Australia has been slow to build the public charging network electric vehicle (EV) drivers need. That delay has held back confidence, slowed uptake and left households exposed to volatile petrol prices when they are looking for cheaper ways to move.
But if there is one advantage in being late, it is this: we still have time to avoid building the wrong market.
The question is not simply how many chargers we install. It is what charging system we want for decades: a patchwork of closed networks, multiple apps and location-based pricing power, or shared infrastructure, open access and genuine competition for customers?
Make competition count: Networks don’t want to be retailers
That choice matters because kerbside charging will not be a niche convenience. For renters, apartment dwellers and households without a home charger, it will be essential infrastructure.
It could determine whether millions can access EV benefits or are locked out.
That is why Energy Networks Australia has asked the Australian Energy Market Commission to modernise the rules so distribution networks can install, own and maintain kerbside chargers as part of their regulated role.
Networks would not sell electricity or charging services. They would provide infrastructure, often using existing power poles, while retailers and charging providers compete for customers.
The proposal is about putting competition where customers benefit most: on service quality, customer experience and the price of charging.
Location power is pricing power
The alternative is a market where vertically integrated providers compete for locations rather than customers.
At first, that may look vibrant. But infrastructure-heavy markets often consolidate. The strongest players secure the best sites, smaller competitors disappear and customers are left with fewer choices.
We have seen this before. The petrol station on the freeway charges more because it has the location people need. Kerbside EV charging has the same risk. When a driver needs to charge, the nearest charger becomes the most convenient or only practical option.
A few cents add up
If charging infrastructure is fragmented and controlled site by site, Australians risk paying a premium every time they plug in – not in one dramatic bill shock, but through higher costs repeated across millions of sessions.
Each additional c/kWh costs an average EV driver $22 per year extra for charging. If the premium charged for a “locked up” kerbside charger is 5 or 10 c/kWh, this could quickly add up for customers.
Those costs matter because EVs should reduce cost-of-living pressures, not create new ones. EV savings are only meaningful if charging is affordable, convenient and available to people who cannot charge at home.
Australia is behind
Australia has work to do. The International Energy Agency’s 2026 Global EV Outlook found Australia has 41 EVs for every public charging point, compared with a global average of 11. That gap signals that too many Australians still lack confidence charging will be there when needed.
Networks can help close that gap quickly and at low cost because the assets, workforce and systems already exist. In New South Wales alone, an electricity distributor could install up to 40 kerbside chargers each week at around $1.60 to $2.10 per customer per year. That’s less than the price of one litre of petrol at its peak.
As EV uptake grows, better grid use could put downward pressure on network charges.
Fairness starts at the kerb
This is the kind of reform Australia needs: practical, scalable and focused on customers.
It is also fair. A transition that only works for households with driveways is not a transition that works for Australia. Renters, apartment residents and lower-income households should not be excluded from cheaper transport energy because outdated rules have failed to keep pace.
The current rules were written before EVs became mainstream. Modernising them would give networks the opportunity to serve customers better with a clear pathway to provide open-access infrastructure where it makes sense, while preserving competition among retailers and charging providers.
It would mean fewer barriers, faster deployment and better customer outcomes.
Do not leave it to luck
Australia’s slow EV charging rollout has left households more exposed to petrol price volatility than necessary. But it has also given us a chance to learn from other markets and avoid locking in a system that works against consumers.
The lucky country should not rely on luck to build the infrastructure of the future. It should make deliberate choices that put customers first.
Kerbside charging is too important to become another fragmented market where the lion’s share of benefits goes to those who secured the best locations. Done well, it can be shared infrastructure that drives competition, lowers costs and opens EV ownership to more Australians.
That is the opportunity before the AEMC: not just more chargers, but better market design, fairer access and stronger competition that delivers lasting benefits to customers.
Dom Adams is the acting chief executive of Energy Networks Australia
