Projects
Digital Energy Futures Project
Digital Energy Futures: Demand Management Opportunities Report now available, project partners Monash University identifies trends and principles that informs energy planning and forecasting.
Ausgrid is proud to be part of a 3 year research project which will improve our knowledge about how emerging technologies are shaping the way people live and how they use energy. We have partnered with Monash University, Energy Consumers Australia, the Australian Research Council and Ausnet Services on the project to explore how customers’ changing digital lifestyle trends will impact future household electricity demand through a series of innovative ethnographic and sociological research studies. The research will help advise Ausgrid’s demand management and demand forecasting activities and help to identify new innovative ways to partner with customers to lower demand on the grid and lower prices for all consumers.
The project commenced in 2019 and there are 6 progressive stages:
Stage 1: Digital and energy futures analysis
Stage 2: Digital ethnographic households research (recruitment survey and interviews)
Stage 3: Energy Consumer’s Australia consumer survey supplement
Stage 4: Scenario innovation workshops with residential electricity consumers
Stage 5: Modelling and forecasting development
Stage 6: Demand management innovation
Industry Future Visions Review (Stage 1)
This report presents the first stage of the research: a desk-based review of 64 digital technology and energy industry reports speculating on the near (2025-30) and medium-far (2030-50) futures. You can download the report here.
Digital and Energy Technology Customer Survey (Stage 2)
In early 2020 selected Ausgrid customers were invited to take part in an online survey to tell us about their current and future use of various technologies in their home and how this integrated with their home, work and caring activities. The survey helped to inform the research design, recruitment and areas of interest for the home interviews. Around 600 Ausgrid customers responded to the survey and results from this survey will be published on this page soon.
The home interviews were conducted by Monash University researchers during 2020 and consisted of in-depth virtual household interviews with 36 Ausgrid customers in NSW and 36 Ausnet customers in Victoria. The interviews aimed to understand people’s experiences, motivations and attitudes towards emerging digital and energy technologies in their everyday lives and the implications this has on electricity demand trends in the future. Findings and the full report from the research can be read in Monash University’s Digital Energy Futures: Future Home Life Report
Further information:
- You can find out more about the research in more detail at Monash University’s Digital Energy Futures project
- Grant Award by Australian Research Council
If you have further questions regarding the digital energy futures project please email us at demandmanagement@ausgrid.com.au.