Mr. Jim Gannon:

There are four key themes for us in the clean energy package. It puts communities and consumers at the centre of the market and in a more active position. Ms Aoife MacEvilly referred to several points about more competitive markets, greater access to clearer information around switching, as well as people generating and selling their own electricity and that being facilitated at a more material scale.

There is convergence in technology around this as well. We are entering a period in which we will see the consumer have access to smart meters. Electric vehicles and photovoltaics are becoming more cost effective. A combination of these things means that the consumer will have the technical ability and perhaps the price ability to involve him or herself in this type of a market change. It is quite important that we prepare the consumer for that.

Analogous to large infrastructure, there is a challenge in that we are asking consumers to interact with this sort of technology. They need to be given the confidence that they can trust it and trust the market that will help them get the value out of it. We need to educate and prepare them for that.