Open Energy Data Under CDR: What Developers and Product Teams Need to Know

Energy is the second sector designated under Australia's Consumer Data Right, and it's one of the most practical from a product-building perspective. Since November 2022, energy retailers in the National Electricity Market (NEM) with 10,000 or more small customers have been required to share product and consumer energy data through CDR-compliant APIs.

For developers and product teams, this means access to real-time energy usage data, billing history, plan details, and smart meter readings — all through standardised, consent-driven APIs. Here's what you need to know to build with it.

What Energy Data Is Available Through CDR

CDR energy data falls into three categories:

1. Product Reference Data (Public)

This data is available without consumer consent and describes the energy plans offered by retailers:

Plan names, descriptions, and types (residential, small business)
Tariff structures — flat rate, time-of-use, demand, controlled load
Pricing details — supply charges, usage rates, demand rates
Contract terms — lock-in periods, exit fees, benefit periods
Solar feed-in tariff rates
Green energy options and bundled products
Eligibility criteria and geographic availability

2. Consumer Energy Data (Consent Required)

This data requires consumer authorisation through CDR consent flows:

Account information — account status, creation date, plans associated
Usage data — electricity consumption readings from smart meters (interval data, typically in 30-minute or 15-minute intervals)
Billing history — invoices, payment amounts, due dates, outstanding balances
Concessions and discounts — applied rebates, government concessions
Service point details — National Metering Identifier (NMI), meter type, connection status

3. AEMO Data (Secondary Data Holder)

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) acts as a secondary data holder, providing:

Metering data — detailed interval readings from the meter data agent
Distributed Energy Resources (DER) data — solar panel capacity, battery systems, inverter details
Standing data — NMI details, meter configuration, network tariff classifications

How CDR Energy APIs Work

CDR energy APIs follow the same Consumer Data Standards as banking APIs. As a data recipient, you access energy data through:

Authentication and Consent

Consumer initiates sharing — your application presents a consent request specifying which data clusters are needed and for how long.
Redirect to data holder — the consumer is redirected to their energy retailer's authentication flow.
Consumer authorises — they log in, review the consent scope, and approve.
Tokens issued — your application receives access and refresh tokens for the authorised data scope.

The consent flow follows FAPI 2.0 (Financial-grade API) security standards, the same as banking CDR.

API Endpoints

Key endpoints defined in the Consumer Data Standards for energy:

GET /energy/accounts — list consumer's energy accounts
GET /energy/accounts/{accountId} — detailed account information
GET /energy/accounts/{accountId}/balance — current balance
GET /energy/accounts/{accountId}/invoices — billing history
GET /energy/accounts/{accountId}/billing — billing transactions
GET /energy/electricity/servicepoints — service point (NMI) details
GET /energy/electricity/servicepoints/{servicePointId}/usage — usage interval data
GET /energy/electricity/servicepoints/{servicePointId}/der — DER register data

Data Formats

All responses are JSON, following the Consumer Data Standards schema. Usage data includes timestamps (in AEST/AEDT), quality flags, and measurement units (kWh). Interval data is typically available in 30-minute or 15-minute blocks depending on the meter type.

Practical Use Cases

Here are the most common products being built with CDR energy data:

Energy Plan Comparison

Combine a consumer's actual usage data with product reference data from multiple retailers to calculate personalised cost comparisons. This goes beyond generic comparisons because it uses real consumption patterns — including time-of-use profiles, seasonal variation, and solar generation.

Bill Forecasting and Alerts

Using interval usage data and the consumer's current plan pricing, calculate projected bills before they arrive. Alert consumers when usage patterns suggest an unusually high bill, or when they're approaching a tariff threshold.

Solar Performance Monitoring

With DER data from AEMO and usage data from the retailer, track solar generation versus consumption. Show consumers their self-consumption ratio, export credits, and payback period. Identify underperforming systems by comparing actual generation to expected output for the panel capacity and location.

Demand Response and Load Management

For commercial or aggregator applications, use real-time usage data to manage demand response programs. Identify consumers who can shift load during peak periods and verify participation through meter data.

Combined Financial and Energy Insights

Since CDR spans both banking and energy, you can build products that combine transaction data with energy usage data. Examples include holistic household budgeting tools, property assessment platforms, and integrated financial advice products.

Data Holder Coverage

Energy CDR obligations apply to retailers with 10,000+ small customers in the NEM. This includes the major retailers:

AGL Energy
Origin Energy
EnergyAustralia

Plus mid-tier retailers that meet the customer threshold. Smaller retailers can opt in voluntarily. AEMO participates as a secondary data holder for metering and DER data.

The NEM covers Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, and the ACT. Western Australia and the Northern Territory operate under separate market structures and are not yet part of CDR energy.

Getting Started as a Data Recipient

To access CDR energy data, your organisation needs to be an accredited data recipient (ADR) or operate under a CDR representative arrangement. The process involves:

Accreditation — Apply to the ACCC for ADR accreditation (unrestricted or sponsored). Alternatively, become a CDR representative under an existing ADR's accreditation.
Technical integration — Implement the Consumer Data Standards API specifications, including FAPI 2.0 authentication, consent management, and data handling.
Testing — Use the CDR sandbox environments to test your integration before going live.
Compliance — Maintain a CDR policy, implement data handling obligations, and establish incident response procedures.

For teams that want to access CDR data without building the full accreditation and API integration stack, managed platforms handle the regulatory, security, and connectivity layers so you can focus on building products.

Challenges and Considerations

A few things to be aware of when building with CDR energy data:

Consumer awareness is low. The ACCC's compliance review noted that consumer awareness of CDR in the energy sector remains limited. Your product will need to educate users about what data sharing means and why it's beneficial.

Consent flows vary by retailer. While the standards define a consistent framework, the user experience of authenticating and consenting varies across energy retailers. Some flows are smoother than others.

Data quality is improving but imperfect. The ACCC found that most energy data holders meet their legal obligations, but some authorisation flows fell short of consumer experience guidelines. Expect occasional data quality issues, especially with historical data.

Smart meter coverage matters. Interval usage data (the most valuable dataset for product builders) requires a smart meter. Smart meter rollout is well advanced in Victoria but still in progress in other states. For consumers without smart meters, only basic read data may be available.

What's Coming Next for Energy CDR

The government has identified energy switching as a priority use case for action initiation. When implemented, this would allow CDR-accredited parties to initiate an energy plan switch on behalf of a consumer — turning CDR from a data-sharing tool into a transaction platform in the energy sector.

This would enable one-click energy switching products: compare plans using actual usage data, identify the best option, and switch without the consumer needing to visit the retailer's website.

Fiskil provides CDR-compliant energy API infrastructure for developers. Access energy usage data, billing history, and plan details through a single integration. Explore our Energy API.