❓ Hon Robin Chapple questions the Minister for Energy on WA's non-adoption of AEMC rule changes regarding embedded generators and the potential impact on Synergy and renewable energy. The Minister explains WA's exclusion due to not being part of the National Electricity Market and differences in network structure.
AnsweredQoN 1276Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
I
refer to the recent final rule change on 17 April 2014 by Australian
Energy Market Commission (AEMC) to reduce barriers to the connection of
embedded generators to distribute networks, making it cheaper, easier and
faster for households and business to invest in and install clean and renewable
energy systems, and I ask: (a) why
do the new rules not apply to Western Australia, when Victoria, Queensland, New
South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania are all going to adopt
them; (b) was
the Minister involved in discussions with the AEMC when they were determining
the recent rule change; (c) if
no to (b), why not; (d) if
yes to (b), did the Minister indicate that Western Australian wasn’t interested
in adopting the new rule change; (e) will
the Minister consider adopting this new rule change to support the renewable
energy industry in Western Australia; (f)
if
no to (e), why not; (g) is
the deteriorating financial position of Synergy, as recently reported in The West Australian article "Synergy
hurtles toward red despite State subsidies" on 24 May 2014,
the reason why Western Australia didn't adopt the new rule change;
and (h) does
the Government consider added competition to Synergy, by way of residential and
commercial solar power systems being added to the network, a financial risk to
Synergy?
refer to the recent final rule change on 17 April 2014 by Australian
Energy Market Commission (AEMC) to reduce barriers to the connection of
embedded generators to distribute networks, making it cheaper, easier and
faster for households and business to invest in and install clean and renewable
energy systems, and I ask: (a) why
do the new rules not apply to Western Australia, when Victoria, Queensland, New
South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania are all going to adopt
them; (b) was
the Minister involved in discussions with the AEMC when they were determining
the recent rule change; (c) if
no to (b), why not; (d) if
yes to (b), did the Minister indicate that Western Australian wasn’t interested
in adopting the new rule change; (e) will
the Minister consider adopting this new rule change to support the renewable
energy industry in Western Australia; (f)
if
no to (e), why not; (g) is
the deteriorating financial position of Synergy, as recently reported in The West Australian article "Synergy
hurtles toward red despite State subsidies" on 24 May 2014,
the reason why Western Australia didn't adopt the new rule change;
and (h) does
the Government consider added competition to Synergy, by way of residential and
commercial solar power systems being added to the network, a financial risk to
Synergy?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
13 August 2014
Responded by
Leader of the House representing the Minister for Energy
Response time
57 days
(a) The Australian Energy Market Commission is the statutory rule maker for the National Electricity Market. Western Australia is not part of the National Electricity Market.
(b) The Minister has not been involved in discussions with the Australian Energy Market Commission regarding the rule change.
(c) As the rule change does not apply outside the National Electricity Market, it was not considered necessary to discuss the rule change with the Australian Energy Market Commission.
(d) Not applicable
(e) No. The rule change relates primarily to the connection of embedded generation systems that are in excess of five megawatts in capacity. It does not affect renewable energy systems of the scale typically installed by households and small or medium sized businesses.
(f) It is not suitable to apply the rule changes in Western Australia as it has isolated networks with necessarily different connection standards to maintain safety and reliability for users. Further, one of the reasons for the rule change relates to networks that have multiple distribution service providers with differing connection requirements. Western Australia has a single distributor in the South West Interconnected System.
(g) No.
(h) Lower electricity consumption can increase financial risk for retailers.
(b) The Minister has not been involved in discussions with the Australian Energy Market Commission regarding the rule change.
(c) As the rule change does not apply outside the National Electricity Market, it was not considered necessary to discuss the rule change with the Australian Energy Market Commission.
(d) Not applicable
(e) No. The rule change relates primarily to the connection of embedded generation systems that are in excess of five megawatts in capacity. It does not affect renewable energy systems of the scale typically installed by households and small or medium sized businesses.
(f) It is not suitable to apply the rule changes in Western Australia as it has isolated networks with necessarily different connection standards to maintain safety and reliability for users. Further, one of the reasons for the rule change relates to networks that have multiple distribution service providers with differing connection requirements. Western Australia has a single distributor in the South West Interconnected System.
(g) No.
(h) Lower electricity consumption can increase financial risk for retailers.
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