We invite public comment on this discussion paper which provides the next layer of detail on the AEMC’s proposed reforms to the contract carriage model for gas transport which operates in eastern Australia outside Victoria’s Declared Transmission System.
The paper is part of the East Coast Wholesale Gas Market and Pipeline Frameworks Review which is being conducted concurrently with the AEMC’s Review of the Victorian Declared Wholesale Gas Market. Both reviews are being guided by the COAG Energy Council’s vision for the creation of a liquid wholesale gas market.
The review’s recommendations are focused on addressing the challenges of an increasingly dynamic market where market participants need greater flexibility in how gas is bought and sold; and consumers in particular need greater transparency on what’s happening with demand and supply.
The discussion paper has been published to provide stakeholders with an opportunity to contribute to the development of the next layer of detail on the proposed package of pipeline access reforms, namely:
- the introduction of a day-ahead auction of contracted but un-nominated pipeline capacity;
- the mandatory development of a capacity trading platform(s), trade through which would be facilitated by;
- more standardised primary and secondary capacity products; and
- publication of key information on secondary capacity trades; and
- requiring the publication of key information on primary capacity purchases.
The discussion paper also invites submissions on the appropriate means of taking the capacity trading related initiatives forward and the governance and regulatory arrangements that may be required to support their implementation. This topic is particularly important given some pipeline owners have suggested that it would be appropriate to implement most of the Commission's aforementioned recommendations on an industry-led basis, without (or with very limited) regulatory involvement.
The Commission invites written submissions to the discussion paper by Tuesday 29 March 2016.
Media contact: Prudence Anderson 0404 821 935 or (02) 8296 7817