CASE STUDY: Two voice of the customer panels
SNAPSHOT
Processes: Ergon Energy Network & Energex - Voice of the Customer Panels
MosaicLab’s role: Designed and delivered two Voice of the Customer Panels
Host organisations: Ergon Energy Network and Energex (part of the Energy Queensland group)
Timeframe: 2023 - 2024
Deliberative panel participants: 35 Energex and 36 Ergon Energy Network
Outputs: Each panel presented a report to key Executives and the Chair of the Energy Queensland Board.
THE DILEMMA (REMIT)
“Our engagement efforts have turned customer and stakeholder insights into actionable strategies that have helped to shape our regulatory proposals as well as guide our future business direction.
This open dialogue with our customers is crucial, not just from a regulatory perspective, but for aligning our business operations with customer needs for the next five years and beyond.
It ensures affordability and inclusivity for everyone in the energy transition, and importantly fosters trust across our customer base, which in turn grants us the social license to operate.”
OVERVIEW
Two representative ‘Voice of the Customer’ (VOC) panels in Queensland deliberated and agreed on recommendations that electricity distributors Ergon Energy Network and Energex used to prepare Regulatory Proposals for the Australian Energy Regulator (AER).
MosaicLab partnered with Energy Queensland and worked closely with both organisations to codesign and facilitate each process.
“The process was interesting and kept all the panellist involved.
Everybody had a chance to have their say.”
“I liked the diversity of panel members and the wealth of knowledge gained from the speakers.”
“Hearing about other peoples’ lives and how they use their energy has opened my eyes to seeing things through more than just my own lens.”
FAST FACTS
Energex Voice of the Customer Panel
35 deliberative participants
1152 collective participant hours in deliberation
5.5 full days in session
17 speakers giving ‘evidence’ to the panel including 10 external experts
225% growth in the # of participants confident their input would have influence
90% of participants felt the process was collaborative, genuine and worthwhile
Ergon Energy Network Voice of the Customer Panel
36 deliberative participants
1233 collective participant hours in deliberation
5.5 full days in session
16 speakers giving ‘evidence’ to the panel including 10 external experts
162% growth in the number of participants who believe Ergon Energy Network is trustworthy and accountable.
300% growth in the number of participants who intend to be involved in civic affairs in future.
KEY CHALLENGES
Ergon Energy Network and Energex manage the electricity distribution infrastructure across Queensland for more than 760,000 and 1.6 million homes and businesses respectively. Each engagement approach needed to:
involve a representative cohort of participants from across broad service areas
include people from diverse background, including ‘quieter voices’
enable participants to grapple with complex and technical information
engage people around both network tariffs and customer service levels
provide clear outputs that could be reflected in solutions proposed to the AER.
“With support from MosaicLab, we’ve adopted new engagement methods and techniques which has allowed us to better connect with our customers and stakeholders.
The process through which we engage is important in ensuring that customers and stakeholders feel empowered to participate fully and meaningfully, and in ensuring that we obtain the insights required to inform decision making.
The engagement process we adopted for our Regulatory Proposals has helped us better understand and respond to our customers’ preferences. Importantly, it has helped build more effective customer and stakeholder relationships.”
THE TWO PROCESSES
Ergon Energy Network and Energex both undertook extensive wider engagement activities that informed deliberations, including customer conversations, stakeholder forums, focus groups and more.
MosaicLab also facilitated two lived experience perspective workshops and conducted four stakeholder interviews for each process, engaging with more than 120 customers across the two networks. These sessions involved voices often less heard such as seniors, young people, small businesses, people with low income, and CALD customers. Participants also provided suggestions for panel speakers and information inputs.
Both deliberative panels were independently and randomly selected and made up of broadly representative customers (based on key demographics) from across each respective network area.
Each panel met for 4.5 full day sessions. The groups considered options and ideas, heard from speakers and considered a broad range of information before agreeing on a set of final recommendations.
Both panels were recalled for one further day. Each panel learned how their recommendations had been reflected in the draft Regulatory Proposals submission, and panel members provided comfort levels around how their recommendations had been incorporated.
“While the regulatory process can sometimes be difficult to understand, through direct engagement with customers, we’ve been able to capture diverse viewpoints from across our customer base. It has enriched our understanding of what matters most to our customers for the upcoming regulatory period.
These insights are crucial for crafting Regulatory Proposals that are reflective of the needs and preferences of Queensland customers.”
OUTCOMES
Each panel presented a report to key Executives and the Chair of the Energy Queensland Board. Both Ergon Energy Network and Energex committed to using the recommendations made by the panels to the maximum extent possible when developing their final Regulatory Proposals, which were submitted to the AER in January 2024.
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