Australian energy consumers are reporting record levels of satisfaction amid falling prices. 

Falling energy prices have led to a surge in positive sentiment and a growing belief that consumers are getting better value for money., according to Energy Consumers Australia’s latest Energy Consumer Sentiment Survey. 

However, consumers are far more circumspect when it comes to judging how well-placed Australia’s system is to adapt to the closure of coal-fired power stations and transition to a clean energy future that meets their needs and expectations.  

After a year in which wholesale energy prices consistently fell, there has been a leap in consumer satisfaction to levels unseen in the survey’s history.  A record 70 per cent of Australian household consumers now rate the value for money of electricity positively, up 13 per cent over the last year and up 36 per cent since the lowest point in December 2017.   

Traditionally, energy has trailed other services such as banking, insurance and telecommunications in the survey when it comes to perceived value for money but the new results place energy on a par with those other industries for the first time.  

The survey also found that nearly three-quarters of Australians worry that their political leaders will not have plans in place to replace coal power plants when they reach the end of their lives.