Open Electricity

Australia’s electricity networks are vast and complex. It's difficult for most users to access and interpret. Policymakers, businesses, journalists and the public often struggle to track and understand critical shifts in the grid. Open Electricity responds to an urgent need for a clear, trustworthy and easy-to-use platform that closes the gap between raw market data and public understanding – improving energy fluency, informing public discussion, and ultimately helping Australia navigate the transition to a zero-carbon economy more efficiently and effectively.

Open Electricity was developed under TSI’s Open Accessible Auditable Data Framework, which guides both the technical and UX design. Open: All data is freely available, promoting transparency and enabling collaboration. Accessible: The interface is designed for clarity and ease-of-use, ensuring that complex information can be understood by users regardless of technical expertise. Auditable: Every data point is traceable to its source, with rigorous documentation to ensure accuracy and reliability. These principles shaped a design process focused on legibility, responsiveness and trust. The result is a clean, intuitive web platform that transforms complex electricity market data into a usable public resource.

OE has reshaped how energy data is accessed, understood and used across Australia. Its analysis is widely cited by analysts, journalists and policymakers, improving the quality of public debate and decision-making around the electricity system. Dylan McConnell, a leading energy researcher and the platform’s founder, is frequently quoted in mainstream media using OE data. The Records feature offers a compelling entry point for storytelling about the energy transition, while the API supports in depth research and commercial analysis across sectors. By bridging a critical information gap, OE strengthens public transparency, supports informed policy and enables faster progress toward net zero.

Key design features include: - Live and historical data visualisations of the NEM and WEM, filterable by technology, location, consumption and generation, making complex energy data intuitive to explore. - An automated Records Engine that tracks and highlights significant grid milestones (e.g. new highs for renewables, record battery dispatch), with automatic updates shared on Twitter (X) and Bluesky. - A Future Scenarios explorer, which presents AEMO’s Integrated System Plan forecasts in an accessible format, helping users understand system forecasts to 2050. - A national facilities map, showing live data for individual generation facilities - An open API, enabling deeper analysis by researchers, journalists, consultants and industry professionals. - OE Monthly Dispatch, a public newsletter by energy data specialist Lynton Hoey, summarising new records and key facility updates. - Reality Check, a quarterly deep-dive written by energy analyst Allan O’Neil, providing accessible macro analysis of electricity market trends and developments.