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Abstract

For remote Indigenous communities prepaying for electricity in Australia’s Northern Territory, temperature extremes increase reliance on the services that energy provides and the risk of disconnection of those services. Policy should focus on reducing the frequency, duration and negative impacts of disconnection, within the context of a warming climate. Electricity disconnections among households with prepayment meters are more frequent during temperature extremes, curtailing access to essential services.Households with high electricity use experience more disconnection events, so policy responses should account for household structure and occupancy, as well as the opportunity to use rooftop solar.Greater visibility and understanding of data on disconnections in these communities is needed to determine the extent of their energy insecurity.Policy should seek to reduce the frequency and duration of involuntary self-disconnections in remote communities, particularly during extreme temperatures.To account for the multifaceted nature of energy insecurity, policy responses need to be informed by residents, local councils, healthcare professionals and other relevant organizations. Electricity disconnections among households with prepayment meters are more frequent during temperature extremes, curtailing access to essential services. Households with high electricity use experience more disconnection events, so policy responses should account for household structure and occupancy, as well as the opportunity to use rooftop solar. Greater visibility and understanding of data on disconnections in these communities is needed to determine the extent of their energy insecurity. Policy should seek to reduce the frequency and duration of involuntary self-disconnections in remote communities, particularly during extreme temperatures. To account for the multifaceted nature of energy insecurity, policy responses need to be informed by residents, local councils, healthcare professionals and other relevant organizations.
11
policy brief
ENERGY SECURITY
Temperature extremes exacerbate energy
insecurity for Indigenous communities in remote
Australia
For remote Indigenous communities prepaying for electricity in Australia’s Northern Territory, temperature
extremes increase reliance on the services that energy provides and the risk of disconnection of those services.
Policy should focus on reducing the frequency, duration and negative impacts of disconnection, within the context
of a warming climate.
Thomas Longden  1,2, Simon Quilty3, Brad Riley2,4, Lee V. White  2,5, Michael Klerck  4,6 ✉ ,
Vanessa Napaltjarri Davis6 and Norman Frank Jupurrurla7
BASED ON: T. Longden et al. Nature Energy https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-021-00942-2 (2021).
The policy problem
In Australias Northern Territory, most remote Indigenous
households are provided with or elect to use prepayment electricity
meters. This payment method is associated with high disconnection
rates and is uncommon in other Australian urban and rural
communities. These remote communities also experience some of
the most extreme temperatures in Australia (Fig. 1a). Electricity use
to sustain safe indoor temperatures can rapidly deplete available
means, resulting in disconnection with little warning. As such, safe
temperatures cannot be maintained, and households lose access to
other essential services that electricity provides, such as food storage,
washing and cooking. This raises the need to understand both the
extent of current disconnections and the degree to which they are
triggered by temperature. Without this understanding, the existence
and severity of problems cannot be identified, and policy cannot be
designed to mitigate current harms or prevent future ones.
The findings
Among 28 remote communities in the Northern Territory, we found
that 91% of households experienced a disconnection event at least
once during the 2018/19 financial year; 74% of households were
disconnected over 10 times, and 29% of all disconnections occurred
during extreme temperatures. In mild temperatures (20–25 °C),
households had a 1 in 17 chance of disconnection on a given day
(Fig. 1b). This increased to a 1 in 11 chance during hot days (34–40 °C)
and a 1 in 6 chance during cold days (0–10 °C). Households with
high electricity use in the central Australian climate zones had a
1 in 3 chance of a same-day disconnection during temperature
extremes. Energy insecurity is worsened when energy use is
heightened owing to heating or cooling needs (Fig. 1c). Our
analysis does not explore all of the complexities underlying energy
insecurity in these communities, but we expect that these findings
will inform discussions of energy insecurity in regions with extreme
temperatures.
The study
This analysis used daily smart-meter data from 3,300 households
across 28 remote communities in Australias Northern Territory to
identify the incidence of disconnection events. These smart-meter
data were matched with daily temperature observations from the
closest weather station using data from the Australian Bureau
of Meteorology. We estimated the probability of disconnection
Messages for policy
Electricity disconnections among households with
prepayment meters are more frequent during temperature
extremes, curtailing access to essential services.
Households with high electricity use experience more
disconnection events, so policy responses should account
for household structure and occupancy, as well as the
opportunity to use rooftop solar.
Greater visibility and understanding of data on
disconnections in these communities is needed to determine
the extent of their energy insecurity.
Policy should seek to reduce the frequency and duration
of involuntary self-disconnections in remote communities,
particularly during extreme temperatures.
To account for the multifaceted nature of energy insecurity,
policy responses need to be informed by residents, local
councils, healthcare professionals and other relevant
organizations.
1Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University (ANU), Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 2Zero Carbon Energy for the Asia
Pacific Grand Challenge, ANU, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 3Research School of Population Health, ANU, Canberra, Australian Capital
Territory, Australia. 4Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR), ANU, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 5School of Regulation
and Global Governance (RegNet), ANU, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 6Tangentyere Council Aboriginal Corporation, Alice Springs, Northern
Territory, Australia. 7Julalikari Council Aboriginal Corporation, Tennant Creek, Northern Territory, Australia. e-mail: michael.klerck@tangentyere.org.au
NATURE ENERGY | VOL 7 | JANUARY 2022 | 11–12 | www.nature.com/natureenergy
12
policy brief
across distinct temperature ranges using random-effects probit
regressions, which allowed us to include variables for the daily average
temperature, month of the year, and different levels of electricity
use. Using a reference temperature range allowed us to measure
how temperature influenced electricity use and the likelihood of a
disconnection during both hot and cold days. This assessment of
whether extreme temperatures are a factor determining disconnection
events was only possible with access to smart-meter data. As the
vulnerability of prepayment customers is often overlooked, we
recommend that these data be better monitored and made more
accessible to residents, community organizations and researchers.
Published online: 24 January 2022
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-021-00968-6
Further Reading
Klerck, M. Tangentyere Council, Submission to the House of Representatives Inquiry into
Homelessness in Australia (Tangentyere Council Aboriginal Corporation, 2020);
https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/d440a6ac/les/uploaded/House%20of%20
Representatives%20Inquiry%20into%20Homelessness%20in%20Australia%202020.pdf.
is investigation of data for 570 households prepaying for electricity in
Mpwartne/Alice Springs revealed that 420 homes (74%) were disconnected from
electricity between April and June 2019.
O’Sullivan, K. C., Howden-Chapman, P. L. & Fougere, G. Making the connection:
the relationship between fuel poverty, electricity disconnection, and prepayment
metering. Energy Policy 39, 733–741 (2011).
is study nds a connection between fuel poverty, electricity disconnection
and the use of prepayment metering for vulnerable older people in
New Zealand.
Hernandez, D. Understanding ‘energy insecurity’ and why it matters to health. Soc.
Sci. Med. 167, 1–10 (2016).
is article describes the multidimensional nature of energy insecurity, which
includes economic, physical and behavioural dimensions, and identies the
types of adverse environmental, health and social consequences that can occur.
Flaherty, M., Carley, S. & Konisky, D. M. Electric utility disconnection policy and
vulnerable populations. Electr. J. 33, 106859 (2020).
is paper explores the dierences in utility disconnection policies that have
the potential to protect vulnerable populations from exposure to excessive heat
or cold.
Longden, T. e impact of temperature on mortality across dierent climate zones.
Clim. Change 157, 221–242 (2019).
is study shows how exposure to extreme temperatures is associated with
higher death rates in the three hottest climate zones in Australia, which
correspond with the Northern Territory.
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
b
c
a
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
Probability
Daily average temperature (°C)
Selected regression estimates by level of average
daily load (ADL) (with 95% CI in grey)
All houses
High ADL (90–100%)
Low ADL (0–10%)
High
All
Low
0–10 10–15 15–20 20–25 25–30 30–35 35–40
30
20
10
0
Daily electricity use (kWh)
Daily average temperature (°C)
30–3525–30 35–4010–150–10 15–20 20–25
Selected regression estimates by level of average
daily load (ADL) (with 95% CI in grey)
All houses
High ADL (90–100%)
Low ADL (0–10%)
High
All
Low
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
Maximum temperature anomaly (°C)
–0.5
–1.0
–1.5
–2.0
–2.5
–3.0
NT
Fig. 1 | Temperature anomalies and the impact of temperature on disconnections and electricity use. a, Maximum temperature anomalies across Australia
(July 2018 to June 2019 compared with 1961 to 1990), with the Northern Territory (NT) labelled. b, Probability of a same-day disconnection by temperature.
c, Daily electricity use by temperature. Adapted from: a, http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/awap/temp/archive.jsp under a Creative Commons license CC BY 3.0.
Reproduced from: b, c, Longden, T. et al. Nat. Energy https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-021-00942-2 (2021); Springer Nature Ltd.
NATURE ENERGY | VOL 7 | JANUARY 2022 | 11–12 | www.nature.com/natureenergy
... This discrepancy means current building codes do not consider the demand for both heating and cooling in Central Australia (see Fig. 1 for extreme hot and cold day projections for 2050). An inability to afford increased demand for electricity during summer and winter is evident through high number of disconnections (91% of households experiencing at least one disconnection) that were recorded in 28 remote communities across the NT during the 2018/2019 financial year (Longden et al., 2022b). ...
... Australia is assumed to have achieved the goal of universal access to energy for all, with an electricity rate of 100% (ref. 10), but this presumed ubiquity belies persistent disparity in who experiences energy insecurity and where they reside [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] . Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (prepay) customers in Australia's remote Northern Territory (NT) are more likely to experience 'self-disconnection' during temperature extremes, which climate change only makes more frequent 19 . ...
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This investigation of data for 570 households prepaying for electricity in Mpwartne/Alice Springs revealed that 420 homes (74%) were disconnected from electricity between
  • M Tangentyere Klerck
  • Council
Understanding ‘energy insecurity’ and why it matters to health This article describes the multidimensional nature of energy insecurity, which includes economic, physical and behavioural dimensions, and identifies the types of adverse environmental, health and social consequences that can occur
  • D Hernandez