AGL is pleased to announce our Peak Energy Rewards demand response program will be expanded to other states before next summer following successful trials in New South Wales and Victoria.

Demand response helps customers in reducing their electricity demand at a particular time of day. It can be an effective way to help reduce individual customer bills, improve reliability and reduce the average cost to supply electricity to all households and businesses.

This year more than 8000 customers are involved in the NSW trial which is the final year of a three-year program in partnership with the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), the NSW Government and the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO). AGL extended the program into Victoria in December with over 11,000 customers joining, highlighting the strong demand in other states.

AGL Chief Customer Officer, Christine Corbett, said the program would be made available to up to a million customers before next summer across New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Queensland.

“The response to this program has been overwhelmingly positive and we are proud to be able to offer it more widely across Australia, because it means more customers will reap the rewards and save on their bills,” Ms Corbett said.

“The results and feedback from this program have been fantastic – customers who participated in the trial saved an average of 30 per cent on their usage during peak events.

“On top of that, it delivered benefits to the energy grid and we saw significant, consistent load reductions across all peak events.

“The best part is that being involved in the program doesn’t cost customers anything, there’s no need to pay for equipment or install anything. It’s free, voluntary and accessible for anyone with a smart meter.

“The program utilises data, along with weather information, and our digital platform to deliver highly personalised communications to the customer helping them to reap the benefits on offer.

“We see orchestration initiatives like this, and our Virtual Power Plant, as providing mutual benefits to AGL and our customers, as technology and the energy grid continues to evolve. It’s a way of putting more control in the hands of our customers while reducing demands on the grid,” Ms Corbett said.

About ARENA

ARENA was established by the Australian Government to make renewable energy technologies more affordable and increase the supply of renewable energy in Australia. Through the provision of funding coupled with deep commercial and technical expertise, ARENA provides the support needed to accelerate the development of promising new solutions towards commercialisation. ARENA invests in renewable energy projects across the innovation chain and is committed to sharing knowledge and lessons learned from its portfolio of projects and information about renewable energy. ARENA always looks for at least matched funding from the projects it supports and to date has committed $1.48 billion in funding to more than 513 projects. For more information, visit www.arena.gov.au.