As customers adopt solar, batteries and electric vehicles, how we use the grid has changed, and our regulation needs to follow.
The UTS Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF) was awarded a grant by Energy Consumers Australia to develop new metrics to update 'network utilisation' as a means to measure and improve electricity network productivity. Network utilisation is a key historical metric used to gauge over- or under-investment in the network. However, with the uptake of consumer energy resources (CER), network utilisation is no longer fit for purpose.
It does not account for two-way flows on the network and masks localised network constraints that are becoming more prevalent during the energy transition. Better measures of network utilisation (or alternative metrics clustering around a similar purpose) can address these issues to inform network planning, highlight stranded asset risks, and incentivise the adoption of non-network solutions, such as flexible demand. Such measures will be crucial in keeping consumer prices down over the coming decades as consumers continue to adopt solar and increasingly electrify gas and transport energy use.
Building on previous work on metrics for measuring export service quality, ISF will examine alternatives to network utilisation, under the guidance of an experienced Stakeholder Reference Group comprising consumer advocates, regulators, networks, CER companies and researchers.
MEDIA
Empowering tomorrow's energy by redefining network utilisation – ISF news, February 2024
Researchers
-
Research Director -
Senior Research Consultant -
Research Director, Strategic Energy Collaborations -
Senior Research Consultant
Years
- 2023-2024
Location
- Australia-wide
Funded by
- Energy Consumers Australia
SDGs
| 
| 
| 
|
This project is working towards UN Sustainable Development Goals 7, 9, 11 and 17.
