Nexa Advisory Submission – NSW Peak Demand Reduction Scheme Review 2025

Nexa Advisory welcomes the opportunity to provide a submission on the New South Wales Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water’s discussion paper on the statutory review of the Energy Saving Scheme (ESS) and Peak Demand Reduction Scheme (PDRS).

We have previously discussed the focus of the PDRS on the residential sector – which has left the opportunity of Commercial and Industrial Consumer Energy Resources untapped. This has the potential to not only provide additional “insurance” over the coming years to allow the timely closure of the coal power stations such as Eraring and Vales Point, but also deliver lower costs and higher reliability to consumers.

With higher wholesale prices and volatility, and the recent extension of the coal-fired Eraring power station, New South Wales has fallen behind on its energy transition and is failing to meet these objectives.

There is a clear need to broaden the policy objectives of the PDRS to support DSP in the C&I sector. We have previously recommended that this can be achieved by:

• Broadening eligibility of the PDRS (e.g., this can be achieved through C&I-focused PDRS activities);
• Enhancing price signals (e.g., around ‘critical peak’ times); and
• Improving data visibility and access.

The New South Wales Government must act urgently get the transition back on track.

Read our submission here: Nexa Advisory submission – NSW PDRS Review