Recent Nielsen Consumer and Media View (CMV) data shows 82% of Australians are “concerned” about power prices, with more than 45% “very concerned”.
Additionally, more than 13% of Australians have switched energy providers in the last year, with a further 12% planning to do the same over the next 12 months.
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Of those planning to switch, just over 41% say their main reason is power prices, followed by service reliability (11.6%), ease of bill payment (8.5%), energy-saving ideas from the provider (6.8%), followed by staff courtesy and helpfulness (4.3%). Support of the local community, green programs, ease of switching addresses, and website usability made up the small remainder.
Nielsen Ad Intel data also shows that to combat this growing lack of brand loyalty in the sector, energy providers spent more than $152 million on advertising between June 2023 and May 2024—a 14% year-on-year increase.
Topping the list of ad investment in the sector were:
- AGL
- Origin Energy
- Alinta Energy
- Energy Australia
- Engie.
Over the past 12 months, almost 14% of AGL customers switched to Origin Energy, with a further 8.7% moving over to Energy Australia.
Over the past 12 months, almost 14% of AGL customers switched to Origin Energy, with a further 8.7% moving over to Energy Australia.
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Overall, Origin was the most frequent supplier customers switched to, accounting for nearly 23% of all defections, followed by Red Energy, and Energy Australia.
At a state and territory level, Victorians are the most unhappy with their energy providers, followed by WA, NT, Queensland, NSW, SA, then Tasmania, while Canberrans were mostly unconcerned.
