EnergyAustralia – Community Battery

The transition to renewable energy can come with barriers, from the cost of installing solar and battery systems to the challenges of renting or living in an apartment, where installation of solar panels or batteries isn’t feasible. The energy system is also complex and hard to understand. CBE is an electricity plan that helps break down these barriers, connecting households to renewable energy in an easy-to-understand offering. EnergyAustralia engaged Symplicit (an HCLTech company) to understand how to position CBE in the most appealing way, while distilling the essence of the community battery program to ensure it’s clearly understood.

The primary objective of the customer research was to understand customer behaviour, attitudes, and perceptions regarding community batteries. Our research approach employed a mixed-method study (qualitative and quantitative research) to provide a well-rounded understanding of prospective customer awareness, adoption barriers, and preferences for community battery electricity products. The output of the research directly informed the Customer Value Proposition (CVP), ideal-state journey maps, wireframes, and in-market designs. This approach ensured that the final output was data-driven and customer-focused.

Symplicit’s research identified five key feature/benefit combinations that shaped the CVP of the plan. These insights guided the design of product communications, contributing to a steady increase in uptake week over week since implementation. Among those who have joined the CBE plan, 54% are homes with solar panels, while 46% are homes without – highlighting strong engagement from a market that has traditionally had limited access to energy options like renewables. Symplicit's research also identified areas in which consumer knowledge or understanding was low. This enabled EnergyAustralia to be proactive in producing content to aid comprehension of this innovative offering.

Community batteries are a larger-scale version of residential home batteries, designed to operate at a neighbourhood level. These batteries store electricity when prices are low—most often during the day when solar production is at its highest—and then redistribute that energy back into the grid during periods of peak demand, such as in the evening. By storing and redistributing energy within the community, more renewable energy can be integrated into the grid. By distributing locally stored energy during these high-demand periods, community batteries help alleviate pressure on the grid and enable the use of renewable energy. Customers on the CBE plan will be supplied by a combination of the broader grid as well as the community batteries, which can help lower the cost to serve. The first of these community batteries are managed by Ausgrid, with EnergyAustralia driving end-user adoption as the retailer. EnergyAustralia is exploring ways to expand the program to include community batteries from additional distributors, allowing more customers to benefit from the program.