The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) today published a consultation paper on a proposed rule change from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) to enable exempt sellers to participate in gas retail markets.
AEMO’s rule change request seeks to change the National Gas Rules to recognise exempt sellers and enable them to be registered as either:
- self-contracting users, if they are selling gas to a related business
- retailers, if they are selling gas to an unrelated business.
The AEMC proposes to use an expedited rule change process to assess AEMO’s rule change request.
Subject to any objections to the expedited process, there will only be one round of consultation. Objections to the use of the expedited process must be lodged by 21 March 2019. Submissions on the consultation paper are due by 4 April 2019.
The exempt seller framework is currently under review as part of the AEMC’s Updating the regulatory frameworks for embedded networks review. The draft report for that review proposed significant reforms, including reducing the scope of the exemptions.
Media: Prudence Anderson, Communication Director, 02 8296 7817; 0404 821 935