November 15, 2018
Queenslanders can have their say on the State’s electricity future through the Queensland Household Energy Survey (QHES).
The annual online survey offers residents the chance to highlight their current and future electricity needs – as well as their concerns – and suggest opportunities for government-owned power companies.
Energy Queensland CEO David Smales said information collected through the QHES helped the State’s power companies – including Energex, Ergon Energy and Powerlink Queensland – better understand how people were using power and how they plan to use it in future.
“The QHES allows us to better target our planning of the State’s power networks in terms of the impacts of new technology being adopted by homeowners,” Mr Smales said.
“It also helps us better manage our infrastructure to keep pace with the community’s ever-changing demand for energy.
“Previous years’ QHES results have identified many evolving community power usage patterns, including Queenslanders warming to the idea of purchasing emerging technologies such as electric vehicles and home battery storage.
“The information provided by previous years’ respondents also assisted us in developing advanced tariff options, including changes to regulations allowing people to charge their electric vehicles and run energy-hungry appliances using cheaper off peak power.”
Powerlink Chief Executive Merryn York urged everyone to take part in this year’s survey, saying their input was imperative to ensure the State’s power sector understood what is required to meet their needs.
“The energy sector is in the middle of a period of rapid change,” Ms York said.
“This brings challenges, but also some exciting opportunities.
“Hearing from our customers through the QHES provides invaluable insights that help shape the future of our networks.”
Participants in this year’s survey can take part by logging onto talkingenergy.com.au/qhes and will also have the chance to win a $100 gift voucher.
The survey will run until December 3.
