Market Review: Completed
Overview
Energy Ministers approved an update to the national energy objectives which embeds emissions reduction as part of the long-term interests of energy consumers. This has now been passed by the South Australian parliament and is included in the national energy laws.
We have now published a guide on how the AEMC will apply the updated objectives.
We will use this guide when applying the emissions reduction component of the updated national energy objectives, alongside the other considerations in the objectives, in our rule-making process and when making recommendations in reviews. We also developed it to help stakeholders understand what the changes to the objectives will mean for new and existing rule change and review projects.
We have also published a targets statement, which is a list of jurisdictional targets to be considered by the three market bodies, and others, when applying the national energy objectives.
Consultation
We sought stakeholder feedback on the approach we will take in applying the emissions reduction component of the updated objectives, whether the guide clearly explains how the Commission will consider the emissions reduction component in its work, and whether further guidance would be helpful.
Written submissions were due by 18 August 2023 through the AEMC website.
The guide, response to stakeholder comments, consultation paper, submissions and key project documents are available below.
Background
For further information, please see the Commonwealth Department’s webpage Incorporating an emissions reduction objective into the national energy objectives.
The specific changes to the national energy objectives are set out in the Statutes Amendment (National Energy Laws) (Emissions Reduction Objectives) Bill 2023.
Related work
The consultation paper set out an overview of other consultations and upcoming publications on the implementation of the new objectives.
These include:
- An AEMC consultation on rule change requests to harmonise key provisions of the national energy rules with the updated objectives published on 20 July.
- The Reliability Panel also consulted on its guide on applying the objectives, published on 24 July.
Updates
A virtual public forum was held on 7 August 2023 on the AEMC’s draft guide to applying the emissions component of the national energy objectives. The slides used for the forum are available below.