At the State/Territory level, the Energy Security Board (ESB) is currently seeking feedback on the draft NEL Bill and submissions will remain open until 12 September 2018.
In addition, the ESB has released a policy paper setting out additional options for activating the reliability requirement under the NEL (Reliability Options Paper), including whether:
- there should be an additional trigger at T-5 to give liable entities more time to respond to a forecast gap; and
- the T-3 trigger should be removed so that liable entities are responsible for monitoring AEMO’s forecasts and managing their contract positions accordingly.
Submissions on the Reliability Options Paper will remain open until 5 September 2018.
Following the consultation periods on the draft NEL Bill and the Reliability Options Paper, the final proposed legislation to amend the NEL is to be the subject of a further Energy Council meeting in September or October this year. All things going to plan, the Energy Council is expected to seek to implement the NEL Bill before the end of 2018.
The draft rule changes proposed for the NER are to be presented to the Energy Council at its April 2019 meeting. If agreed, the NER rule changes will to be implemented later in 2019.
At this stage, until the Commonwealth Government seeks to advance the NEG legislation at the Commonwealth level, it remains unclear how the State-level processes that have already commenced will play out. However, it remains likely that consultation on the NEL Bill and the Reliability Options Paper will be allowed to progress.
Please contact a member of our Energy Team if you would like more information or assistance preparing a submission.