Thursday 13 June: Future Retail Stream

 

08:30
Welcome Coffee
08:50
Opening remarks from the Chair

Tricia Lorenzo
General Manager, New Product Integration
Flow Power

Maintaining high levels of customer satisfaction and engagement
09:00
Retail transformation while connecting our customers to a more sustainable future

Jo Egan
Chief Customer Officer
AGL

09:30
INTERNATIONAL ADDRESS: Harnessing data and AI to transform customer experience and enable new energy business models

Kelly James
SVP & GM, Energy and Utilities Industries
Salesforce 

09:50
INTERNATIONAL ADDRESS: Allowing energy consumers to understand and control their energy use with the next generation of smart meters
  • Giving consumers a hyper-personalised energy experience by overlaying specific household information with external data to build a really rich picture of energy usage
  • Providing real-time information and advanced disaggregation advice to reduce consumption
  • Testing the riskiest assumptions and understanding the market-value proposition before launching the program
  • Analysing the impact of smart meters on energy retailing

Stephen England-Hall
Chief Retail Officer (CRO)
Genesis Energy (NZ)

10:20
INTERNATIONAL ADDRESS: Delivering the energy and the customer transition with AI on next gen smart meters: case studies from Melbourne & California

Michael Jary
Managing Director APAC & EMEA
Sense (UK)

10:40
Morning tea in the expo hall
11:10
Combining small scale behind-the-meter technologies for home and business to make the transition simpler for all customers
  • Delivering products and services for customers seeking a simple grid and behind-the-meter solutions including EaaS plans (Energy as a Service)
  • Harnessing new technology that anticipates consumer needs
  • Strengthening trust for energy customers, staff, partners, and communities

Renae Gasmier
Head of Customer Assets
EnergyAustralia

11:40
PANEL DISCUSSION: What are the best ways to elevate the customer experience?
  • How do you create an optimal mix of out-of-the-box and customized CX programs?
  • Which innovations or agile approaches empower frontline staff?
  • Which metrics are useful in evaluating customer experience (eg NPS)?

Moderator:

Peter Perla
Executive General Manager, Customer Experience & Growth
Sumo

Panellists:

Nick Nikolitsis
Product Director
Hansen

Todd Atkins
Director, Large Enterprise
PayPal

Mark Brownfield
Chief Customer Officer
EnergyAustralia

Catherine Anderson
General Manager of Marketing - Retail
Origin

Dealing with a customer base under financial stress
12:20
FIRESIDE CHAT: Future customer platforms and engagement… ready for it?
  • Engagement as a key to customer trust and loyalty
  • What are the future platforms that respond to customer needs?
  • Defining the energy retailing models/programs that support all customers, including vulnerable consumers

Ayesha Razzaq
Executive General Manager of Retail
Ergon Energy Retail

Michael Dart
Acting Chief Executive Officer
Energy Queensland

12:50
Lunch in the expo hall
13:50
Approaching customer debt differently
  • Overcoming the challenges of traditional debt prediction and treatment methods
  • Proactively engaging vulnerable customers early enough to offer support
  • Getting in early with AI and Behavioural Science to change customer payment behaviour

Libby Dale
Co-Founder
SmartMeasures

14:10
PANEL DISCUSSION: How can urgent transition and affordability issues be addressed effectively?
  • In what ways can inertia and mistrust be overcome to facilitate the movement of vulnerable customers onto the most suitable deal, especially concerning explicit informed consent?
  • How might the effectiveness of behavioural 'nudges' on bills be enhanced?
  • What strategies can be employed to connect distressed consumers with the right resources, such as the National Energy Concessions Awareness Campaign?
  • How do we deal with consumer heterogeneity? What sort of consumer protection policies do/will we need?

Moderator:

Michael Dart
Acting Chief Executive Officer
Energy Queensland

Panellists:

Stephen England-Hall
Chief Retail Officer (CRO)
Genesis Energy (NZ)

Emma Hawthorne
Associate Partner
EY

Mazhar Shah
General Manager, Finance, Retail
ENGIE Australia & New Zealand

Exploring retail business models to manage and meet the needs of consumers
14:50
Keeping pace with customers’ changing needs - Future Home Demand Report
  • Identifying the fundamental shifts happening in the way customers consume and manage energy
  • Integrating distributed energy resources in a safe, efficient and flexible way… and fairly, so everyone benefits
  • Responding to emerging trends so energy remains accessible and affordable for all

Renate Vogt
General Manager, Regulation
CitiPower, Powercor and United Energy

15:20
Afternoon tea in the expo hall
15:50
Exploring technologies for home electrification
  • Prioritising consumer needs and energy optimisation
  • Utilising homeowner investments in energy
  • Understanding customer preferences in energy engagement

Mark Humphreys
General Manager, Australia
Gentrack

Streamlining the regulatory landscape and ensuring that standards and codes are fit for purpose
16:10
Managing evolving energy regulation and how the burden of compliance might be reduced
  • Identifying the most byzantine of the pricing, billing, and customer protection requirements and how they could be simplified
  • Examining how the Consumer Data Right has impacted the energy sector and consumers
  • Allowing the existing regulatory regime to mature before new expansions are rolled out
  • Reforming regulations to build a system that is in the customer’s interest

Jo De Silva
General Manager Retail Policy
Australian Energy Council

16:40
PANEL DISCUSSION: How can regulation, codes and standards be built so that they are responsive to the needs of future consumers without putting a heavy compliance burden on retailers?
  • Are current regulatory schemes appropriate to an era of distributed energy resources? Can they be adapted, or do we need to start from scratch?
  • Whose role is it to ensure that all stakeholders are included in the transition?
  • How can rules be simplified and streamlined without compromising consumer rights?

Moderator:

Terence Alvares
GM Operations Retail
ENGIE Australia & New Zealand

Panellists:

Ron Ben David
Professorial Fellow
Monash University

Nigel Clark
Chief Executive Officer
Aurora Energy

Louisa Kinnear
Chief Executive Officer
Jacana Energy

17:20
Closing remarks from Chair
17:30
End of Future Retail stream