AGL is rewarding customers with bill credits when they safely reduce their energy usage this summer as part of AGL’s Peak Energy Rewards demand response program.

The program, one of the largest of its kind in Australia with more than 125,000 customers, aims to reduce electricity demand during peak times and improve grid stability.

During last financial year’s 28 peak events, AGL customers helped save 259 MW/h of electricity – enough to power 17,000 homes for a whole day and with participants being rewarded more than $1.3 million for the year.¹

AGL Chief Customer Officer Jo Egan said the program is perfect for new and existing AGL residential electricity customers with a digital meter who want to safely cut down energy costs.

“We’re encouraging customers who want to cut down on energy costs to get involved in this year’s program. The more customers who take part, the more energy bills we can help lower and the better we can manage the demand on the energy network on those high demand days,” Ms Egan said.

Customers who take part in Peak Energy Rewards can receive up to $10 in bill credits per event when they meet their energy reduction targets. Peak events typically run for between one and three hours on high demand days.

With broader cost-of-living concerns facing Australian households, AGL is also providing tips for customers to safely beat the heat this summer to help lower their energy bill without sacrificing their comfort.

Ms Egan said that the best thing to do before the temperature starts to heat up is to spend a little time preparing the home for the warmer months.

“We want to help our customers understand the safe and simple changes they can make around the home to conserve energy and reduce their bills. Switching hot washes for a cool cycle, air drying your clothing or properly sealing cracks around windowsills and doors are small changes that can make a difference,” she said.

“As many households get ready to take a break these summer holidays, one way to conserve energy is to turn appliances off at the wall as it can account for up to 10 per cent of your household energy usage,” Ms Egan said.

“We also encourage customers to get in touch with us early if they are finding it difficult to pay their bills. We are committed to working with customers and we know from experience that seeking help early can make an enormous difference.”

¹Calculation based on an average annual household consumption of 5.5MWh which has been derived from the AEC residential electricity use and customer numbers per state for FY2021 (Electricity Gas Australia 2022).