Green ideals meet hip-pocket pain as power prices surge

Two in five households struggle to pay power bills, research shows in a trend that could challenge their transition to renewable energy.

Yet despite the bill pain, more young consumers were willing to pay a premium for clean energy and many households planned to invest in power-saving tech, the study released by Accenture on Friday found.

The research follows a series of electricity price rises in Australia, with the consumer watchdog finding power costs for residential consumers grew by 14 per cent in 2023.

More than 16,800 residential energy customers worldwide took part in Accenture's 2024 New Energy Consumer Survey, including 800 Australians.

It found 43 per cent of Australian households had struggled to pay energy bills over the past year, more than the world average (37 per cent) and significantly more than nearby Asia-Pacific countries (29 per cent).

Most Australian energy consumers (81 per cent) also thought energy providers had a significant role to play in the transition to renewable energy, while 74 per cent thought individuals should play a part.

But convincing those energy consumers to pay a premium to access renewable energy could be difficult, while prices of electricity and gas continued to rise, Accenture Australia utilities lead Mayur Bhaskar said.

"Although consumers do believe in the energy transition, less than half are actually willing or able to assume the cost of it," he told AAP.

"Younger age demographics were happy to pay more and that was fascinating."

The survey found 53 per cent of Australians would not pay a premium to support cleaner energy options, with members of the Silent Generation, Baby Boomers and Generation X most likely to reject the idea.

However, 20 per cent of energy consumers were willing to pay up to 15 per cent more for more sustainable power and 27 per cent were willing to pay a higher premium, with the response most common from Millennials and Gen Z respondents.

Some consumers surveyed were willing to invest in energy-saving products to reduce their future bills, with the survey identifying a rise in plans to buy electric vehicles, smart home technology and battery storage in the next two years.

The findings show energy companies need to carefully tailor and explain the benefits of renewable energy technology to get consumers on board, Mr Bhaskar said.

"Everybody has a role to play in an affordable net-zero transition ... but it's really energy providers who need to lead the change and to become orchestrators," he said.

The price of electricity across all parts of the nation rose 14 per cent between September 2022 and 2023, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission found, triggering an 18 per cent rise in financial hardship support applications from consumers.