The Australian Energy Market Commission has extended the time for making a draft rule aimed at ensuring the resilience of the power system to events that can have unpredictable and uncertain consequences.

The extra time for considering the Enhancing operational resilience in relation to indistinct events rule change request is to allow us to deal with complex issues raised in the rule change request and feedback received from stakeholders in submissions to the consultation paper requesting extra consultation

Indistinct events are events that can impact multiple generators or transmission lines in an unpredictable and uncertain manner. They may include major storms, widespread fires and cyber attacks. Significantly, it is difficult to predict the impact of these.  As the technology mix changes and as storms and bushfires become more intense and frequent, these indistinct events are a growing threat to maintaining a secure supply of electricity to customers.

The rule change request was submitted by the then COAG Energy Council. It proposes to amend the National Electricity Rules (NER) to implement a framework to manage indistinct events. 

The Commission will now publish the draft rule and draft determination by 28 October 2021.

Media: Kellie Bisset, Media and Content Manager, 0438 490 041