05/05/2021

(AU SMH) There’s A Key Element Missing From The Debate About Australia’s Journey To Net-Zero Emissions

Sydney Morning Herald - Lynne Gallagher

Author
Lynne Gallagher is the chief executive officer of Energy Consumers Australia.
Were you electrified by the Energy Security Board’s recently released options paper for the future energy system? Did it feel relevant to your family? Critical to the way you think about the future?

Last week’s report made big waves among energy insiders, providing much-needed solutions for the security challenges that have shadowed Australia’s energy transformation since they were revealed by the South Australian blackout of 2016.

And there has been plenty of talk about proposed new revenue streams for carbon-emitting power stations (also available for large renewable generators) that some critics view as a subsidy to prolong their operating lives — extending the time it will take us to reach net zero carbon emissions.

The Kerry Schott-led Energy Security Board’s recent paper probably didn’t fire up consumers. Credit: Louie Douvis
But reading through the plan I was mostly struck by what it doesn’t say. In all this talk of systems and security, regulatory and policy levers, how are everyday Australians supposed to see themselves and their interests reflected?

The idea of net zero is now close to widespread acceptance among policy makers. We call it a target but it isn’t really. It’s a destination.

When you think about it this way, everything shifts. Not an abstract goal or a number to be hit. Not a test of moral purity or political partisanship but a journey to be undertaken by people.

A journey, after all, is as much about the experience of the travellers as the place they are going. In what condition will they arrive? Will the process of getting there be positive or negative? What are the stops and stages along the way? Will they arrive together or will some lag far behind?

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Extreme bushfires and floods have made Australians aware that we face a point of no return with our planet’s warming. It can be tempting, then, to think of climate change mitigation as a zero sum game. 

But for this journey that we’re on together there’s no single correct path or timetable that must be adhered to, without regard for its impact on people.

The pace of change matters. We cannot get to net zero without Australians making myriad changes to the ways they use electricity in their homes and businesses. 

These changes are not costless and nor are the opportunities to contribute to reducing emissions evenly shared across our community. Renters, working families, those living at or below the poverty line and people living in apartments or townhouses all face limits on the choices they can make. They cannot be left behind.

Energy Consumers Australia has done plenty of research, asking everyday Australians what they expect from a future energy system. 

The simple answer? They expect energy to be affordable and abundant, but also clean. They expect “smart” technology will help their homes to be more energy efficient and themselves to be more self-reliant via rooftop solar or home energy storage (whether that is a smart hot water system, a battery or an electric vehicle).

They see themselves as part of a connected energy system, and want opportunities to share with their neighbours and within their local community.

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Australians are putting solar on their roof at a rate not witnessed anywhere else in the world. Their preferences and needs are what’s driving change but also what is provoking a response from those who plan and operate the system.

The Energy Security Board has mostly (and successfully) focused on the larger-scale transition out of fossil fuels, as it was asked to do. 

What has been missed is a vision for the future energy experience consumers want, and would contribute positively to shaping if given the opportunity. Instead, we see a focus on curbing or controlling their behaviour, such as “turning off” those who export rooftop solar electricity back into the grid at inconvenient times.

Consumers should not be seen as an externality – a threat or inconvenience to an elegant, efficient system. They are the system. To make good on this idea we need to extend the energy conversation we’ve been having beyond a tight circle of policy experts, engineers and system architects and into the Australian mainstream.

Where is the prime time “war on waste” style program beaming exciting energy possibilities, technologies and social practices into millions of Australian homes? Where is the outreach to get everyday Australians thinking and talking about what is now possible and how our system should accommodate it?

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Reform should start with a conversation about what’s possible and preferable for Australian households and businesses.

That matters more than the purity of exiting gas early or keeping a bit of it around until our storage capacity matures. It matters more than disputes about how to accelerate or manage the inevitable exit of coal-fired power stations from the grid.

The point of system reform is not to punish emitters for their sins against climate, it’s to provide consumers with a version of the net-zero journey that meets their needs and expectations: energy that is affordable, abundant and clean.

To go fast, go alone, the saying goes. To go far, go together. To get to our destination we need consumers to be part of the process. They need to be listened to, included, learned from and engaged.

If they don’t trust in the system and believe their best interests are at the heart of change then they won’t come along.

There is urgency about the threat of climate change, to be sure, but we have a long way to travel and we need to arrive together.

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