I recently attended Australian Energy Week 2026 expecting to hear discussions about batteries, AI, EVs, virtual power plants and the broader challenges of decarbonisation. Those topics were present, but the conversation returned to a novel idea:
Customers expect energy to become simpler at the same time as the industry is becoming more complex.
That tension of simplicity in an ever-growing complex ecosystem (regulations and customer protections) appeared in most sessions. For the better part of the last decade, much of the industry’s attention has been focused on the changing energy mix. The next decade may be more focused on how customers interact with it.
The Transition is Becoming More Distributed
Australia has already come a long way. More than 4 million Australian homes now have rooftop solar installed, representing roughly one-third of all households. Battery adoption is accelerating as well, with forecasts suggesting Australia could reach approximately 2 million household batteries by 2030.
Collectively, those batteries could represent around 40 GWh of storage capacity. One thought that stayed with me throughout the conference was this:
Australia’s largest future battery may not be a power station. It may be millions of homes and the implications are significant.
Customers are no longer simply consuming energy, they’re increasingly generating, storing and potentially trading it. That changes the role customers play in the energy system, but it also creates new challenges for retailers, networks and technology providers.
Simplicity is Becoming More Valuable
As the industry introduces new technologies, products and participation models, customer expectations appear to be moving in the opposite direction. Customers want what they’ve always wanted:
- Lower bills
- Predictability
- Trust
- Simplicity
The challenge is that achieving those outcomes is becoming increasingly complex. A customer with solar, a battery, an EV and a dynamic tariff may have access to more opportunities than ever before but that raises questions:
- Why did my bill change?
- Should I charge my EV now or later?
- Is my battery saving me money?
- Am I on the right tariff?
This is why discussions around customer personalisation, bill explainers and customer guidance resonated so strongly throughout the conference. The organisations that can simplify complexity will have an advantage.
Retailers are Becoming Coordinators
Historically, retailers supply energy, and increasingly, they are helping customers participate in broader energy ecosystems. Those ecosystems may include:
- Solar
- Batteries
- EVs
- Flexible demand programs
- Community energy initiatives
- Virtual power plants
The role of the retailer is expanding but not because retailers necessarily want more complexity, but because customers increasingly expect someone to help manage it on their behalf.
This creates an interesting challenge as industry has become very good at talking about the technologies that make participation possible.
The bigger opportunity may be helping customers understand and navigate those technologies in a way that feels effortless.
AI is Moving from Experimentation to Application
AI featured heavily throughout the conference and what stood out to me was that the most interesting discussions weren’t about AI itself, they were about the problems AI could help solve:
- Helping customers understand their bills.
- Helping agents answer questions faster.
- Proactively identify customers who may need support.
- Helping simplify increasingly complex products.
The most valuable AI initiatives in our industry won’t necessarily be the most visible, but they will be the ones that remove friction, improve understanding, ease of access, and help customers make better decisions.
At Hansen, we have operationalised AI and these are exactly the types of challenges we’re exploring with customers today.
Flexible Trading Arrangements May Be More Important Than Many Realise
While batteries, EVs and virtual power plants dominated many discussions, I came away thinking that flexible trading arrangements (FTAs) may ultimately prove to be one of the most significant developments currently underway.
FTA is often discussed as a compliance initiative, and I think its importance extends far beyond compliance.
Historically, a customer typically had a single energy relationship at a site – FTA opens the door to a future where customers may participate in multiple services and value streams simultaneously.
Many of the customer participation models discussed throughout the conference become significantly easier once this framework exists. Thus, we’re only beginning to realise what becomes possible once the rule change is in place.
The Missing Orchestration Layer
Throughout the conference there was plenty of discussion about:
- Batteries
- EVs
- Customer participation
- Flexible demand
- Community energy (Solar & Batteries).
What received less attention was how all these moving parts are coordinated. How do organisations connect customer data, asset data, market signals and customer interactions while still delivering a simple customer experience?
Because ultimately that is the challenge – the future energy market will not become less complex but rather more complex.
The organisations that succeed will be the ones that can absorb that complexity and present something simple to customers.
Final Thoughts
The biggest insight I took away from Australian Energy Week wasn’t about batteries, AI or EVs, but it was this:
The industry has made enormous progress in building the future energy system and the next challenge is making that future feel simple for customers.
Technology will continue to evolve, new products will continue to emerge, and customer participation will continue to increase. The organisations that stand out won’t necessarily be the ones with the most technology, but the ones that make increasingly sophisticated energy experiences feel intuitive, understandable and trustworthy.
That, in my view, is where the next phase of the energy transition begins.