To further understand our customers’ support for two initiatives included in our regulatory proposals we asked Quantum Market Research to undertake a willingness to pay program for our proposed three-phase supply regional and rural upgrades and our customer assistance package supporting customers experiencing vulnerability.

A survey was undertaken with 802 residential and small-to-medium business (SMB) customers across the Powercor network. This included customers from across both Melbourne and regional/rural Victoria.

Interviews were facilitated with commercial and industrial (C&I) organisations to understand their willingness to pay also.

Customers demonstrated a high level of willingness to pay for both initiatives.

• 72% of residential, 70% of SMB and the majority of C&I customers were willing to pay for 3 phase line upgrades. This included:

• both greater Melbourne and regional customers willing to pay for upgrades

• support reasons included improved energy reliability for customers, modernising the infrastructure and supporting regional communities to have similar access to electricity as those in urban areas.

• 77% of residential, 71% of SMB and the majority of C&I customers were willing to pay for the customer assistance package

• support reasons included: wanting to support vulnerable customers, that people need education to increase energy literacy and that anything that supports customers is a positive thing and the right thing to do.

The AER draft determination did not support either our initiatives related to 3 phase upgrades or customer assistance package. Given this indication of further customer support, we intend to re-propose these initiatives in our revised proposal. We will also be engaging with key stakeholders representing the merits of these initiatives.

Link here

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