The power of being heard - Understanding what reliable electricity means to our customers

By listening to customers from across Tasmania, TasNetworks is gaining a deeper understanding of the important role reliable electricity plays in everyday life – particularly for people facing additional challenges or vulnerabilities.

Insights from TasNetworks’ Amplified Voices engagement show that dependable electricity is closely linked to health, safety, communication, financial security and the ability to live safely and comfortably at home.

The engagement heard from people living in rural and remote communities, customers who rely on electricity for life support, and households experiencing financial hardship or bill stress. Across all groups, participants consistently described electricity as an essential service that needs to be both reliable and affordable.

While reliability matters to everyone, we heard that the impact of a power outage is not experienced equally. An interruption that may be a temporary inconvenience for one household can create significant health, safety or financial challenges for another.

For customers who rely on life support equipment or manage complex health conditions, reliable electricity can be directly connected to health and wellbeing. Participants described relying on equipment such as CPAP machines, temperature control systems and other medical devices to support daily living. Extended outages, particularly during extreme weather, can make it difficult to maintain safe and comfortable conditions at home.

For these households, reliability is about more than convenience – it supports safety, independence and the ability to manage health needs at home.

In rural and remote communities, electricity also underpins services that can easily be taken for granted. Participants described how outages can disrupt drinking water, food storage and communications, particularly for homes that rely on electric pumps, refrigeration and all-electric systems.

Longer outages can create compounding challenges, from losing access to water and food to difficulties staying connected with family, neighbours and emergency information. Reliable electricity was seen as an important part of building community resilience and reducing isolation.

For households experiencing financial hardship, electricity provides stability when budgets are already under pressure. Participants spoke about the importance of being able to maintain heating, cooling, cooking and refrigeration, as well as work and study from home. Power outages can lead to spoiled food, disrupted routines and unexpected costs.

We also heard that affordability and reliability are closely connected. Customers who are already making difficult choices to manage their energy bills may have little capacity to absorb additional costs or disruption caused by outages.

One of the strongest themes across all groups was the importance of outage duration. While many participants felt able to manage short interruptions, the impacts increased significantly as outages continued. Loss of food, water, heating or cooling, communications and access to essential services became increasingly challenging.

Participants also showed interest in solutions that could strengthen household resilience, including solar, batteries and backup systems. Whether motivated by reducing costs, increasing self-sufficiency or having greater security during outages, there was a shared desire for more control over energy use and reliability.

The engagement highlighted that while Tasmanians share common priorities for affordable and reliable electricity, their experiences and needs can be very different. For many people, reliable electricity is not simply about keeping the lights on – it supports health, independence, connection and peace of mind every day.

Insights from the Amplified Voices engagement were shared with the People’s Panel throughout the deliberative process, bringing a broader range of customer experiences and perspectives into the conversation. This helped ensure the Panel’s discussions and recommendations reflected not only the experiences of panellists, but also the voices of customers who may not have been directly represented on the Panel.

View the full Amplified Voices Report