On 26 September 2022, Energy Senior Officials published a consultation paper seeking stakeholder comments on proposed regulatory amendments which includes a draft Bill, draft Regulations and an initial set of ‘Minister initiated’ rules.
The draft Bill empowers AEMO to:
- Monitor trends in supply and demand across the East Coast Gas System;
- Identify, communicate and publish information about actual or potential threats to reliability and adequacy of gas supply within the East Coast Gas System;
- Report to Energy Ministers on these matters; and
- Give directions and trade in gas to maintain or improve the reliability and adequacy of gas supply in the east coast gas system.
The draft Regulations and rules set out the proposed framework necessary to support the functions outlined in the draft Bill. The key elements of the proposed framework in the draft Regulations and rules are:
- Transparency - proposes additional disclosure obligations on certain market participants and broadens AEMO’s ability to seek information relevant to the exercise of its functions.
- Signalling provides AEMO with flexibility to signal threats it identifies to the market and to seek a market response and Direction powers allows AEMO to direct market participants to fill natural gas storage facilities, inject available gas into the interconnected network, to refrain from taking specific action and to make transport capacity available.
- Cost recovery and compensation provides AEMO with flexibility in cost recovery as a result of these new functions. There is a related dispute resolution framework for compensation to ensure there is rigour in the payment of amounts that are due and owing to participants.
The AER made a submission to the draft Regulations and rules on 21 October 2022.
More information
More information can be found at Energy Senior Officials’ proposed regulatory amendments to extend AEMO’s functions and powers to manage east coast gas supply adequacy consultation page.