This research was undertaken as part of the distribution businesses’ overall customer engagement activities. This review, however, is limited to the willingness to pay research and the conclusions from it by the distribution businesses. The review does not address any other aspects of the businesses’ customer engagement activities or the integration of those activities into their proposals. It is also important to note that OGW did not have access to any aspects of the research other than what was contained in the Ipsos reports that were published as part of the distribution businesses’ revised proposal submissions. We did have access to the following additional documents: The request for for the provision of a choice modelling survey to be conducted of each of the three NSW distribution businesses that was sent to Ipsos on behalf of the distribution businesses by Endeavour Energy, and Ipsos’ proposal in response to that request. Findings This section of the review examines: The robustness of the research, including the assumptions or methodology used, and the accuracy of its findings, and The strength of the conclusions that were drawn from the results of the survey. Robustness of the research Assumptions Only one assumption was identified that could have affected the robustness of the research were identified, as follows: The Request for quote that was sent to Ipsos by Endeavour on behalf of the three NSW distribution businesses stated that: Ausgrid, Endeavour Energy and Essential Energy have submitted respective substantive regulatory proposals to the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) for the period 2015 2019. – The AER regulates the revenues of each business in the National Electricity Market (NEM). The AER requires each network business to detail: how consumers and stakeholders have been identified; how they have been engaged; how consumer feedback has been assessed; and how this feedback has been considered as part of each proposal. Each business has now received its draft determination from the AER. The AER has outlined significant cuts to our planned operational expenditure and capital expenditure across each business. In short, the AER believes customers would be willing to trade reliability in return for a lower electricity bill . . . [emphasis added] The scale of the reductions set out in the draft determinations have other related impacts including an increased risk of bushfires, higher response times and the risk of more frequent blackouts on the hottest days of the year . . .
This research was undertaken as part of the distribution businesses’ overall customer engagement activities. This review, however, is limited to the willingness to pay research and the conclusions from it by the distribution businesses. The review does not address any other aspects of the businesses’ customer engagement activities or the integration of those activities into their proposals. It is also important to note that OGW did not have access to any aspects of the research other than what was contained in the Ipsos reports that were published as part of the distribution businesses’ revised proposal submissions. We did have access to the following additional documents: The request for for the provision of a choice modelling survey to be conducted of each of the three NSW distribution businesses that was sent to Ipsos on behalf of the distribution businesses by Endeavour Energy, and Ipsos’ proposal in response to that request. Findings This section of the review examines: The robustness of the research, including the assumptions or methodology used, and the accuracy of its findings, and The strength of the conclusions that were drawn from the results of the survey. Robustness of the research Assumptions Only one assumption was identified that could have affected the robustness of the research were identified, as follows: The Request for quote that was sent to Ipsos by Endeavour on behalf of the three NSW distribution businesses stated that: Ausgrid, Endeavour Energy and Essential Energy have submitted respective substantive regulatory proposals to the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) for the period 2015 – 2019. The AER regulates the revenues of each business in the National Electricity Market (NEM). The AER requires each network business to detail: how consumers and stakeholders have been identified; how they have been engaged; how consumer feedback has been assessed; and how this feedback has been considered as part of each proposal. Each business has now received its draft determination from the AER. The AER has outlined significant cuts to our planned operational expenditure and capital expenditure across each business. In short, the AER believes customers would be willing to trade reliability in return for a lower electricity bill . . . [emphasis added] The scale of the reductions set out in the draft determinations have other related impacts including an increased risk of bushfires, higher response times and the risk of more frequent blackouts on the hottest days of the year . . .
Oakley%20Greenwood%20-%20Peer%20review%20of%20the%20NSW%20willingness%20to%20pay%20research.docx