AUSTRALIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Alexander Danne, Roy Groom, Rohit Venkat and Georgia Summerhill, Clayton Utz
Western Australia ( WA ) and Northern Territory ( NT ) In Western Australia, the electricity sector is governed by the Electricity Industry Act 2004 (WA) and the Elec- tricity Networks Access Code 2004. The Northern Ter- ritory operates under the Electricity Reform Act 2000 (NT). Gas The National Gas Law (NGL), set out in a schedule to the National Gas (South Australia) Act 2008 (SA), together with the National Gas Rules made under the NGL by the Australian Energy Market Commission, regulates access to, pricing of, and operation of natu- ral gas pipelines and markets. This provides a uniform national framework across Australia. Western Australia has modified the NGL and NGR through the National Gas Access (WA) Act 2009 (WA), which precludes the automatic adoption of NGL amendments and designates the Economic Regula- tion Authority as the regulator of its gas market. WA’s retail and wholesale gas market is primarily regulated by the Energy Coordination Act 1994 (WA). Ownership and Market Governance The generation, transmission, distribution and retail segments of the NEM are structurally unbundled, with each transmission and distribution network operat- ed by separate entities to promote competition and prevent cross-subsidisation. Ownership across the industry comprises a combination of state-owned and private investor-owned entities. State-owned corpo- rations remain prominent in Queensland, Tasmania and Western Australia. In the Northern Territory, the electricity supply chain is predominantly government- owned, with Power and Water Corporation and its subsidiary Territory Generation operating generation, network and retail functions. New South Wales, Vic- toria and South Australia have undergone significant privatisation of transmission and distribution assets. The generation sector is highly competitive, with government-owned corporations, large vertically inte- grated gentailers (companies that both generate and retail electricity) and independent renewable energy developers all participating across the NEM. The structural composition of these segments varies across jurisdictions, reflecting differing approaches to
public and private ownership, but all operate within the constraints of National Competition Policy frame- works. The day-to-day operation, governance and access arrangements of the market are overseen by three key national institutions as follows. • The Australian Energy Market Commission ( AEMC ): The AEMC is the independent rule-making body responsible for developing and amending the energy rules that govern market operation and network regulation. • The Australian Energy Regulator ( AER ): The AER is established under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth). It enforces compliance with the energy rules and undertakes economic regulation of natural monopoly network businesses (transmis- sion and distribution infrastructure). • The Australian Energy Market Operator ( AEMO ): The AEMO is responsible for managing power system security and reliability across the NEM and WEM and for operating the wholesale spot market through which electricity is dispatched and settled. 1.2 Principal State-Owned or Investor-Owned Entities The principal entities owning and operating electricity infrastructure across Australia are as follows. Generation There is no single national registry for electricity gen- eration licences in Australia as licensing is managed at state level. The two largest NEM registries are the Essential Services Commission of Victoria and South Australia. Generators taking part in the broader whole- sale market need to register with the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO). The largest retailers as listed below by reference to the jurisdictions in which they mostly operate: • NSW : Predominantly private – Origin Energy, AGL, and the Commonwealth-owned Snowy Hydro Limited. • VIC : Privately owned – AGL, EnergyAustralia (Yal- lourn) and numerous wind and solar operators. • QLD : Mixed – state-owned Stanwell Corporation, CS Energy and CleanCo alongside private renew- able developers.
11 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook