The AER intends to revise its Rebidding and Technical Parameter Guidelines. We will publish a consultation paper in September 2016 and invite stakeholders to comment on issues raised in the consultation paper. Following consideration of these comments we will publish draft Guidelines and invite further comments. We will publish the final Guidelines early in 2017.
Background
Where a rebid occurs the reasons for it must be provided to the Australian Energy Market Operator. The Guidelines set out the information that must be provided in support of these reasons and our process for requesting additional information if required. It also covers some other areas related to the bidding and rebidding of technical parameters.
The current version of the Guidelines was published in December 2009. Our review aims to revise the Guidelines to reflect market developments and the recent commencement of two rule changes. The revised Guidelines will outline the information requirements for rebids, including rebids made close to dispatch.
Participants will be able to keep up to date with the consultation process by visiting the guideline project page.
Electricity Rule changes effective from 1 July 2016
Two Electricity Rule changes came into effect on 1 July 2016:
“Ramp Rate” Amending Rule 2015 No. 2
The ramp rate rule change extends the existing minimum ramp rate requirements to aggregated units. It works as follows. First the lower of 3 per cent of maximum capacity or 3 MW per minute is calculated for each physical unit. However, a lower limit of 1 MW per minute is taken for any unit if the result of this calculation is less than 1 MW per minute. These amounts for each unit are then summed. The result is the minimum ramp rate for the aggregated unit.
“Bidding in Good Faith” Amending Rule 2015 No. 13
This rule change introduces a number of changes and new requirements for participants. In short:
- a prohibition against making false or misleading offers replaces the requirement that offers be made in good faith,
- any variations to offers are to be made as soon as practicable, and
- contemporaneous record–keeping obligations on participants who make a rebid during the late rebidding period.
The new rules can be found on the Australian Energy Market Commission’s website.
Approach to monitoring for compliance with the Electricity Rules
Our Compliance and Enforcement Statement of Approach sets out our approach to monitoring compliance, how we typically respond to potential breaches, and the factors we may have regard to when deciding whether to take enforcement action. We will monitor compliance with the new rules in line with our Statement of Approach. In addition, the revised Guideline will provide further guidance on certain aspects of the new Rules.