Market Review: Completed
Overview
The Australian Energy Market Commission published advice on the strategic priorities for the Australian energy sector on 21 November 2017. The advice builds on the recommendations of the Finkel review and was provided to assist the Council in establishing a strategic energy plan.
The AEMC’s advice proposed specific priority areas for focus and action, and provided the Council with a set of “tools” to assist it in managing the sector strategically.
Proposed strategic priorities
From among the broad set of industry issues and goals, the proposed priorities relate were:
- making the market work for consumers, particularly in relation to prices and participation options
- the need to integrate environment and energy policies
- key areas requiring market redesign, and
- improving sectoral governance.
The priorities were put forward as part of a broader work-plan for the industry. The plan reflected all the work that was being undertaken to implement the agreed recommendations from the Finkel review and identified “gap” areas for decisions and action.
Strategic management tools
The advice also provided the Council with various tools to use in the management of the sector. These include:
- an analytical framework for mapping all sectoral issues
- a guide to managing the inter-relationships between issues
- proposed criteria for making prioritisation decisions
- a proposed operating cycle to manage the sector strategically.
A contextual description of industry trends and developments was also provided as a foundation set of assumptions on which the strategic priorities and work-plan were based.
The AEMC worked with the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), Australian Energy Regulator (AER) and Energy Consumers Australia (ECA) in developing this advice. It was also been informed by extensive consultation and stakeholder engagement processes.
The Council has since finalised a strategic energy plan. The Energy Security Board provides annual advice to the Council on progress against the plan, and the priorities for the year ahead.