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2009
THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
AUSTRALIAN ENERGY MARKET AMENDMENT (AEMO AND OTHER MEASURES) BILL 2009
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
(Circulated by authority of the Minister for Resources and Energy the Hon
Martin Ferguson MP)
AUSTRALIAN ENERGY MARKET AMENDMENT (AEMO AND OTHER MEASURES) BILL 2009
GENERAL OUTLINE
1. The purpose of this Bill is to make minor consequential
amendments to existing Commonwealth legislation as a result of co-
operative energy reform legislation being passed in other
jurisdictions.
2. The Bill amends the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2000 and
the Trade Practices Act 1974 to replace references to the National
Energy Market Management Company Limited ACN 072 101 327 (NEMMCO) with
the Australian Energy Market Operator Limited ACN 072 101 327 (AEMO).
It is proposed that AEMO will commence operations on 1 July 2009. The
Bill also amends the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act
1977, Australian Energy Market Act 2004, and the Trade Practices Act
1974 to reflect a change in name of Western Australian gas
legislation.
Establishment of AEMO
3. In order to strengthen the national character of energy market
governance, the Council of Australian Governments has agreed to
establish a national energy market operator, AEMO.
4. Although AEMO will be a company limited by guarantee, it is proposed
that 'statutory' functions will be conferred on it by way of
amendments to the National Electricity Law (a schedule to the National
Electricity (South Australia) Act 1998) (NEL) and the National Gas Law
(a schedule to the National Gas (South Australia) Act 2008) (NGL).
5. The NEL and the NGL form part of a complementary scheme of regulation
in which they are 'templates' enacted by South Australian law and
adopted and applied (as amended from time to time) by South Australia
and other participating jurisdictions.
6. Upon its establishment AEMO will assume the responsibilities and
functions of existing electricity and gas market operators, including
the National Electricity Market Management Company Limited ACN 072 101
327 (NEMMCO). Accordingly, references to NEMMCO in Commonwealth
legislation, being the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2000 and the
Trade Practices Act 1974, need to be replaced with references to AEMO.
Amending references to Western Australian gas legislation
7. Western Australia is moving to become a participating jurisdiction in
the national framework for regulating access to gas pipeline services.
In 2008 a Bill to apply the 'National Gas Access Law' (namely, key
elements of the NGL's gas access regime) in Western Australia, was
introduced into the Western Australian Parliament. However, the
Parliament was prorogued before the Bill was passed. It is now
anticipated the legislation applying the National Gas Access Law will
commence in the first half of 2009 (the WA Application Act). As a
consequence of the delay, Western Australia has elected to change the
title of its Application Act.
8. The Commonwealth Act applying the NGL and NEL to the Commonwealth's
offshore area is the Australian Energy Market Act 2004 (the AEM Act).
It was amended in 2007 (by the Australian Energy Market Amendment (Gas
Legislation) Act 2007) to clarify that services provided by pipelines
that cross both the Commonwealth's jurisdiction and that of Western
Australia will have one regulatory regime apply to them. The relevant
provisions in the AEM Act necessarily refer to the WA Application Act.
9. This Bill therefore corrects references to the WA Application Act,
from the National Gas Access (Western Australia) Act 2008 to the
National Gas Access (WA) Act 2009. There are also consequential
amendments to references to the WA Application Act in the
Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977 and the Trade
Practices Act 1974.
Financial impact statement
10. This Bill will have no financial impact.
NOTES ON CLAUSES
Preliminary
Clause 1: Short title
1. Clause 1 is a formal provision specifying the short title of the Bill.
The Act will be called the Australian Energy Market Amendment (AEMO
and Other Measures) Act 2009.
Clause 2: Commencement
2. This clause provides that sections 1 to 3 of this Act will commence on
the day this Act receives Royal Assent. It also provides that the
amendments to references to the WA Application Act contained in
Schedule 1 will commence on the day after this Act received Royal
Assent.
3. The clause further provides that the amendments which replace
references to 'NEMMCO' with 'AEMO' contained in Schedule 1 will
commence on a date to be fixed by Proclamation.
Clause 3: Schedule(s)
4. This clause provides that each Act specified in Schedule 1 of this
Bill is amended as set out in the Schedule (subject to the
commencement provisions above).
Schedule 1
Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977
Item 1
5. This item corrects the reference in the Administrative Decisions
(Judicial Review) Act 1977 to the WA Application Act. The amended
clause will refer to the year of enactment of the WA Application Act
as 2009 rather than 2008, and will refer to 'WA' in the title of the
Act rather than 'Western Australia': National Gas Access (WA) Act
2009.
Australian Energy Market Act 2004
Items 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
6. These items correct the references in the Australian Energy Market Act
2004 to the WA Application Act. The amended clauses will refer to the
year of enactment of the WA Application Act as 2009 rather than 2008,
and will refer to 'WA' in the title of the Act rather than 'Western
Australia': National Gas Access (WA) Act 2009.
Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2000
Item 7
7. This item inserts a new definition into the definitions section of the
Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2000. The definition references
the term 'AEMO' as defined in the NEL.
Item 8
8. This item deletes the definition of NEMMCO from the definitions
section of the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2000.
Items 9, 10, 11
9. These items replace references to 'NEMMCO' in the Renewable Energy
(Electricity) Act 2000 with references to 'AEMO'.
Trade Practices Act 1974
Item 12
10. This item corrects the reference in the Trade Practices Act 1974 to
the WA Application Act. The amended clause will refer to the year of
enactment of the WA Application Act as 2009 rather than 2008, and will
refer to 'WA' in the title of the Act rather than 'Western Australia':
National Gas Access (WA) Act 2009.
Item 13
11. This item replaces the reference to the 'National Electricity Market
Management Company' in the Trade Practices Act 1974 with a reference
to the 'Australian Energy Market Operator'.
Item 14
12. This item amends the definition of 'National Gas Law' in s 44B of the
Trade Practices Act 1974. It deletes paragraph (c) of that
definition, which refers to the "National Gas Access (Western
Australia) Law (within the meaning of the National Gas Access (Western
Australia) Act 2008 of Western Australia) as in force from time to
time" and inserts a new paragraph (c) which refers to "the Western
Australian Gas Legislation". This is because "Western Australian Gas
Legislation" is already defined in s 4(1) of the Trade Practices Act
1974.