Energy trading right down to household level is being touted as one of the pillars for energy reform, but just how well it may work is still unclear.

Electricity customers have been able to offer their own power, from small-scale generators such as solar, back into the grid or to other consumers directly, since July 1.

The Australian Energy Market Commission says a peer-to-peer trading platform could help lower energy prices, by filling the dispatchable power gap in the market by using excess energy from solar panels.

Dubbed "deX", the Australian Renewable Energy Agency-funded exchange is promoted as a style of demand management that would enable the network to overcome increased usage.