The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) today released its timetable for developing the Retailer Reliability Obligation (RRO) guidelines.
Expected to commence on 1 July 2019, the RRO intends to support a reliable energy system by requiring companies to hold contracts or invest directly in dispatchable energy to meet demand.
The AER is developing the following six guidelines to support operation of the RRO:
- Reliability Instrument Guideline
- Market Liquidity Obligation (MLO) Guideline
- Contracts and Firmness Guideline
- Forecasting Best Practice Guideline
- AER Opt-in Guideline
- Reliability Compliance Procedures and Guideline
The Reliability Instrument Guideline, MLO Guideline, Contracts and Firmness Guideline, and Forecasting Best Practice Guideline will be developed as interim guidelines.
The first interim guideline, the Reliability Instrument Guideline, will be published on 31 July 2019. The remaining interim guidelines to be published by the end of September 2019.
All final guidelines will be published in 2020.
Background
At the 26 October 2018 COAG Energy Council meeting, Ministers agreed that the Energy Security Board (ESB) will progress development of draft National Electricity Law amendments that would give effect to a RRO.
The ESB was tasked to develop the National Electricity Rules (the Rules) necessary to implement the obligation. The draft Rules were published for stakeholder consultation on 8 March 2019. The final Rules are proposed to be in place by 1 July 2019.
As set out in the Rules, the AER is responsible for developing a number of guidelines on certain aspects of the RRO. Due to timing constraints, the Rules specify that the AER will develop a number of interim guidelines, which will be in place for one to two years. During this time the AER will run a full consultation process to develop final guidelines.
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