Gas day harmonisation

Rule Change: Completed

Overview

The AEMC published a final rule to harmonise the start time of the gas day used in the short term trading market hubs and the gas supply hub trading locations with the gas day start time used in the Victorian declared wholesale gas market on 16 February 2017.

Under the final rule, from 1 April 2021 the gas day in each market at each location was to commence at 6.00 am Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST).

Note that the final rule was revoked by paragraph 14 of the National Gas (Capacity Trading and Auctions) Amendment Rule 2018. Under that Rule, the gas day will commence at 6.00 am Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST) from 1 October 2019.

The Commission considered that net benefits are likely to emerge if changes to the gas day are implemented in conjunction with the capacity standardisation and trading reforms currently being progressed by the Gas Market Reform Group.

The creation of an integrated east coast market that includes exchange-based trading in a wholesale market and also provides participants with the ability to make short-term pipeline capacity trades requires a number of features to be successful. One of these features is a common gas day.

Under the current reform program set out by the COAG Energy Council, the development of the east coast gas market to incorporate capacity standardisation and short term secondary pipeline capacity trading and auctions is expected to be completed by approximately mid-2021.

In addition, advice from stakeholders indicates that in general April is likely to be a suitable period to implement a change to the gas day for the facilitated markets given the seasonality of demand in the gas markets in New South Wales and South Australia.

Accordingly, the Commission has made 1 April 2021 the commencement date of the final rule so that changes to the gas day can be implemented at the appropriate time of year and coordinated with the other market changes.

Background

On 26 November 2015, the AEMC received a rule change request to amend the National Gas Rules. The rule change request was submitted by the COAG Energy Council in response to a recommendation made by the AEMC in the East coast wholesale gas market and pipeline frameworks review, stage 1 final report.

The rule change request sought to amend the National Gas Rules to harmonise the gas day start times of all short term trading market hubs with the Victorian declared wholesale gas market gas day start time of 6.00 am AEST.

In addition, the COAG Energy Council sought to insert new rules into the National Gas Rules to specify that the gas day to be used in the gas supply hub exchange agreement would also commence at 6.00 am AEST.

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