Department of Planning, Industry and Environment

The data to power a sustainable future.

Service Design

The Energy Security Safeguard (ESS) mitigates energy use in NSW by incentivising organisations to invest in energy savings projects. Scaling is critical to meet 2030 climate targets.
Through design, collaboration and prototyping with community, regulators, policy-makers we defined a digital strategy to scale energy savings across the state.

Time

14 weeks

Time

6 iterations

Validated with

80+ participants

The problem

The challenge the ESS team faced was to scale and accelerate investment in energy saving projects.

Fragmented systems, incomplete information, manual repetitive tasks, and hundreds of bespoke front-line tools were getting in the way. High administrative overheads. Increased risk of non-compliance. Slow to change.

Existing thinking was that a single platform could enforce a consistent process for everyone. That scaling would require private front-line companies, regulators, and policy-makers to fall in line with a new operating model — all dictated by a digital tool.

The solution.

Over 14 weeks, we worked alongside the ESS team — prototyping and testing with policy-makers, regulators, and the independent businesses who operate the scheme.

Testing told us the underlying assumption was flawed. There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ process for energy saving.

Standardising processes adds inefficiency — threatening to put many front-line organisations out of business.
However, while all parties have different processes, the data they need is the same.

This powerful insight led to the true answer. The most effective way to fight fragmentation is through access to clean, consolidated data rather than trying to control and manage tasks.

“The key things here are consolidation and clarity. Having it all in one place is easier for us to do our job.”
— Front-line team-member, Energy Security Safeguard
“Life-changing. We've got all the right indicators to detect risk, but we don’t have the information in one place.”
— Auditor, Energy Security Safeguard

The impact.

Access to clean, consolidated data creates the critical efficiency required to scale energy savings. For policy-makers, regulators, and front line teams.

  • For policy-makers. The data needed to make informed, evidence based decisions. Understand energy-saving trends in real time, to support more adaptable, relevant, and timely legislation.

  • For regulators. Reduced administrative burden, and streamlined risk profiling — so teams can know where to focus their efforts.

  • For front-line teams. Access to real-time data that augmented and supercharges (rather than replaces) existing business processes.

Ultimately, this strategy accommodates for the flexibility and power of a dynamic marketplace, without the inefficiency of fragmentation.

“Having good, well presented information will improve our ability to administer the scheme. For individual staff to process things quicker, make better decision”
— Policy-maker, Energy Security Safeguard

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