AUSTRALIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Alexander Danne, Roy Groom, Rohit Venkat and Georgia Summerhill, Clayton Utz
State Restrictions on Disposal of Government Assets Some jurisdictions impose legislative restrictions on the disposal of state-owned electricity assets. For example, Queensland’s Government Owned Corpo- rations Act 1993 (Qld) framework restricts the sale or long-term lease of GOC assets without specific legis- The AER or relevant state regulator may need to approve the transfer of generation, transmission or distribution licences as part of a transaction. The regu- lator will assess whether the incoming entity has the necessary technical and financial capacity to comply with the relevant state electricity legislation and the NER. In Western Australia, licence transfers require approval from the Economic Regulation Authority. 1.5 Central Planning Authorities lative or executive approval. Regulatory Licence Transfers The AEMO is the principal authority overseeing elec- tricity supply adequacy and coordinating long-term infrastructure development across the NEM and WEM. Its functions include real-time power system operation, maintaining system security and reliability, and administering the wholesale spot market. The AEMO’s primary planning instrument is the Inte- grated System Plan (ISP), published biennially, which charts the optimal development pathway for gen- eration, storage and transmission investment over a 20-year horizon. The ISP designates priority transmis- sion projects as “actionable”, streamlining their regu- latory progression. The 2026 ISP, released on 25 June 2026, reaffirms that renewable energy firmed with storage and backed up by gas remains the least-cost means of supplying reli- able electricity to 2050 as coal-fired generation retires and demand nearly doubles due to electrification and emerging loads such as data centres. Under its Step Change scenario, the plan identifies approximately AUD106 billion in annualised capital investment to 2050, with around AUD6 billion allocated to transmis- sion, expected to deliver AUD30 billion in consumer savings.
Two additional national bodies support the AEMO’s planning function. The Australian Energy Market Com- mission (AEMC) develops the market rules govern- ing investment signals, connection frameworks and reliability standards. The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) economically regulates network businesses, approving revenue determinations that shape network investment, and enforces compliance with the market rules. At state level, jurisdictions maintain supplementary planning roles – notably, the NSW Electricity Infra- structure Roadmap, Queensland’s Energy and Jobs Plan, and Victoria’s Renewable Energy Zone frame- work, which coordinate with the ISP on siting new generation and network infrastructure. In WA, Energy Policy WA and the Coordinator of Ener- gy perform equivalent planning functions for the WEM. In the NT, the Northern Territory Electricity System and Market Operator (NTESMO), Utilities Commission of the NT and AER oversee the energy market. 1.6 Recent Changes in Law or Regulation There has been significant reform and innovation in the legal and regulatory framework governing Aus- tralia’s power industry over the past year. The most significant and noteworthy changes include the fol- lowing. Government Support Instruments The Commonwealth Government’s Capacity Invest- ment Scheme (CIS) has continued to expand, with multiple tender rounds progressing through 2025 and 2026 aimed at delivering an additional 40 GW of renewable generation and clean dispatchable capac- ity. Under the CIS, successful proponents are award- ed Capacity Investment Scheme Agreements (CISAs), which provide long-term revenue floor and cap con- tracts over ten to 15 years, de-risking investment in new generation and storage. The tender process was streamlined in 2025 from a two-stage to a single-stage assessment, reducing tender duration from nine to six months. At state level, New South Wales has contin- ued to award Long-Term Energy Service Agreements (LTESAs) under the Electricity Infrastructure Invest- ment Act 2020 (NSW), with recent rounds targeting
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