#BetterTogether – Elevating Inclusion in Innovation

Elevating Inclusion in Innovation

With the proliferation of new technologies and household energy products, and a new energy future rapidly unfolding across households and neighbourhoods, does an opportunity exist for organisations to elevate inclusion into their innovation strategies?  

This is one of the key questions the Queensland Council of Social Service (QCOSS) is helping us to incubate when considering how Energy Charter signatories can best support customers in vulnerable circumstances who face mounting cost-of-living pressures.  

Historically, the focus on households experiencing energy hardship and disadvantage has been supports for payment difficulties, emergency relief and advice on how to use energy more efficiently.  

Matters of access have traditionally focused on competition and things such as the ability to switch. This makes sense with what was historically a homogenous product, scaled business models and a centralised energy system. This is also reflected in the focus of regulation on matters of hardship and supports. 

These supports and relief play an essential role, however they are not the complete toolkit. Product and service design, innovation and the powerhouse of problem-solving capability and investment that these can bring – so far these are relatively absent. 

With support and relief measures struggling to bridge the gap in energy affordability across distressed households in 2022, and with widening divides between people able to access the benefits of the energy transformation or not – elevating the role of innovation deserves deep consideration. 

Focusing on the intersection between equity and social outcomes, market innovation and policy, QCOSS recently undertook research on this very subject.  

Through expert interviews with 31 people across 12 energy organisations, QCOSS sought to shed light on three key questions:  

  1. How can innovation play a greater role in designing products that better deliver benefits of emerging energy products to consumers currently missing out, particularly those experiencing disadvantage, or on low income?   
  2. How can we increase the accessibility of existing products and services for consumers experiencing disadvantage or low income to improve equitable access across all consumers?   
  3. Considering the roles of different industry stakeholders, what role can and should the Queensland government play in enabling these outcomes?  

QCOSS’ research found that there is an untapped potential for innovation  

While vulnerability and hardship are priorities for energy organisations, this does not yet manifest as a driver or key priority within innovation. Higher commercial and regulatory priorities, coupled with common impediments to innovation, including cost, mean innovation is currently focused elsewhere.  

A variety of examples of business improvement and innovation activity to improve disadvantaged customer service provision or inclusion were provided by interviewees, however, activity mainly relates to hardship and billing cycle-related service areas – rather than systematic investment in solving for root causes of exclusion or addressing barriers to access to future energy technologies.  

Innovation activity that is strongly related to this challenge tends to occur on a standalone project, or opportunistic basis (including government-created opportunities), versus via management of a strategic pipeline of projects and options as a core priority of the organisation’s innovation teams. 

The mix of market environment disruptors – shifting energy economics and competition – is creating an opportunity to leverage emerging product development efforts, and the imperative to find a new market model towards improving access and benefits for people currently excluded.

QCOSS’ findings suggest that government, working closely together with innovating organisations, can enable market-based solutions for households currently excluded. 

The range of solution areas is significant and, with the right policy and partnerships, could deliver an urgently needed increase in problem-solving activity and delivery of fairer outcomes and greater benefits to those most in-need across our communities – particularly low-income renters and those with financial barriers to access. 

As innovation is not free, the historical distribution of innovation costs has seen a disproportionate cost burden on disadvantaged people, with fewer incentives designed for them. 

While incentives designed for early adoption have been effective and are important, QCOSS found there is more that can be done and more that is needed.  

It is in all stakeholders’ interests to find sustainable pathways to one future energy market. As the transformation gathers pace, preventing a widening disparity between those participating in new service offerings and those who are underserved must be addressed. 

Stay tuned for upcoming announcements from the Energy Charter CEO Council on support for those in vulnerable circumstances, under Principle 5 of the Energy Charter.

August 2022 News Update

Message from the Chair of the CEO Council, Rebecca Kardos CEO at Aurora, New Energy Charter Full Signatory Jacana Energy, Priority #BT Updates, Customer Voice Anthony Cooper #BetterTogether First Nations Read More

#BetterTogether Cost of Living – Insights from Business NSW

#BetterTogether Cost-of-Living – Insights from Business NSW

Key take-aways from our recent “review and reflect” on how customers in vulnerable circumstances have been supported through COVID-19 is that we need to think broadly about who needs support and how we tailor that support to meet individual needs.

Keeping small businesses front-of-mind

When we think about vulnerability, small businesses owners are not always the first people that come to mind.

Anthony Cooper, Executive Manager of the Energy Programs at Business NSW reminds us that small businesses are starting to feel pressure of rising cost-of-living expenses and we must keep them front of mind when considering how to best support our communities moving forward.

“As households around Australia manage increasing cost pressures, consumers are focusing more on their outgoings, prioritising essentials and cutting back where they can. This means cancelling or cutting back on many small business offerings, particularly across the hospitality, entertainment, and tourism sectors.

“Our latest Business Conditions Survey (April 2022) reflects this, with business confidence low, and many concerned about juggling wage increases, rising materials, transport and insurance costs.”

Cost-of-living pressures

At its last meeting, the Energy Charter CEO Council elevated support for customers and communities facing cost-of-living pressures as a priority area for collaborative action, with Energy Charter Signatories now scoping up options for #BetterTogether initiatives to support those in vulnerable circumstances under Principle 5 of the Energy Charter. 

When thinking about how to best support communities, Anthony offers some sage advice for designing and delivering services for small businesses.

One size doesn’t fit all

Just like every person, every business is different. It’s important to take the time to really understand a business, its relationship with energy, motivation and capacity to implement change. When designing small business solutions, it’s critical to build-in flexibility to ensure there’s room for customisation. 

Consider the full customer journey

Considering the full customer journey is fundamental to good design for any program, product or service, and not just for small business. From a small business standpoint, addressing energy affordability can include much more than, for example, an initial assessment and options analysis. It can also mean navigating the procurement process, including finding trusted suppliers and financing options, as well developing new operational processes. It’s critical to stand in shoes of the customer and consider what the entire process looks like for them. 

It’s a matter of value

When it comes to juggling competing priorities, small business owners are the ultimate masters. Often, we think about small businesses as being ‘time poor’, but that’s not entirely accurate. Businesses will prioritise activities that offer value, however, they simply can’t afford to put time and attention towards activities where the return to the business is not clear and understandable. When working with small businesses it’s important to reflect this at every touch point. Take time to think about how you’re articulating value and if the level of engagement you’re asking for is propitiate to the end value of the product or service.  

Anthony says, “These tips are not just for energy businesses looking at new and innovative ways to support, they’re good pointers for anyone developing products, services, or support measures for small business.

“I also want to remind small business owners feeling nervous about how they will manage their future energy costs, that there are programs in place that can help.

“It’s always worth reaching out to your energy retailer directly to understand your options. The Business Energy Advice Program (BEAP) is also a great starting point. BEAP is a free energy advisory service that delivers face-to-face, phone and digital advice to small businesses across Australia.

“BEAP can help small businesses understand their energy savings opportunities, choose the best energy plan for their business, and receive tailored advice on energy efficiency opportunities best suited to their industry. You can register for a free Business Energy Advice consultation by calling 1300 415 224 or visiting businessenergyadvice.com.au”

Stay tuned for upcoming announcements from the Energy Charter CEO Council on support for those in vulnerable circumstances, including small business, under Principle 5 of the Energy Charter. 

#BetterTogether – Human centred co-design of the National Customer Code Energy Comparators and Energy Moving Services

The importance of developing a rich understanding of customer experiences was central to successfully human-centred co-designing and launching the recent National Customer Code Energy Comparators and Energy Moving Services (the Customer Code), a #BetterTogether initiative of the Energy Charter.

“Developing a co-design process to engage a broad range of stakeholders with the right result required a thorough and considered approach. It began by outlining the problem we aimed to solve, scoping the relevant stakeholders, including industry representatives and customer advocates, and working with experienced human-centred design facilitators.” – Anne Whitehouse, CEO of Sales Assured and Administrator of the Customer Code.

The intention of the Customer Code was to address some of the concerns about third party intermediaries’ selling practices raised in the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Retail Electricity Pricing Inquiry Report 2018 (the REPI Report) with a view to pragmatic industry-led solutions.  

Initial discussions were held with ACCC, Australian Energy Market Commission and Australian Energy Regulator to share the plan for the Customer Code development. To gauge support and build momentum, an initial stakeholder forum was held in August 2021, facilitated by design-thinking expert, Dewang Bhargav of Energy Queensland. The focus of the workshop was to build an understanding of the energy comparator and moving service market experience for customers: what was working, what wasn’t and areas for industry-led improvements.

From here, a representative Code Builders group was formed who met fortnightly until November 2021 to develop the Customer Code. Participants included customer representatives, third-party comparators and moving services and energy retailers. These were stimulating discussions as the Code Builders challenged themselves to look at ways to meet some of the matters in the REPI Report with a human-centred design approach. This meant developing solutions to customer problems by involving the human perspective in all steps of the problem-solving process. The strong commitment to delivering tangible customer outcomes was evident throughout.

Once the Customer Code draft was finalised, it was circulated stakeholders for their feedback. An open-invitation forum was also held in April 2022. Thoughtful responses from ACCC, the Consumer Policy Research Centre and Public Interest Advocacy Centre helped to strengthen the Customer Code.

The Customer Code has a strong governance framework, including a Customer Code Council (CCC) to provide strategic direction and support to the Code Administrator, Anne Whitehouse. The CCC was an open application process and many of the Code Builders joined the CCC under Independent Chair, John Smith.

The Customer Code for Energy Comparators & Moving Services launched in June 2022. Its success will depend on the level of industry participation and the commitment of the signatories to the Customer Code principles. It is importantly backed by energy retailers and other suppliers who choose to join as Supporters.

A special thanks to the people who made this happen:

 

July 2022 News Update

Message from the Chair of the CEO Council, Rebecca Kardos CEO at Aurora, #BetterTogether Landholder and Community Social Licence, #BetterTogether Customer Code for Knock Before You Disconnect, Financial Counselling Australia training and meet the team! Read More

#BetterTogether – supporting customers in vulnerable circumstances

How can I better manage my energy bills? What financial support is available and how can I access it? What about energy efficiency? These are some of the questions asked by customers accessing the Uniting Energy Support Program, supported by Energy Charter signatories APA, CS Energy, Jemena, Endeavour Energy, Energy Queensland, Essential Energy and Powerlink under Energy Charter Principle Five – we will support customers facing vulnerable circumstances.

Uniting’s Energy Support Program was initially set up in September last year to help Australians most impacted by COVID-19 as part of the Energy Charter commitment of $1.5 million to support vulnerable customers impacted by COVID.

The program offers tailored, one-on-one advice and assistance to energy customers across New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria, and now, with increased need to support Australians impacted by cost-of-living pressures, support like this has become even more important.

“Our program focuses on energy efficiency advice through behaviour change. We aim to help people understand the relationship they have with their appliances and how that impacts their bills. We then give advice on how to get the most out of their appliances without it costing too much. This helps to reduce the household’s ongoing bills.

We also make sure people are accessing supports, concessions and affordable payment plans provided by their energy retailer. We help participants to understand their bills, their rights and make sure they get access to any debt relief grants or vouchers that might be available in their state. This helps to reduce outstanding debt and takes away the threat of disconnection.” – Matt Cairns, Uniting Vic Tas Senior Manager – Energy and Financial Literacy

The Uniting Energy Support Program also works collaboratively by referring to other community programs such as financial counselling and emergency relief supports if additional needs are identified.

“If people have debts with their energy provider, they are more than likely to have debt with their credit card, in rent arrears, or going without other essentials such as medicine, food or kids clothes to try and make ends meet ” Matt said.

Case Study: Unable to cover cost of electricity/gas bills.

Meet Naomi*…

Naomi is from a culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) background and has experienced domestic family violence in the recent past. Because of her experience Naomi now lives with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and has physical disabilities. She is a single parent, on a fixed Government pension, living in social housing with her young adult children.

Naomi has had issues receiving Centrelink in the past which has caused problems keeping on top of essential expenses, including energy bills. This has also impacted on her ability to make rental payments and cover other expenses. She requires continual care in the home and support to access her community. Energy debt has accumulated since she was unable to cover cost of energy usage or maintain payment plans set up in the past.

Through the Uniting Energy Support Program, Naomi received:

  • Energy efficiency advice to ensure she could reduce electricity and gas consumption to safe and affordable levels.
  • Help with her energy retailer to review her payment plan, flag her account as ‘life support’ and a receive a medical rebate form to apply for the medical equipment supplement through Centrelink.
  • Backdated concession rate to help reduce some of the outstanding debt.

Naomi also was referred to:

  • Emergency relief program for supports with food, petrol vouchers, and phone bill.
  • Centrelink multicultural services for advocacy support to check Centrelink concessions and payments.
  • Tenancy Advice line for advice on rental payment with social housing.
  • Local support program for white good replacement and food vouchers.

Naomi and her carer were extremely appreciative of the referrals to further supports and for highlighting the lack of concessions for over 1 year. The backdating of the concession will support her to reduce her current debt but also with her future bills.

*All identifying information has been replaced

To date, the Uniting Energy Support Program has received around 260 overall referrals from individual householders with 195 completing appointments and 551 overall interactions with clients.

“As Energy Charter signatories, it’s really important to us that we do our part to tackle disadvantage and support our customers as they navigate the energy sector,” said Jemena’s Executive General Manager of Energy Networks, Shaun Reardon.  

“Our partnership with Uniting Vic.Tas – the Uniting Energy Assist Program – empowers customers across our electricity network in Melbourne and gas network in New South Wales to take charge of their energy bills, access available support, and learn easy energy saving tips through over-the-phone home energy appointments.

“Uniting have been fantastic project partners, and with their support we have been able save customer’s $650 on average, while also enhancing their understanding of the often complex energy sector.”

To learn more about the Uniting Energy Support Program, work to prevent energy debt and help connect your customers with support, please contact Matt Cairns, Uniting Vic Tas Senior Manager – Energy and Financial Literacy via email matt.cairns@vt.uniting.org

The Energy Charter June News Update

Message from the Chair of the CEO Council, Rebecca Kardos CEO at Aurora, #BetterTogether updates – final National Customer Code for Energy Comparators & Energy Moving Services, the first-ever Life Support Medical Advisory Group (LMAG), Knock Before You Disconnect and Communal Content Hub Read More

#BetterTogether Community of Practice – Engaging customers with lived experience

Practical ways to engage people with lived experience in our communities with insights and learnings from TasCollab – a co-designed cross-sector collaboration pilot.

In a ground-breaking collaboration for the energy sector in Tasmania, Energy Charter signatories Aurora Energy and TasNetworks along with Hydro Tasmania and Tasmanian Council of Social Service (TasCOSS) have partnered across sectors to collectively implement TasCollab.

TasCollab is a new cross-sector collaboration bringing together community service and research organisations, businesses, and community members to explore innovative and tangible solutions to societal issues in lutruwita / trouwunna (Tasmania).

A key factor to its success was bringing the community voice to the table.

Dr Lucy Mercer-Mapstone, Stakeholder engagement and policy officer at Tasmanian Council of Social Services (TasCOSS) and TasCollab lead said: “People are starting to realise that old engagement methods are not the most appropriate, inclusive or authentic. Often the structures created in those methods unintentionally exclude people with lived experience and those that are most at risk and vulnerable.

For TasCollab, we wanted to include community members in a way that these businesses had not done before that truly centred lived experience in the collaborative process.

We started a Community Voice Partnership Program which focused on lived experience advocacy that recruits, trains, mentors, and pays community members with diverse lived experiences to work with us. These Community Voice Partners all had an equal seat at the co-design table.”

Practical ways TasCollab engaged with people with lived experience include:

  • Equal seat at the co-design table – proportionally equal representation between Community Voice Partners, community sector and business.
  • Process orientated approach – equal importance placed on the process (co-creation, collaboration and relationships) as outcomes.
  • Collaborative foundations – a lot of time (3-4 months) was spent building collaborative structures & relationships including principles, terms of reference, resources, decision making tools, guidelines for addressing unconscious bias and safe spacing for sharing vulnerability etc. to ensure the way we worked together on a project was inclusive and effective.
  • Distributed leadership model – rotating facilitation role across partners where people led small subgroups with the support of TasCollab facilitator Dr Lucy Mercer-Mapstone. This enabled all partners to take on a leadership role with topic areas they were interested or had skills sets in. This saw community members working with energy business staff to co-facilitate co-creation sessions for example.

“This was a really powerful example of collaboration across diverse identities and positionalities” Lucy said.

Through the extensive co-design process, the TasCollab pilot will focus on a new lived experience advocacy program named ‘Community Partnership Program’ that sits within TasCOSS . The program will create paid opportunities and training for people on low incomes to influence services, policies, procedures, and decisions that affect them This is a formal program where people with lived experience are recruited ethically and paid, receive formal training and ongoing mentoring to prepare them to:

  • Work in partnership with a community service organisation to revise or create a new service.
  • Collaborate on projects.
  • Sit on interview panels for hiring roles in community service organisations or financial hardship teams.
  • Sit on boards, governance groups or working committees.
  • Speak at business professional development or media events.

When asked, why does this kind of engagement matter? Lucy said:

“Fundamentally, it comes down to the question, can we really keep doing our jobs ethically if we’re not engaging people with lived experience of the services that we’re offering? For me, it’s time to acknowledge that we can’t really be doing our jobs well in the absence of the customer groups who use the services that we’re delivering. Ultimately we’re here to support them to lead good lives and they know best what that looks like.”

TasCollab is reaching its twelve-month milestone and will be undertake a review and evaluation. To learn more about the program email Lucy via email lucy@tascoss.org.au

The Energy Charter + Water Services Association Australia (WSAA) #BetterTogether Community of Practice enables the opportunity for collaboration, co-design and knowledge sharing, particularly through the energy supply chain and across sectors. To learn more visit #BetterTogether

May News Update II Energy Charter future focus elevates #BetterTogether collaboration

Energy Charter future focus elevates #BetterTogether collaboration

We’re excited to announce that on the back of our recent 3-Year Strategic Review, the Energy Charter will place greater focus on cross-sector collaboration through our #BetterTogether initiatives to continue to deliver better outcomes for customers at a time of unprecedented change in the energy industry.
 
Feedback from customer representatives and stakeholders showed the Energy Charter has delivered value for customers and communities across the whole supply chain. The most valued aspects were collaboration, building trusted relationships and knowledge sharing. There was also a desire to see more and bigger outcomes from the #BetterTogether initiatives. Many thanks to everyone who provided feedback, it has really shaped the continued evolution of the Energy Charter.
 
Many of the challenges facing energy customers such as ensuring an equitable energy transition and improved support for vulnerable customers cannot be meaningfully achieved by individual energy businesses. 

Rather, we need the entire supply chain to come together and identify solutions for all customer segments.  That’s what the #BetterTogether initiatives enable us to do. To ensure that the Energy Charter is set up to meet the new challenges for customers, the elevated Energy Charter #BetterTogether program will enable a ‘whole-of-system’ collaborative approach to achieve this. With CEOs making a public commitment to Priority #BetterTogether initiatives, the Energy Charter will accelerate better customer outcomes into the future.
 
Importantly, Full Energy Charter signatories will continue to focus on accountability publishing annual signatory disclosure reports demonstrating how they performed against the Energy Charter principles. Building on the gains made over the last 3 years, the accountability framework will leverage existing business’ stakeholder consultation structures, rather than through the Independent Accountability Panel. We thank Clare Petre, Chair and panellists Andrew Richards and Cassandra Goldie for their hard work and commitment, and ongoing support for the Energy Charter.
 
The Energy Charter uniquely brings together collective and individual elements of the energy supply chain for whole of system alignment and action, while supporting individual businesses to do better for their customers. We’re excited to continue to work with all of you in this exciting phase of elevated #BetterTogether action and delivery for our customers and communities.

Rebecca Kardos
2022 Chair of the CEO Council
CEO at Aurora

Background

As Chair of the Energy Charter End-User Consultative Group (EUCG), made up of close to 20 consumer and business representatives from across Australia, I welcome the elevation of the #BetterTogether initiatives by the Energy Charter CEO Council.
 
The Energy Charter has achieved better outcomes for customers and community. The EUCG feedback throughout the 3-Year Strategic Review was to encourage Energy Charter signatories to do more. How? With a whole of supply chain focus on delivering customers outcomes through the #BetterTogether initiatives. It needs to be strategic and future-focused. It needs to prioritise emerging customer issues, particularly given the energy transition.

The core proposition of the Energy Charter is that customer representatives can engage with businesses across the energy supply chain, with a sharp focus on customers. We look forward to co-designing ways in which Energy Charter signatories can better support and build capacity within consumer advocacy. We are keen to collaborate on setting the agenda for #BetterTogether initiatives that align with consumer priorities. Finally, we encourage Energy Charter signatories to think strategically about how to resource meaningful consumer engagement through the new approach to decentralised accountability.

Cath Smith
Independent Chair of the EUCG

The Energy Charter

A national CEO-led collaboration that supports the energy sector towards a customer-centric future. Our core values of “Be invested, make a difference”, “Be open, learn and improve”, and “Think big, be bold” are brought to life through #BetterTogether initiatives focused on delivering better customer outcomes for all Australians.

#BetterTogether Collaborator: SA Power Networks and Simply Energy.
Energy Charter Supporter: Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO).

Visit www.theenergycharter.com.au and follow us www.linkedin.com/company/the-energy-charter.

The Energy Charter April News Update

Message from the Chair of the CEO Council – Rebecca Kardos CEO at Aurora, #EN2022 Gas Evolution: The Customer Journey, Customer Voice – Joy Thomas at National Irrigators’ Council, #BetterTogether Know Your Customers & Communities National Customer Code for Energy Comparators & Energy Moving Services Stakeholder consultation concluding Read More