The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) has welcomed the report by Dr Alan Finkel on the Independent Review into the Future Security of the National Electricity Market presented to the Council of Australian Governments today.
“We welcome this timely report and will be reviewing its recommendations and providing advice to the COAG Energy Council,” AER Chair Ms Paula Conboy said.
“The report’s findings and recommendations provide a roadmap to a lower emissions future for Australia’s energy sector that considers the key challenges of reliability, security and affordability,” Ms Conboy said.
“The AER and other energy market institutions stand ready to work together with COAG Energy Council to deliver on the key recommendations and reforms that are required.
“The report contains a number of recommendations directly relevant to our work and how we function as the sector regulator. We will be examining these in detail over the coming days,” she said.
Note to editors
The Report is available here: http://www.environment.gov.au/energy/national-electricity-market-review
About the AER
The Australian Energy Regulator regulates energy markets and networks under national legislation and rules in eastern and southern Australia, as well as networks in the Northern Territory. Its functions include:
- monitoring wholesale electricity and gas markets to ensure energy businesses comply with the legislation and rules, and taking enforcement action where necessary;
- setting the amount of revenue that network businesses can recover from customers for using networks (electricity poles and wires and gas pipelines) that transport energy;
- regulating retail energy markets in Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania (electricity only), and the ACT;
- operating the Energy Made Easy website, which provides a retail price comparator and other information for energy consumers;
- publishing information on energy markets, including the annual State of the energy market report, to assist participants and the wider community.