Electricity Plan Choice," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 113(11), pages 2937-2973, November.
    4. Leslie, Gordon W. & Pourkhanali, Armin & Roger, Guillaume, 2024. "Is the clean energy transition making fixed-rate electricity tariffs regressive?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    5. Meredith Fowlie & Catherine Wolfram & Patrick Baylis & C Anna Spurlock & Annika Todd-Blick & Peter Cappers, 2021. "Default Effects And Follow-On Behaviour: Evidence From An Electricity Pricing Program [The Impact of Presumed Consent Legislation on Cadaveric Oorgan Donation: A Cross-country Study”]," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 88(6), pages 2886-2934.
    6. Matthew Harding & Steven Sexton, 2017. "Household Response to Time-Varying Electricity Prices," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 9(1), pages 337-359, October.
    7. Ali Hortaçsu & Seyed Ali Madanizadeh & Steven L. Puller, 2017. "Power to Choose? An Analysis of Consumer Inertia in the Residential Electricity Market," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 9(4), pages 192-226, November.
    8. Jesse Burkhardt & Kenneth T. Gillingham & Praveen K. Kopalle, 2023. "Field Experimental Evidence on the Effect of Pricing on Residential Electricity Conservation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(12), pages 7784-7798, December.
    9. Andrea La Nauze, 2019. "Power from the People: Rooftop Solar and a Downward-Sloping Supply of Electricity," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 6(6), pages 1135-1168.
    10. Bryan K. Bollinger & Wesley R. Hartmann, 2020. "Information vs. Automation and Implications for Dynamic Pricing," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(1), pages 290-314, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Leslie A. Martin, 2022. "Driving on Sunbeams: Interactions Between Price Incentives for Electric Vehicles, Residential Solar Photovoltaics and Household Battery Systems," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 41(4), pages 369-384, December.
    2. Harding, Matthew & Kettler, Kyle & Lamarche, Carlos & Ma, Lala, 2023. "The (alleged) environmental and social benefits of dynamic pricing," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 574-593.
    3. Joshua Blonz & Karen Palmer & Casey J. Wichman & Derek C. Wietelman, 2025. "Smart Thermostats, Automation, and Time-Varying Prices," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 17(1), pages 90-125, January.
    4. Fu, Zheng & Novan, Kevin & Smith, Aaron, 2024. "Do time-of-use prices deliver energy savings at the right time?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    5. Christina Gravert, 2024. "From Intent to Inertia: Experimental Evidence from the Retail Electricity Market," CESifo Working Paper Series 11139, CESifo.
    6. Andrea La Nauze & Lana Friesen & Kai Li Lim & Flavio Menezes & Lionel Page & Thara Philip & Jake Whitehead, 2024. "Can Electric Vehicles Aid the Renewable Transition? Evidence from a Field Experiment Incentivising Midday Charging," CESifo Working Paper Series 11386, CESifo.
    7. Fabra, Natalia, 2021. "The energy transition: An industrial economics perspective," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    8. Marten Ovaere & Mark Vergouwen, 2025. "Mind the Peak: The Role of Peak Demand Charges and Real-Time Pricing in Residential Electricity Flexibility," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 25/1115, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    9. Enrich, Jacint & Li, Ruoyi & Mizrahi, Alejandro & Reguant, Mar, 2024. "Measuring the impact of time-of-use pricing on electricity consumption: Evidence from Spain," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    10. Jérôme Renault & Claude Crampes, 2025. "Assistance to electricity consumers with price misperception," Working Papers hal-05460697, HAL.
    11. Pébereau, Charles & Remmy, Kevin, 2023. "Barriers to real-time electricity pricing: Evidence from New Zealand," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    12. Jin, Guiyoung & Lim, Yeji & Nam, Kyungsik, 2025. "Energy efficiency pricing in regulated electricity markets," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    13. John List & Ioannis Pragidis & Michael Price, 2024. "Toward an Understanding of the Economics of Prosumers: Evidence from a Natural Field Experiment in Energy," Natural Field Experiments 00791, The Field Experiments Website.
    14. Garnache, Cloé & Hernaes, Øystein & Imenes, Anders Gravir, 2022. "Which Households Respond to Electricity Peak Pricing amid High Levels of Electrification?," IZA Discussion Papers 15194, IZA Network @ LISER.
    15. Harding, Matthew & Lamarche, Carlos, 2019. "A panel quantile approach to attrition bias in Big Data: Evidence from a randomized experiment," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 211(1), pages 61-82.
    16. Gosnell, Greer & McCoy, Daire, 2023. "Market failures and willingness to accept smart meters: Experimental evidence from the UK," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    17. Takanori Ida & Takunori Ishihara & Koichiro Ito & Daido Kido & Toru Kitagawa & Shosei Sakaguchi & Shusaku Sasaki, 2021. "Paternalism, Autonomy, or Both? Experimental Evidence from Energy Saving Programs," Papers 2112.09850, arXiv.org.
    18. Stelmach, Greg & Zanocco, Chad & Flora, June & Rajagopal, Ram & Boudet, Hilary S., 2020. "Exploring household energy rules and activities during peak demand to better determine potential responsiveness to time-of-use pricing," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    19. Cabot, Clément & Villavicencio, Manuel, 2024. "Second-best electricity pricing in France: Effectiveness of existing rates in evolving power markets," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    20. Megan R. Bailey & David P. Brown & Blake C. Shaffer & Frank A. Wolak, 2023. "Show Me the Money! Incentives and Nudges to Shift Electric Vehicle Charge Timing," NBER Working Papers 31630, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:ausecr:v:57:y:2024:i:4:p:422-431. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/mimelau.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.