The future of household energy use is exciting and challenging. To meet Australia’s emissions reductions targets, all households will need to electrify.

And households can benefit from this change. By 2030, the average all-electric household will save around $2,250 per year - and that's before adding solar or a battery. However, those who remain on fossil fuels will face escalating bills.

People need access to the right information at the right time to empower them to make decisions about how to electrify their homes to suit their unique situation. They also need to understand why they’re being asked to make changes to the way they heat their homes, cook, and fuel their car.  

To achieve a step change in our energy system that is orderly and equitable for all households, governments need to step up.

In this report, Energy Consumers Australia recommends a new national partnership across all levels of government to plan the consumer energy transition. The national partnership would be tasked with developing a clear and comprehensive national plan that sets out how all households will decarbonise and ensuring that the last households to electrify are the ones that choose to wait, not those who couldn’t afford to.

These findings are based on modelling conducted by CSIRO and Dynamic Analysis which can be found in the technical report. 

Key Findings

The Stepping Up report and CSIRO’s modelling have the following key findings:

• The households that benefit the most from the energy transition will be those that electrify their heating, cooking and transport and have energy efficient homes. Those who remain on fossil fuels will face escalating bills. 
• By 2030 the average difference in total energy costs, including transport, between a typical fossil-fuelled home and an all-electric home (without solar and a battery) will be around $2,250 per year. Households that install solar and a battery will make additional savings on top.
• As more households electrify all their appliances, the households that remain connected to gas are likely to pay much higher bills due to the need to pay higher network charges to recoup the cost of a less utilised gas network. 
• Widespread uptake of EV’s won’t just benefit individuals – electricity bills for all consumers will likely come down through better network utilisation from EV use.
• People need access to the right information at the right time to empower them to make decisions about how to electrify their homes to suit their unique situation. They also need to understand why they’re being asked to make changes to the way they heat their homes, cook, and fuel their car. 
• Households that face barriers to electrifying their homes will need support. We need to make sure that no-one is left behind in Australia’s energy future and that the last households to electrify are the ones that choose to wait, not those who couldn’t afford to.  

Policy Implications

The partnership should include three key elements:

1. Support consumer agency: Households need the right information at the right time from a trusted source that is clear, and in their language, to empower them to make decisions that are right for their situation.
2. Financial support: The transition will be costly for some consumers. At the very least, funding is needed to support electrification of Australia’s most vulnerable households.
3. Structural policies to enable change: Government policies are needed that enable, or potentially mandate, the changes required to make sure the necessary infrastructure and processes are in place to help all households electrify.