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This is a Bill, not an Act. For current law, see the Acts databases.
Queensland
Electricity and Other
Legislation Amendment Bill
2006
Queensland
Electricity and Other Legislation
Amendment Bill 2006
Contents
Page
Part 1 Preliminary
1 Short title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2 Commencement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Part 2 Amendment of Electricity Act 1994
3 Act amended in pt 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4 Amendment of s 20J (Maximum charge for metered supply). . . . 18
5 Replacement of ss 23 and 23A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
23 Customers and their types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
6 Amendment of s 27 (Conditions of generation authority) . . . . . . . 20
7 Amendment of s 31 (Conditions of transmission authority) . . . . . 20
8 Replacement of ss 4040D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Division 2 Applying for and obtaining customer
connection services
40 Applying for customer connection services . . . . . . . . 20
40A When distribution entity must provide the services . . 21
40B Information notice for refusal of services . . . . . . . . . . 21
40C Things to which connection obligation is subject . . . . 21
40D When connection obligation does not apply . . . . . . . . 22
Division 3 Connection contracts
Subdivision 1 Preliminary
40DA Distribution contract types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Subdivision 2 Standard connection contracts
40DB Supply if no negotiated connection contract. . . . . . . . 24
Subdivision 3 Negotiated connection contracts
40DC Negotiation of connection contract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
40DD General limit on what may be negotiated . . . . . . . . . . 25
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Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
40DE Provisions for small customers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
40DF Provisions for large customers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
9 Amendment of s 40E (Limitation on obligation to connect and
supply) ......................................... 26
10 Omission of ss 40F and 40G . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
11 Amendment of s 41 (Connection and supply of electricity
outside distribution area) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
12 Amendment of s 42 (Conditions of distribution authority). . . . . . . 27
13 Replacement of ss 4855C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
48 Retail area of retail entity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
48A What a retail authority authorises. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
48B Restriction on providing customer retail service to
excluded customer's premises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Division 2 Applying for and obtaining customer retail
services
48C Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
48D When area retail entity must provide the services
to an applicant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
48E When non-area retail entity must provide the
services to an applicant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
48F Retail obligation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
48G Information notice for refusal of services to small
customer .............................. 31
48H Things to which retail obligation is subject . . . . . . . . . 31
48I When retail obligation does not apply . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Division 3 Retail contracts
Subdivision 1 Preliminary
49 Retail contract types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Subdivision 2 Retail contract if no negotiated retail contract
50 Application of sdiv 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
51 Retail contract with financially responsible retail
entity ............................. 34
52 Terms of contract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
53 Making or amending terms of standard large
customer retail contract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
54 Required and permitted terms of standard large
customer retail contract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
55 Charging for GST under standard contract . . . . . . . . 37
Subdivision 3 Negotiated retail contracts
55A Negotiation of retail contract. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
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Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
55B General limit on what may be negotiated . . . . . . . . . . 38
55C Provisions for small customers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
14 Amendment of s 55D (Conditions of retail authority) . . . . . . . . . . 38
15 Insertion of new s 55DA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
55DA Additional condition about community services
agreement ............................. 39
16 Insertion of new s 55G and new ch 2, pt 6A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
55G Restriction on Ergon Energy and its subsidiaries. . . . 40
Part 6A Coordination agreements between distribution
and retail entities
55H Negotiation of coordination agreement . . . . . . . . . . . 41
55I Standard coordination agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
17 Amendment of s 60 (Conditions of special approval) . . . . . . . . . . 42
18 Amendment of s 63 (Functions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
19 Omission of ch 2, pt 8, divs 2 and 3 and pts 8A and 8B. . . . . . . . 42
20 Insertion of new ch 4, pt 2, div 1, hdg. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
21 Insertion of new ch 4, pt 2, div 2, hdg. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
22 Amendment of s 90 (Deciding prices for non-contestable
customers) ...................................... 43
23 Amendment of s 91 (Retail entities charging for GST) . . . . . . . . . 44
24 Amendment of s 91A (Retail entity must comply with
notification or direction) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
25 Insertion of new ch 4, pt 2, div 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Division 3 Requirements for deciding notified prices for a
tariff year
Subdivision 1 Preliminary
91B Application of div 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
91C Definitions for div 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Subdivision 2 General provisions for notified prices for
relevant tariff year
91D Tariff schedule for the relevant tariff year . . . . . . . . . . 46
91E Formula for working out each tariff in tariff schedule
for relevant tariff year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Subdivision 3 Benchmark retail cost index for relevant tariff
year
91F Benchmark retail cost index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
91G Total benchmark retail cost. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
92 Cost of energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
93 Network costs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
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Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
94 Retail costs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Subdivision 4 Miscellaneous provisions
95 Fixing of future principles for benchmark retail cost
element ............................... 49
96 When prices must be notified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
26 Amendment of s 118 (Retail entity may recover amount for
electricity sold to a person occupying premises) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
27 Omission of ss 119 and 119A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
28 Amendment of s 120AA (Regulator's powers concerning
audit of compliance with Act etc.). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
29 Amendment of s 120AC (Independent auditor may require
reasonable help or information) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
30 Replacement of ch 5, pts 1A1C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Part 1A Industry codes
Division 1 Preliminary
120A Definition for pt 1A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Division 2 Initial industry codes
120B Making of initial industry codes by Minister . . . . . . . . 51
120C Specific matters for which code may provide . . . . . . . 52
120D Gazettal and taking of effect of code . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
120E Tabling of code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Division 3 QCA industry codes
120F QCA may make industry code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
120G QCA code objective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
120H Required consultation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
120I Ministerial approval . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
120J When approved QCA industry code takes effect . . . . 55
120K Tabling of QCA industry code. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Division 4 Review of industry codes and related matters
120L Direction by Minister to review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
120M Terms of reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
120N Notice of review or amended term of reference or
direction .............................. 57
120O Conduct of review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Division 5 Amending Industry codes
120P Amending code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Division 6 Enforcing industry codes
Subdivision 1 Code contravention notices
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Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
120Q Application of sdiv 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
120R Criteria for deciding material contravention . . . . . . . . 58
120S Warning notice may be given . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
120T Requirements for warning notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
120U Considering submissions on warning notice . . . . . . . 60
120V Giving of code contravention notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
120W Duration of code contravention notice . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Subdivision 2 Proceedings
120X Proceeding for civil penalty order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
120Y How order enforced . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
120Z Injunctions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
120ZA Conduct by directors, servants or agents . . . . . . . . . . 64
Subdivision 3 Referrals to regulator
120ZB When QCA must refer material contravention . . . . . . 65
120ZC When QCA may refer material contravention . . . . . . . 66
120ZD Guidelines for exercise of QCA powers for civil
penalties ............................. 66
Subdivision 4 Production of documents or information
120ZE Notice to produce documents or information . . . . . . . 66
120ZF Disclosure of information to regulator. . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
120ZG Protection of confidential information given for
investigation ............................ 68
Subdivision 5 Audits
120ZH QCA's powers concerning audit of compliance with
industry code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
120ZI Responsibility for cost of audit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
120ZJ Independent auditor may require reasonable help
or information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
120ZK Audit report and submissions on report . . . . . . . . . . . 70
31 Amendment of s 131A (Retailer of last resort scheme) . . . . . . . . 70
32 Amendment of s 133 (Types of disciplinary action) . . . . . . . . . . . 71
33 Amendment of s 135HX (Electricity sold under retailer of last
resort scheme or similar scheme) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
34 Replacement of s 135HY (Electricity sold under s 49A(2)
contract) ....................................... 72
135HY Electricity sold under particular standard large
customer retail contracts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
35 Amendment of s 203 (Issue of retail authorities) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
36 Amendment of s 204 (Application for authority) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
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Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
37 Amendment of s 214 (Who may apply for review etc.) . . . . . . . . . 73
38 Amendment of s 215 (Applying for review). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
39 Amendment of s 216 (Stay of operation of decision etc.). . . . . . . 74
40 Amendment of s 218 (Decision on reconsideration) . . . . . . . . . . 74
41 Amendment of s 219 (Who may make an appeal) . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
42 Amendment of s 220 (Making appeals) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
43 Amendment of s 221 (Starting appeals). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
44 Insertion of new ch 11, pt 1A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Part 1A Provisions for civil penalty proceedings
244A Relationship with criminal proceedings . . . . . . . . . . . 75
244B Avoidance of multiple penalties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
45 Replacement of s 251A Evidentiary effect of conduct notice) . . . 76
251A Evidentiary effect of code contravention notice . . . . . 76
46 Amendment of s 253 (Advisory committees) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
47 Insertion of new s 253A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
253A Reporting to Minister by QCA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
48 Amendment of s 254 (Protection from liability). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
49 Insertion of new s 254B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
254B Registers QCA must keep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
50 Amendment of s 309 (Existing electricity supply contracts) . . . . . 78
51 Replacement of ch 14, pt 8 (Transitional provisions for
Electricity Amendment Act (No. 2) 2004) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Part 8 Transitional provisions for Electricity and Other
Legislation Amendment Act 2006
310 Definitions for pt 8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
311 Extension of area retail obligation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
312 Small customer may enter into negotiated retail
contract before FRC day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
313 Existing contestable customers who are receivers. . . 81
314 Existing standard customer connection contracts . . . 81
315 Existing standard customer sale contracts . . . . . . . . . 82
316 References to other particular contracts under
pre-amended Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
317 Exclusion of new s 40DB for existing negotiated
sale and connection contracts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
318 Street lighting with non-metered connection point . . . 84
319 Other unmetered connection points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
320 Obligation to decide notified prices for 20062007
financial year on basis of post amended Act . . . . . . . 85
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Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
321 Making of transitional conduct rules about
marketing conduct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
322 Existing mediated agreements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
323 Existing orders on arbitrated disputes . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
324 Preservation of appeal rights about former contribution
and user-pays fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
325 Transitional provision for non-liable loads. . . . . . . . . . 86
52 Amendment of sch 1 (Appeals against administrative decisions) 87
53 Amendment of sch 5 (Dictionary) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Part 3 Amendment of Energy Assets (Restructuring and Disposal)
Act 2006
54 Act amended in pt 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
55 Replacement of s 44 (Operation of authorities and related
matters) ...................................... 92
44 Provision for particular contracts on FRC day . . . . . . 92
56 Omission of s 51 (FRC day) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
57 Amendment of schedule (Dictionary) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Part 4 Amendment of Gas Supply Act 2003
58 Act amended in pt 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
59 Amendment of long title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
60 Amendment of s 3 (Main purposes of Act) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
61 Amendment of s 4 (Gas-related matters to which Act does not
apply) ......................................... 94
62 Omission of s 9 (What is fuel gas) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
63 Amendment of s 10 (What is LPG). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
64 Amendment of s 12 (What is a transmission pipeline) . . . . . . . . . 95
65 Amendment of s 13 (What is a distribution pipeline) . . . . . . . . . . 95
66 Amendment of s 14 (What is a distribution system) . . . . . . . . . . . 96
67 Amendment of s 15 (When fuel gas is reticulated). . . . . . . . . . . . 96
68 Replacement of ss 1618. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
16 Who is a customer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
17 Types of customers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
69 Amendment of s 19 (What are customer connection services) . . 97
70 Amendment of s 20 (What are customer retail services) . . . . . . . 97
71 Amendment of s 21 (What is a distribution authority). . . . . . . . . . 97
72 Amendment of s 22 (Who is a distributor) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
73 Amendment of s 23 (Types of distribution authority and their
distributors) ..................................... 98
74 Amendment of s 25 (Who is a retailer). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
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Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
75 Amendment of ch 2, hdg (Fuel gas distribution). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
76 Amendment of s 28 (Requirements for application) . . . . . . . . . . . 99
77 Amendment of s 42 (Obligation to operate and maintain
distribution pipes) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
78 Amendment of s 48 (Contingency practices and procedures) . . . 99
79 Insertion of new ss 50A and 50B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
50A Compliance with industry codes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
50B Membership of energy ombudsman scheme . . . . . . . 99
80 Amendment of s 57 (Conditions for amendment, cancellation or
suspension) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
81 Omission of ch 2, pt 1, div 5 (Service quality standards) . . . . . . . 100
82 Amendment of s 75 (What is gas infrastructure and gas
infrastructure work). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
83 Insertion of new s 75A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
75A References to distributor in pt 2 includes a reference
to LPG distributor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
84 Amendment of s 78 (Right to carry out work on publicly
controlled place) .................................. 101
85 Amendment of s 104 (Deciding application). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
86 Insertion of new s 104A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
104A Information notice for refusal of services . . . . . . . . . . 101
87 Amendment of s 105 (Distributor's obligation to propose terms) . 101
88 Amendment of s 106 (Customer connection contract) . . . . . . . . . 101
89 Omission of s 107 (Cooling-off period for customer connection
contracts) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
90 Amendment of s 108 (Commencement of customer connection
services) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
91 Amendment of s 109 (Limits on provision of customer
connection services). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
92 Insertion of new ch 2, pt 3, div 2, sdiv 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Subdivision 3 Requirements for connection contracts
109A General limits on what may be negotiated . . . . . . . . . 104
109B Provisions for small customers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
109C Provisions for large customers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
93 Amendment of ch 2, pt 3, div 3, hdg (Changes to fuel gas
installation) ..................................... 105
94 Amendment of s 111 (Obligation to give information to allow
proposed changes). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
95 Amendment of s 112 (Applying to change connection) . . . . . . . . 105
96 Omission of ch 2, pt 3, divs 4 and 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
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Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
97 Amendment of s 125 (Operation of pt 4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
98 Amendment of s 126 (Distributor must provide meter). . . . . . . . . 106
99 Amendment of s 131 (Alternative measurement) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
100 Insertion of new ch 2, pt 5, div 1A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Division 1A Preliminary
131A References to distributor and processed natural gas
in pt 5 ............................... 106
101 Amendment of s 133 (Functions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
102 Amendment of s 140 (Power to enter for emergency) . . . . . . . . . 107
103 Omission of ch 2, pt 6 (Market operating arrangements in
natural gas market) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
104 Amendment of ch 3, hdg (Supply of reticulated fuel gas). . . . . . . 107
105 Amendment of s 148 (Who may apply for retail authority) . . . . . . 107
106 Replacement of ch 3, pt 1, div 2, sdivs 2 and 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
160 Obligation to have standard terms before providing
customer retail services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
107 Amendment of s 167 (General right of retailer) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
108 Amendment of s 169 (Restriction on general retailers) . . . . . . . . 108
109 Insertion of new s 170 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
170 Restriction on providing customer retail services to
excluded customer's premises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
110 Amendment of s 171 (Area retailers--restriction for
non-contestable customers) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
111 Omission of s 172 (Telephone hotline) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
112 Insertion of new ss 174A and 174B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
174A Compliance with industry codes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
174B Membership of energy ombudsman scheme . . . . . . . 109
113 Amendment of s 181 (Conditions for amendment, cancellation
or suspension) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
114 Replacement of ch 3, pt 2 (Customer retail services) . . . . . . . . . 110
Part 2 Customer retail services
Division 1 Applying for and obtaining customer retail
services by small customer
198 Applying to area retailer for provision of customer
retail services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
199 Deciding application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
200 Information notice for refusal of services to small
customer .............................. 111
201 Area retailer obligation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
202 Things to which area retailer obligation is subject . . . 111
10
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
203 When area retailer obligation does not apply . . . . . . . 112
Division 2 Standard retail contracts
204 Standard retail contract for particular small
customers .......................... 113
205 Retailer's standard terms for small customers . . . . . . 114
206 Publication of standard terms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
207 Ending of standard retail contract. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Division 3 Negotiated retail contracts
208 Negotiation of retail contract. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
209 General limit on what may be negotiated . . . . . . . . . . 116
210 Provisions for small customers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
115 Amendment of s 213 (On-suppliers and their receivers) . . . . . . . 117
116 Amendment of s 214 (Common areas and common area
consumption) .................................. 117
117 Omission of s 216 (Restriction of application of pt 3 for LPG) . . . 117
118 Amendment of s 217 (On-supply agreements) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
119 Amendment of s 222 (Individual metering option) . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
120 Amendment of s 223 (Compensation for installation damage). . . 118
121 Replacement of ch 3, pt 4, hdg (Pricing and service quality
standards) .................................... 118
Part 4 Pricing
Division 1 QCA investigation
227A Direction by Minister to investigate effectiveness of
retail competition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
227B Period for giving report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
227C Terms of reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
227D Notice of pricing investigation or amended term of
reference or direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
227E Conduct of pricing investigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
227F Required consultation for report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Division 2 Notified prices'.
122 Replacement of s 228 (Fixing of prices for customer retail
services or on-supply) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
228 Fixing of prices for standard contracts or for
on-supply ............................ 120
228A Restrictions on the first exercise of price fixing
power ............................. 121
123 Amendment of s 229 (Review of notified prices) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
124 Replacement of s 230 (Public advertisement of notified prices) . 122
11
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
230 Public advertisement of notified prices. . . . . . . . . . . . 122
125 Amendment of s 231 (Requirement to comply with notified
prices) ...................................... 122
126 Amendment of s 233 (Directions for prices notification) . . . . . . . . 122
127 Omission of s 235 (Standards about quality of customer retail
services) ...................................... 122
128 Amendment of s 236 (Who is an industry participant) . . . . . . . . . 123
129 Amendment of s 237 (Regulator's power to require plan) . . . . . . 123
130 Amendment of s 239 (Contingency supply plan--content
requirements) .................................. 123
131 Amendment of s 244 (Notice of significant disruption) . . . . . . . . . 123
132 Amendment of s 245 (Regulator's power to require information
from industry participant) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
133 Amendment of s 247 (Notice of intention to stop fuel gas
transport or customer connection or retail services) . . . . . . . . . . 123
134 Amendment of s 248 (Regulation may provide for scheme). . . . . 124
135 Amendment of s 250 (Matters that may be provided for under
scheme) ...................................... 124
136 Amendment of s 251 (Minister's power to make declaration). . . . 125
137 Amendment of s 254 (Minister's power to give directions while
declaration in force) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
138 Amendment of s 256 (Liability of recipient for fuel gas supplied
under direction) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
139 Amendment of s 257 (Direction overrides contracts) . . . . . . . . . . 125
140 Replacement of ch 5, hdg (Dispute resolution) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Chapter 4A Gas retail market operator
Part 1 General provisions about operator
257A Appointment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
257B Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
257C Obligations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Part 2 Industry advisory committee
257D Establishment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
257E Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
257F Composition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Part 3 Miscellaneous provision
257G Restriction on providing gas retail market services . . 128
Chapter 5 Resolution of gas infrastructure work
disputes'.
141 Replacement of s 258 (Complaint investigation and dispute
resolution) ....................................... 129
12
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
258 Application of ch 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
142 Amendment of s 259 (Regulator's power to require information) . 129
143 Omission of ch 5, pt 2 (Customer disputes) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
144 Omission of s 266 (Application of pt 3). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
145 Insertion of new ch 5A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Chapter 5A Industry codes
Part 1 Initial industry codes
270A Making of initial industry codes by Minister . . . . . . . . 130
270B Specific matters for which code may provide . . . . . . . 130
270C Gazettal and taking of effect of code . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
270D Tabling of code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Part 2 QCA industry codes
270E QCA may make industry code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
270F QCA code objective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
270G Required consultation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
270H Ministerial approval . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
270I When approved QCA industry code takes effect . . . . 133
270J Tabling of QCA industry code. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Part 3 Review of industry codes and related matters
270K Direction by Minister to review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
270L Terms of reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
270M Notice of review or amended term of reference or
direction .............................. 134
270N Conduct of review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Part 4 Amending industry codes
270O Amending code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Part 5 Enforcing industry codes
Division 1 Code contravention notices
Subdivision 1 Preliminary
270P Application of div 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
270Q Criteria for deciding material contravention . . . . . . . . 136
Subdivision 2 Warning notices
270R Warning notice may be given . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
270S Requirements for warning notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
270T Considering submissions on warning notice . . . . . . . 138
Subdivision 3 Action after warning notice
270U Giving of code contravention notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
13
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
270V Duration of code contravention notice . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Division 2 Proceedings
270W Proceeding for civil penalty order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
270X How order enforced . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
270Y Injunctions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
270Z Conduct by directors, servants or agents . . . . . . . . . . 142
Division 3 Referrals to regulator
270ZA When QCA must refer material contravention . . . . . . 143
270ZB When QCA may refer material contravention . . . . . . . 143
270ZC Guidelines for exercise of QCA powers for civil
penalties ............................ 144
270ZD How regulator deals with referral . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Division 4 Production of documents or information
270ZE Notice to produce documents or information . . . . . . . 145
270ZF Protection of confidential information given for
investigation .......................... 145
Division 5 Audits
270ZG QCA's powers concerning audit of compliance with
industry code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
270ZH Responsibility for cost of audit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
270ZI Independent auditor may require reasonable help
or information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
270ZJ Audit report and submissions on report . . . . . . . . . . . 148
146 Insertion of new ch 6, pt 1A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Part 1A Civil penalty for particular contraventions
270ZK Application of pt 1A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
270ZL Regulator may impose civil penalty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
270ZM Information notice about and taking effect of decision 150
270ZN Civil penalty recoverable as a debt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
147 Amendment of s 279 (Who may appeal) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
148 Amendment of s 286 (Unlawfully operating distribution
pipeline) ................................... 150
149 Amendment of s 287 (Unlawful tampering with gas
infrastructure) ................................. 150
150 Amendment of s 288 (Unlawfully selling reticulated fuel gas) . . . 151
151 Amendment of s 289 (Unlawfully taking fuel gas) . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
152 Amendment of s 295 (Evidence of tampering with gas
infrastructure) ................................. 151
14
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
153 Amendment of ch 6, pt 3, div 2, hdg (Provisions for unlawfully
taking fuel gas) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
154 Amendment of s 297 (Evidence of unlawful taking of fuel gas) . . 152
155 Amendment of s 298 (Proceeding may be for a period). . . . . . . . 152
156 Amendment of s 299 (Ownership of fuel gas for proceeding) . . . 152
157 Insertion of new ch 6, pt 3, div 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Division 3 Provisions for civil penalty proceedings
299A Relationship with criminal proceedings . . . . . . . . . . . 152
299B Avoidance of multiple penalties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
158 Amendment of s 301 (Additional consequences of unlawfully
operating distribution pipe) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
159 Amendment of s 302 (Additional consequences of unlawfully
selling reticulated fuel gas) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
160 Insertion of new s 307A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
307A Evidentiary effect of code contravention notice . . . . . 154
161 Insertion of new s 310A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
310A Registers QCA must keep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
162 Amendment of s 315 (Protection from civil liability for particular
persons) ....................................... 155
163 Amendment of s 316 (Limitation of liability of distributors and
retailers) ..................................... 155
164 Insertion of new s 316A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
316A Protection from liability of member or employee of
QCA ................................. 155
165 Amendment of s 320 (Delegation by Minister) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
166 Insertion of new ss 321A and 321B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
321A Delegation by QCA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
321B Reporting to Minister by QCA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
167 Replacement of ch 7 (Transitional provisions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Chapter 7 Transitional provisions for Electricity and Other
Legislation Amendment Act 2006
324 Definitions for ch 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
325 Conversion of customer retail contracts for
particular small customers to standard contracts . . . . 157
326 Small customer may enter into negotiated retail
contract before FRC day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
327 Transitional retail contracts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
328 References to other particular contracts under
pre-amended Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
15
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
329 Price publication requirements of area retailers for
FRC ................................ 160
330 Area retailer's obligations about standard terms
apply 1 month before FRC day. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
331 Price publication requirements of general retailers
for FRC ............................ 161
332 Existing mediated agreements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
333 Existing orders on arbitrated disputes . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
168 Omission of sch 1 (Contestable customers). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
169 Omission of sch 3 (New authorities). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
170 Amendment of sch 4 (Dictionary) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Part 5 Amendment of Queensland Competition Authority Act 1997
171 Act amended in pt 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
172 Amendment of s 10 (Authority's functions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
173 Amendment of s 187 (Confidential information) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
174 Replacement of s 227A (Keeping registers). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
227A Keeping registers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
175 Amendment of s 239 (Confidential information) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
176 Amendment of schedule (Dictionary) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Part 6 Minor and consequential amendments
177 Acts amended in schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Schedule Minor and consequential amendments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Electricity Act 1994. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Gas Supply Act 2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Integrated Planning Act 1997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Petroleum and Gas (Production and Safety) Act 2004. . . . . . . . . 174
2006
A Bill
for
An Act to amend the Electricity Act 1994 and the Gas Supply
Act 2003, and for other purposes
s1 18 s4
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
The Parliament of Queensland enacts-- 1
Part 1 Preliminary 2
Clause 1 Short title 3
This Act may be cited as the Electricity and Other Legislation 4
Amendment Act 2006. 5
Clause 2 Commencement 6
This Act, other than the following provisions, commences on 7
a day to be fixed by proclamation-- 8
· part 2 heading 9
· section 3, to the extent it relates to the amendments 10
under section 51 11
· section 51 12
· part 4 heading 13
· section 58, to the extent it relates to the amendments 14
under section 167 15
· section 167. 16
Part 2 Amendment of Electricity Act 17
1994 18
Clause 3 Act amended in pt 2 19
This part and the schedule amend the Electricity Act 1994. 20
Clause 4 Amendment of s 20J (Maximum charge for metered 21
supply) 22
Section 20J, `non-contestable customer'-- 23
s5 19 s5
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
omit, insert-- 1
`non-market customer'. 2
Clause 5 Replacement of ss 23 and 23A 3
Sections 23 and 23A-- 4
omit, insert-- 5
`23 Customers and their types 6
`(1) A customer is a person, including a relevant body corporate, 7
who receives, or wants to receive, a supply of electricity for 8
premises from an electricity entity or special approval holder. 9
`(2) However, a receiver is only a customer if the receiver's 10
premises has an electrical installation that, to the reasonable 11
satisfaction of the distribution entity whose distribution area 12
includes the premises, is capable of receiving supply directly 13
from a supply network. 14
`(3) An excluded customer is a customer whose premises are 15
connected, or to be connected, to a supply network that is not 16
connected to the national grid. 17
`(4) A small customer, for premises, is a customer prescribed 18
under a regulation to be a small customer for the premises. 19
`(5) A regulation made under subsection (4) may prescribe who is 20
a small customer for premises only by reference to a stated 21
consumption threshold. 22
`(6) A large customer, for premises, is a customer other than a 23
small customer for the premises. 24
`(7) A market customer, for premises, is a customer prescribed 25
under a regulation to be a market customer for the premises. 26
`(8) A non-market customer, for premises, is a customer other 27
than a market customer for the premises. 28
`(9) A large market customer, for premises, is a large customer 29
for the premises who is also a market customer for the 30
premises. 31
`(10) A large non-market customer, for premises, is a large 32
customer for the premises who is also a non-market customer 33
for the premises.'. 34
s6 20 s8
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
Clause 6 Amendment of s 27 (Conditions of generation authority) 1
(1) Section 27(b)(iv)-- 2
omit. 3
(2) Section 27(b)(v) to (vii)-- 4
renumber as section 27(b)(iv) to (vi). 5
Clause 7 Amendment of s 31 (Conditions of transmission 6
authority) 7
(1) Section 31(a)(iii)-- 8
omit. 9
(2) Section 31(a)(iv) to (vi)-- 10
renumber as section 31(a)(iii) to (v). 11
Clause 8 Replacement of ss 4040D 12
Sections 40 to 40D-- 13
omit, insert-- 14
`Division 2 Applying for and obtaining 15
customer connection services 16
`40 Applying for customer connection services 17
`(1) A customer who owns or occupies premises may make an 18
application (a connection services application) to a 19
distribution entity for the provision of customer connection 20
services to the premises if-- 21
(a) the premises are within the entity's distribution area; and 22
(b) if the customer is not an excluded customer--the 23
premises are NMI premises. 24
`(2) The application may be made by a retail entity for the 25
customer. 26
`(3) A connection services application must be made in the way, 27
and give the information, reasonably required, by the 28
distribution entity. 29
s8 21 s8
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`(4) For subsection (3), a requirement that the application can only 1
be made for the customer by a retail entity is taken to be 2
reasonable. 3
`40A When distribution entity must provide the services 4
`(1) This section applies if a customer makes a connection services 5
application for premises. 6
`(2) The distribution entity to whom the application is made must 7
provide the customer connection services applied for to the 8
premises. 9
`(3) The obligation is the connection obligation. 10
`(4) The connection obligation is subject to sections 40C and 40D. 11
`(5) However, the sections do not prevent the distribution entity 12
from lawfully providing the services even though it is not 13
obliged to do so. 14
`40B Information notice for refusal of services 15
`(1) This section applies if-- 16
(a) a customer makes a connection services application; and 17
(b) the distribution entity to whom the application is made 18
decides the connection obligation does not apply for the 19
services applied for. 20
`(2) The entity must as soon as practicable after, but within 1 21
month of, receiving the application give the customer an 22
information notice about the decision. 23
`40C Things to which connection obligation is subject 24
`The connection obligation is subject to-- 25
(a) the other provisions of this part; and 26
(b) any authorisation under section 130 for the taking over 27
of the distribution entity's operations; and 28
(c) the retailer of last resort scheme; and 29
s8 22 s8
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(d) any relevant electricity restriction regulation or 1
emergency rationing order; and 2
(e) the conditions of the distribution entity's distribution 3
authority. 4
`40D When connection obligation does not apply 5
`(1) The connection obligation does not apply to a distribution 6
entity in relation to a customer if-- 7
(a) the customer's connection services application is for 8
supply at a rate more than the maximum capacity of the 9
connection to the entity's supply network; or 10
(b) the customer does not comply with a requirement of the 11
entity to give any of the following-- 12
(i) a reasonable advance payment for customer 13
connection services; 14
(ii) a reasonable security or agreement for security for 15
performing the customer's obligations to the 16
entity; 17
(iii) a capital contribution towards the entity's costs 18
incurred, or to be incurred, in extending or 19
increasing the capacity of its supply network to 20
provide the services; or 21
(c) after disconnecting supply under this Act or a 22
connection contract, the entity is not reasonably 23
satisfied the matter that caused the disconnection has 24
been remedied, rectified or fixed; or 25
(d) for supply to premises for which there is an existing 26
agreement with the entity for supply of electricity-- 27
(i) the applicant does not agree on similar terms to 28
those that apply for balance of the term of the 29
existing agreement; and 30
(ii) the entity does not otherwise agree; or 31
(e) the customer does not provide and maintain space, 32
equipment, access, facilities or anything else the 33
customer must provide for the services, under this Act 34
or a connection contract; or 35
s8 23 s8
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
1
Examples of anything else--
2
meters, substations, connection of service lines
(f) the customer is not a party to a retail contract with a 3
retail entity under which the retail entity provides 4
customer retail services to the customer's premises; or 5
(g) a regulation provides the obligation does not apply. 6
`(2) Subsection (1)(b)(iii) does not apply if the customer pays or 7
agrees to pay an amount to the distribution entity for works 8
necessary to increase the maximum capacity to supply the 9
customer at the rate the customer has applied for. 10
`(3) The distribution entity must give the customer a reasonable 11
opportunity to pay an amount mentioned in subsection (2). 12
`(4) This section does not limit-- 13
(a) the right to interrupt supply of electricity under a 14
connection contract; or 15
(b) a right or obligation under a connection contract to 16
disconnect premises, or refuse to connect or reconnect 17
premises. 18
`Division 3 Connection contracts 19
`Subdivision 1 Preliminary 20
`40DA Distribution contract types 21
`(1) A connection contract is any contract under which a 22
distribution entity agrees to provide customer connection 23
services to a customer's premises. 24
`(2) A negotiated connection contract is a contract entered into 25
under subdivision 3 for the provision of customer connection 26
services to premises. 27
`(3) A standard connection contract is a connection contract 28
between a customer and a distribution entity the terms of 29
which contract are only the terms provided for under section 30
40DB(3). 31
s8 24 s8
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`Subdivision 2 Standard connection contracts 1
`40DB Supply if no negotiated connection contract 2
`(1) This section applies if-- 3
(a) premises are connected to a distribution entity's supply 4
network; and 5
(b) there is no negotiated connection contract in force for a 6
customer who owns or occupies the premises. 7
`(2) The customer and the entity are taken to have entered into a 8
standard connection contract for the provision of customer 9
connection services to the premises. 10
`(3) The terms of the contract are the standard connection contract 11
terms under an industry code that apply to the customer, as the 12
terms are in force from time to time. 13
`(4) The customer and the entity are taken to have agreed to 14
comply with the terms and to have entered into the contract as 15
a deed. 16
`(5) The contract is taken to end if-- 17
(a) the customer and the entity enter into a negotiated 18
connection contract for the provision of the services and 19
that contract comes into effect; or 20
(b) another customer and the entity enter into, or are taken 21
to have entered into, a connection contract for the 22
premises and that contract has come into effect. 23
`(6) Subsection (5) does not limit how or when the contract may 24
end. 25
`(7) The contract does not prevent the customer giving a dispute 26
notice under the QCA Act, section 112. 27
`(8) This section is subject to the retailer of last resort scheme. 28
s8 25 s8
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`Subdivision 3 Negotiated connection contracts 1
`40DC Negotiation of connection contract 2
`(1) A customer and a distribution entity may enter into a contract 3
for the provision of customer connection services from the 4
entity to the customer's premises on terms that are different 5
from the standard connection contract terms under an industry 6
code. 7
`(2) Subsection (1) applies subject to sections 40DD, 40DE and 8
40DF. 9
`40DD General limit on what may be negotiated 10
`A negotiated connection contract must not be inconsistent 11
with this Act or any relevant industry code, and is 12
unenforceable to the extent that it is. 13
`40DE Provisions for small customers 14
`(1) The section applies to a negotiated connection contract for the 15
provision of customer connection services to a small 16
customer's premises. 17
`(2) The contract must comply with all relevant industry code 18
provisions about minimum terms for the provision of 19
customer connection services to small customers. 20
`(3) The contract is unenforceable to the extent it does not comply 21
with subsection (2). 22
`(4) If, under subsection (3), a term of the contract is 23
unenforceable because it conflicts with a minimum term 24
provision mentioned in subsection (2), the minimum term is 25
taken to be a term of the contract. 26
`40DF Provisions for large customers 27
`(1) The section applies to a negotiated connection contract for the 28
provision of customer connection services to a large 29
customer's premises. 30
s9 26 s9
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`(2) The contract must provide for the provision of the services on 1
fair and reasonable terms. 2
`(3) The services are taken to be provided on fair and reasonable 3
terms if the contract is consistent with relevant industry code 4
provisions about minimum terms for the provision of 5
customer connection services to small customers. 6
`Division 4 General provisions about customer 7
connection services'. 8
Clause 9 Amendment of s 40E (Limitation on obligation to connect 9
and supply) 10
(1) Section 40E, before subsection (1)(a)-- 11
omit, insert-- 12
`40E Limitation on connection obligation 13
`(1) The connection obligation does not apply in relation to a 14
customer's premises and a distribution entity is not in breach 15
of a connection contract if the obligation or contract can not 16
be performed because--'. 17
(2) Section 40E(1)(a), (b), and (g), `the connection or supply'-- 18
omit, insert-- 19
`connection, reconnection or supply to the premises'. 20
(3) Section 40E(1)(c), (d) and (e)-- 21
omit, insert-- 22
`(c) the connection, reconnection or supply to the premises 23
would unreasonably interfere with the connection, 24
reconnection or supply of electricity by the distribution 25
entity to the premises of other customers; or 26
(d) the distribution entity has, at the request of the 27
customer's retail entity, disconnected or not reconnected 28
supply to the premises; or 29
(e) the distribution entity is, under its connection contract, 30
entitled to disconnect supply to the customer; or'. 31
s 10 27 s 12
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(4) Section 40E(1)(h) and (i), `or supply (or reconnect or 1
resupply)'-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`, reconnect or supply'. 4
(5) Section 40E(2), `connection or supply'-- 5
omit, insert-- 6
`connection, reconnection or supply'. 7
Clause 10 Omission of ss 40F and 40G 8
Sections 40F and 40G-- 9
omit. 10
Clause 11 Amendment of s 41 (Connection and supply of electricity 11
outside distribution area) 12
(1) Section 41(1), `electrical installation or'-- 13
omit. 14
(2) Section 41(1) and (2)(a), `is'-- 15
omit, insert-- 16
`are'. 17
(3) Section 41(1)(a) and (b) and (2), `installation or'-- 18
omit. 19
(4) Section 41(2)(b), `if it is'-- 20
omit, insert-- 21
`if they are'. 22
Clause 12 Amendment of s 42 (Conditions of distribution authority) 23
(1) Section 42(a)(ii)-- 24
omit. 25
(2) Section 42(a)(iii) to (v)-- 26
renumber as section 42(a)(ii) to (iv). 27
s 13 28 s 13
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(3) Section 42-- 1
insert-- 2
`(f) the entity must pay any amount that, under the Energy 3
Ombudsman Act 2006, it must pay the energy 4
ombudsman.'. 5
Clause 13 Replacement of ss 4855C 6
Sections 48 to 55C-- 7
omit, insert-- 8
`48 Retail area of retail entity 9
`(1) A retail authority may be issued for a particular area stated in 10
the authority (a retail area) or for no particular area. 11
`(2) A retail area may consist of either or both of the following-- 12
(a) 1 or more discrete geographical areas; 13
(b) particular premises. 14
`(3) A retail authority stating a retail area consisting of particular 15
premises may describe the premises in the way the regulator 16
considers appropriate including, for example, the street 17
address or national metering identifier for the premises. 18
`48A What a retail authority authorises 19
`(1) Unless otherwise provided for under this part, a retail 20
authority that states a retail area authorises its holder to 21
provide customer retail services to any customer in the State, 22
including an excluded customer whose premises are in the 23
retail area. 24
`(2) A retail authority without a retail area authorises its holder to 25
provide customer retail services to any customer in the State, 26
other than an excluded customer. 27
`(3) The authorisation under subsection (1) or (2) is subject to the 28
provisions of the retail authority. 29
s 13 29 s 13
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`48B Restriction on providing customer retail service to 1
excluded customer's premises 2
`A retail entity must not provide customer retail services to an 3
excluded customer's premises, unless-- 4
(a) the entity is the area retail entity for the premises; or 5
(b) the provision of the services is authorised or required 6
under the retailer of last resort scheme. 7
Maximum penalty--500 penalty units. 8
`Division 2 Applying for and obtaining 9
customer retail services 10
`48C Application 11
`(1) A customer who owns or occupies premises may make an 12
application (a retail services application) to a retail entity for 13
the provision of customer retail services to the premises. 14
`(2) However, if the customer is other than an excluded customer, 15
the customer can only make a retail services application for 16
the premises if the premises are NMI premises. 17
`(3) Also, if the customer is an excluded customer for the 18
premises, the customer can only make a retail services 19
application to the area retail entity for the premises. 20
`(4) A retail services application must be made in the way, and 21
give the information, reasonably required, by the retail entity. 22
`48D When area retail entity must provide the services 23
to an applicant 24
`(1) This section applies if-- 25
(a) a customer makes a retail services application for 26
premises to the area retail entity for the premises; and 27
(b) the customer is not a large market customer. 28
`(2) The retail entity must provide the customer retail services 29
applied for to the premises if-- 30
(a) the customer is a small customer for the premises and-- 31
s 13 30 s 13
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(i) the entity is the financially responsible retail entity 1
for the premises; or 2
(ii) the premises are not physically connected to a 3
supply network; or 4
(b) the customer is a large customer for the premises and-- 5
(i) both of the following apply-- 6
(A) the entity is the financially responsible retail 7
entity for the premises; 8
(B) the customer who owned or occupied the 9
premises immediately before the applicant 10
was a non-market customer for the premises; 11
or 12
(ii) the premises have never been physically connected 13
to a supply network. 14
15
Note--
16
For retail contracts for the services and their terms, see division 3.
`(3) A regulation may, for subsection (2)(b), provide for the 17
circumstances in which premises are not, or have never been, 18
physically connected to a supply network. 19
`(4) In this section-- 20
physically connected for premises means the premises has an 21
electrical connection between the supply network and a meter 22
at the premises, whether or not they have been energised. 23
`48E When non-area retail entity must provide the 24
services to an applicant 25
`(1) This section applies if-- 26
(a) a customer makes a retail services application for 27
premises to a retail entity who is not the area retail entity 28
for the premises; and 29
(b) the customer is a small customer for the premises; and 30
(c) the entity is the financially responsible retail entity for 31
the premises; and 32
s 13 31 s 13
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(d) the customer is not an excluded customer for the 1
premises. 2
`(2) The entity must provide the customer retail services applied 3
for to the premises. 4
5
Note--
6
Generally, in the absence of a negotiated retail contract, a standard retail
7
contract is taken to exist between the entity and the small customer. See
8
sections 51 and 52.
`48F Retail obligation 9
`(1) A retail entity's obligation under section 48D or 48E is the 10
retail obligation. 11
`(2) The retail obligation is subject to sections 48H and 48I. 12
`(3) However, the sections do not prevent the retail entity from 13
lawfully providing customer retail services even though it is 14
not obliged to do so. 15
`48G Information notice for refusal of services to small 16
customer 17
`(1) This section applies if-- 18
(a) a customer makes a retail services application to a retail 19
entity under section 48D or 48E; and 20
(b) the retail entity to whom the application is made decides 21
the retail obligation does not apply for the services 22
applied for. 23
`(2) The entity must as soon as practicable after, but within 1 24
month of, receiving the application give the customer an 25
information notice about the decision. 26
`48H Things to which retail obligation is subject 27
`The retail obligation is subject to-- 28
(a) the other provisions of this part; and 29
(b) any authorisation under section 130 for the taking over 30
of the retail entity's operations; and 31
s 13 32 s 13
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(c) the retailer of last resort scheme; and 1
(d) any relevant electricity restriction regulation emergency 2
rationing order; and 3
(e) the conditions of the entity's retail authority; and 4
(f) any relevant provision of an industry code about 5
customer transfers or cooling-off periods for the 6
provision of customer retail services. 7
`48I When retail obligation does not apply 8
`(1) The retail obligation does not apply to a retail entity in 9
relation to a customer if-- 10
(a) the customer does not comply with a requirement of the 11
entity to give either of the following-- 12
(i) a reasonable advance payment for customer retail 13
services; 14
(ii) a reasonable security or agreement for security for 15
performing the customer's obligations to the entity; 16
or 17
(b) the entity has, under a retail contract, asked the 18
customer's distribution entity to disconnect supply and 19
the entity is not reasonably satisfied the matter that 20
caused it to ask for the disconnection has been 21
remedied, rectified or fixed; or 22
(c) the connection obligation does not apply to a 23
distribution entity in relation to the customer's premises; 24
or 25
(d) a circumstance beyond the entity's control prevents it 26
from providing customer retail services to the customer; 27
or 28
(e) a regulation provides the obligation does not apply. 29
`(2) Subsection (1) does not limit-- 30
(a) a retail entity's right under the retail contract to ask the 31
distribution entity to interrupt the supply of electricity; 32
or 33
s 13 33 s 13
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(b) the entity's right or obligation under a retail contract; 1
to-- 2
(i) ask the customer's distribution entity to disconnect 3
premises, or refuse to connect or reconnect 4
premises; or 5
(ii) refuse to provide customer retail services. 6
`Division 3 Retail contracts 7
`Subdivision 1 Preliminary 8
`49 Retail contract types 9
`(1) A retail contract is any contract under which a retail entity 10
agrees to provide customer retail services to a customer's 11
premises. 12
`(2) A negotiated retail contract is a retail contract entered into 13
under subdivision 3 for the provision of customer retail 14
services to a customer's premises. 15
`(3) A standard retail contract is a retail contract taken, under 16
section 51(2), to have been entered into between a small 17
customer and a retail entity the terms of which contract are 18
only the terms provided for under section 52. 19
`(4) A standard large customer retail contract is a retail contract 20
taken, under section 51(3), to have been entered into between 21
a large customer and a retail entity the terms of which contract 22
are only the terms provided for under sections 52 to 55. 23
`Subdivision 2 Retail contract if no negotiated 24
retail contract 25
`50 Application of sdiv 2 26
`(1) This subdivision applies if-- 27
(a) a customer has made a retail services application for 28
premises to a retail entity; and 29
s 13 34 s 13
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(b) the retail obligation applies to the retail entity; and 1
(c) the premises are connected to a supply network; and 2
(d) the retail entity provides the customer retail services 3
applied for, in accordance with the application; and 4
(e) there is no negotiated retail contract in force between the 5
entity and the customer in relation to the premises. 6
`(2) This subdivision also applies if-- 7
(a) a customer's premises are connected to a supply 8
network without the customer having made a retail 9
services application for the premises; and 10
(b) there is no negotiated retail contract in force between a 11
retail entity and the customer in relation to the premises. 12
`51 Retail contract with financially responsible retail 13
entity 14
`(1) The customer is taken to have entered into a retail contract 15
with the financially responsible retail entity for the premises 16
for the provision of customer retail services to the premises. 17
`(2) If the customer is a small customer for the premises, the 18
contract is a standard retail contract. 19
`(3) If the customer is a large customer for the premises, the 20
contract is a standard large customer retail contract. 21
`(4) This section is subject to the retailer of last resort scheme. 22
`52 Terms of contract 23
`(1) The terms of the contract are the following terms to the extent 24
they apply to the customer as they are in force from time to 25
time-- 26
(a) for a standard retail contract--the standard retail 27
contract terms under an industry code; 28
(b) for a standard large customer retail contract--the 29
entity's terms under sections 53 and 54. 30
s 13 35 s 13
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`(2) The customer and the financially responsible retail entity are 1
taken to have agreed to comply with the terms and to have 2
entered into the contract as a deed. 3
`(3) The contract is taken to end if-- 4
(a) the customer and the retail entity enter into a negotiated 5
retail contract for the provision of the services and that 6
contract comes into effect; or 7
(b) another retail entity becomes the financially responsible 8
retail entity for the premises; or 9
(c) the retail entity commences the provision of customer 10
retail services under a retail contract to another 11
customer at the premises. 12
`(4) Section (3) does not limit how or when the contract may end. 13
`53 Making or amending terms of standard large 14
customer retail contract 15
`(1) Subject to section 54, the terms of a retail entity's standard 16
large customer retail contract are the terms made by the entity 17
and as amended by it from time to time. 18
`(2) On making or amending the terms, the retail entity must-- 19
(a) publish the terms or amended terms on its website; and 20
(b) give QCA a copy of the terms or amended terms; and 21
(c) give each of its large customers a written notice stating 22
that it has made or amended the terms and that the terms 23
as made or amended may be inspected on its website. 24
`(3) The terms or amended terms take effect only when the retail 25
entity complies with subsection (2)(a) and (b) in relation to 26
the terms or amended terms. 27
`(4) If a customer becomes a large customer of the retail entity 28
under a standard large customer retail contract, the entity 29
must, as soon as practicable, give the customer a written 30
notice that the terms of the entity's standard large customer 31
retail contract may be inspected on its website. 32
s 13 36 s 13
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`54 Required and permitted terms of standard large 1
customer retail contract 2
`(1) This section applies for a retail entity's terms or amended 3
terms of a standard large customer retail contract to which it is 4
a party (the standard terms). 5
`(2) The standard terms must-- 6
(a) provide that the retail entity's charges for the provision 7
of services that are, or relate to, customer retail services 8
to large non-market customers are only the notified 9
prices; and 10
11
Note--
12
The notified prices are only required for small and large
13
non-market customers. For large market customers, see
14
subsection (4)(a) and subdivision 3.
(b) provide for the provision of the services on a fair and 15
reasonable basis. 16
`(3) To remove any doubt, it is declared that subsection (2)(a) does 17
not prevent the standard terms from charging or passing on 18
non-DUOS charges under section 90. 19
`(4) Subject to subsection (2), the standard terms may-- 20
(a) also include prices, or a methodology to fix the prices, 21
for the provision by the entity of customer retail services 22
to its large market customers; and 23
(b) be different for stated types of large customers; and 24
(c) be contained in a different document for any of the 25
types. 26
`(5) Subject to any regulation made under subsection (6), the 27
services are taken to be provided on a fair and reasonable 28
basis if the standard terms are consistent with relevant 29
industry code provisions about minimum terms for the 30
provision of customer retail services to small customers. 31
`(6) A regulation may declare what is or is not fair and reasonable 32
or not unfair or unreasonable, in relation to large non-market 33
customers for subsection (2)(b), including, for example 34
whether or not and, if so, in what circumstances requiring the 35
following, is fair and reasonable-- 36
s 13 37 s 13
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(a) different advance payments or security deposits from 1
different large non-market customers; 2
(b) different terms for different types of large non-market 3
customers. 4
`55 Charging for GST under standard contract 5
`(1) This section applies if-- 6
(a) there are notified prices for a retail entity; and 7
(b) the notification for the prices includes a GST statement; 8
and 9
(c) the entity provides customer retail services under a 10
standard contract; and 11
(d) the entity charges the customer the notified prices. 12
`(2) If the GST statement provides that the notified prices exclude 13
GST, the entity may also charge the customer an amount for 14
GST for providing the services. 15
`(3) If the GST statement provides that the notified prices exclude 16
the net GST effect, the entity may also charge the customer 17
the net GST effect for providing the service. 18
`(4) The customer must pay any amount charged under subsection 19
(2) or (3). 20
`(5) To remove any doubt, it is declared that this section does not 21
prevent the entity from charging, under a standard contract, an 22
amount for GST for goods or for any services that are not 23
customer retail services. 24
`(6) Subsections (1) to (5) are taken to be terms of a standard 25
contract. 26
`(7) This section applies despite any other provision of this 27
subdivision. 28
`(8) In this section-- 29
standard contract means a standard retail contract or standard 30
large customer retail contract. 31
`Subdivision 3 Negotiated retail contracts 32
s 14 38 s 14
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`55A Negotiation of retail contract 1
`(1) A customer and a retail entity may enter into a contract for the 2
provision of customer retail services from the entity to the 3
customer's premises on terms that are different to terms of the 4
entity's standard retail contract or standard large customer 5
retail contract. 6
`(2) Subsection (1) applies subject to sections 55B and 55C. 7
`55B General limit on what may be negotiated 8
`A negotiated retail contract must not be inconsistent with this 9
Act or any relevant industry code, and is unenforceable to the 10
extent that it is. 11
`55C Provisions for small customers 12
`(1) This section applies to a negotiated retail contract for the 13
provision of customer retail services to a small customer's 14
premises. 15
`(2) The contract must comply with all relevant industry code 16
provisions about minimum terms for the provision of 17
customer retail services to small customers. 18
`(3) The contract is unenforceable to the extent it does not comply 19
with subsection (2). 20
`(4) If, under subsection (3), a term of the contract is 21
unenforceable because it conflicts with a minimum term 22
provision mentioned in subsection (2), the minimum term is 23
taken to be a term of the contract. 24
`Division 4 Conditions of retail authorities'. 25
Clause 14 Amendment of s 55D (Conditions of retail authority) 26
Section 55D(d) and (e)-- 27
omit, insert-- 28
`(d) the retail entity must, under section 53, make the terms 29
of its standard large customer retail contract; 30
s 15 39 s 15
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(e) the retail entity must pay any amount that, under the 1
Energy Ombudsman Act 2006, it must pay the energy 2
ombudsman;'. 3
Clause 15 Insertion of new s 55DA 4
After section 55D-- 5
insert-- 6
`55DA Additional condition about community services 7
agreement 8
`(1) It is also a condition of a retail authority that-- 9
(a) the retail entity must not provide customer retail 10
services unless it has entered into an agreement with the 11
State to provide, for at least 5 years, the community 12
services-- 13
(i) agreed between the State and the entity; or 14
(ii) failing agreement, as decided by the Minister; and 15
16
Examples of community services--
17
pensioner rebate and drought relief schemes for customer retail
18
services
(b) the retail entity must comply with the agreement. 19
`(2) In making the decision, the Minister must have regard to the 20
retail entity's reasonable administration costs and other risks 21
in providing the community services. 22
`(3) An agreement under subsection (1) does not affect-- 23
(a) the levy; or 24
(b) the levy amount paid or payable by a person; or 25
(c) the collection of a levy amount; or 26
(d) the collection of an amount for electricity, if the dispute 27
arises, in substance, from the collection of a levy 28
amount. 29
`(4) In this section-- 30
levy means the community ambulance cover levy under the 31
Ambulance Cover Act. 32
s 16 40 s 16
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
levy amount means a levy amount under the Ambulance 1
Cover Act.'. 2
Clause 16 Insertion of new s 55G and new ch 2, pt 6A 3
After section 55F-- 4
insert-- 5
`55G Restriction on Ergon Energy and its subsidiaries 6
`(1) This section imposes conditions on a retail authority held by 7
the GOC Ergon Energy or any of its subsidiaries (the retailer). 8
`(2) The retailer must not enter into any negotiated retail contract. 9
Maximum penalty--500 penalty units. 10
`(3) The retailer can only provide customer retail services to a 11
customer for premises if the retailer is an area retail entity for 12
the premises and any of the following apply-- 13
(a) on the day this section commences, the customer was a 14
non-market customer of the retailer for the premises; 15
(b) the retail obligation applies in relation to the premises; 16
(c) the retailer is the financially responsible retail entity for 17
the premises and the customer was a small customer for 18
the premises and becomes a large customer for the 19
premises; 20
(d) the retailer is the financially responsible retail entity for 21
the premises and the premises are-- 22
(i) in the retailer's retail area; and 23
(ii) connected to a supply network without the 24
customer having made a retail services application 25
for the premises to the retailer. 26
Maximum penalty--500 penalty units. 27
`(4) However, subsection (3) does not apply if the retailer provides 28
customer retail services to a customer and the customer is 29
required to be transferred to the retailer to correct an 30
erroneous transfer, completed under the National Electricity 31
Rules, from the retailer to another retail entity. 32
s 16 41 s 16
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`(5) Also, it is a defence to a proceeding under subsection (3) if, 1
because of information given by the customer, the retailer 2
reasonably believed that the retail obligation applied in 3
relation to the premises. 4
`Part 6A Coordination agreements 5
between distribution and retail 6
entities 7
`55H Negotiation of coordination agreement 8
`(1) A distribution entity and a retail entity may enter into a 9
written agreement about protocols under which they agree to 10
help each other perform their functions under-- 11
(a) this Act or another Act or law relating to electricity that 12
applies in the State; or 13
(b) a procedure or protocol made under an Act or law 14
mentioned in paragraph (a). 15
`(2) The agreement may be different from the coordination 16
agreement provided for under an industry code. 17
`55I Standard coordination agreement 18
`(1) This section applies if-- 19
(a) a distribution entity and a retail entity have common 20
customers; and 21
(b) an agreement under section 55H is not in force between 22
the entities. 23
`(2) The entities are taken to have entered into an agreement on the 24
terms of the standard coordination agreement provided for 25
under an industry code. 26
`(3) The entities are taken to have agreed to comply with the terms 27
and to have entered into the agreement as a deed.'. 28
s 17 42 s 20
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
Clause 17 Amendment of s 60 (Conditions of special approval) 1
(1) Section 60(1)-- 2
insert-- 3
`(c) the holder must pay any amount that, under the Energy 4
Ombudsman Act 2006, the holder must pay the energy 5
ombudsman.'. 6
(2) Section 60(2)-- 7
omit. 8
(3) Section 60(3)-- 9
renumber as section 60(2). 10
Clause 18 Amendment of s 63 (Functions) 11
(1) Section 63(1)(b) to (e)-- 12
omit, insert-- 13
`(b) to assist in the settlement of disputes arising under 14
chapter 4, part 6, between electricity entities and 15
between electricity entities and public entities; and 16
(c) to monitor compliance with the conditions of approvals, 17
authorities and licences under this Act; and'. 18
(2) Section 63(1)(f)-- 19
renumber as section 63(1)(d). 20
Clause 19 Omission of ch 2, pt 8, divs 2 and 3 and pts 8A and 8B 21
Chapter 2, part 8, divisions 2 and 3 and parts 8A and 8B-- 22
omit. 23
Clause 20 Insertion of new ch 4, pt 2, div 1, hdg 24
Before section 89A-- 25
insert-- 26
`Division 1 Provisions for Mount IsaCloncurry 27
supply network'. 28
s 21 43 s 22
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
Clause 21 Insertion of new ch 4, pt 2, div 2, hdg 1
After section 89B-- 2
insert-- 3
`Division 2 General provisions for notified 4
prices'. 5
Clause 22 Amendment of s 90 (Deciding prices for non-contestable 6
customers) 7
(1) Section 90(2) to (7)-- 8
renumber as section 90(4) to (9). 9
(2) Section 90, heading and subsection(1)-- 10
omit, insert-- 11
`90 Deciding prices for non-market customers 12
`(1) The Minister must, for each tariff year, decide the prices, or 13
the methodology for fixing the prices, that a retail entity may 14
charge its non-market customers for all or any of the 15
following-- 16
(a) customer retail services; 17
(b) DUOS charges; 18
(c) charges or fees relating to customer retail services; 19
20
Examples--
21
· charges or fees for late or dishonoured payments
22
· credit card surcharges for payments for the services
(d) other goods and services prescribed under a regulation. 23
`(2) To remove any doubt, it is declared that a decision under 24
subsection (1) can not be made for non-DUOS charges. 25
`(3) The Minister may delegate to QCA all or any of the Minister's 26
functions under subsection (1).'. 27
(3) Section 90(5), as renumbered, from `consider'-- 28
omit, insert-- 29
`comply with division 3.'. 30
(4) Section 90-- 31
s 23 44 s 25
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
insert-- 1
`(10) In this section-- 2
DUOS charges means distribution use of system charges for 3
the use of a shared supply network. 4
non-DUOS charges means charges of a distribution entity, 5
approved by the jurisdictional regulator under the National 6
Electricity (Queensland) Law, that-- 7
(a) are referable to a specific customer or retail entity 8
request; and 9
(b) do not include DUOS charges. 10
11
Examples of non-DUOS charges--
12
· a deenergisation or disconnection fee
13
· a reconnection fee
14
· a meter test fee'.
Clause 23 Amendment of s 91 (Retail entities charging for GST) 15
(1) Section 91, `non-contestable customers'-- 16
omit, insert-- 17
`non-market customers'. 18
(2) Section 91(5), `standard customer sale contract'-- 19
omit, insert-- 20
`standard retail contract or standard large customer retail 21
contract'. 22
Clause 24 Amendment of s 91A (Retail entity must comply with 23
notification or direction) 24
Section 91A(2), `non-contestable customers'-- 25
omit, insert-- 26
`non-market customers'. 27
Clause 25 Insertion of new ch 4, pt 2, div 3 28
After section 91A-- 29
s 25 45 s 25
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
insert-- 1
`Division 3 Requirements for deciding notified 2
prices for a tariff year 3
`Subdivision 1 Preliminary 4
`91B Application of div 3 5
`(1) This division applies for the deciding, under section 90, of 6
notified prices for a particular tariff year (the relevant tariff 7
year). 8
`(2) However, this division only applies for the deciding of 9
notified prices for-- 10
(a) customer retail services; and 11
(b) DUOS charges under section 90. 12
`91C Definitions for div 3 13
`In this division-- 14
benchmark retail cost element see section 91G(2). 15
c/kWh means cents per kilowatt hour. 16
fixed principle, for a benchmark retail cost element, means a 17
principle fixed under section 95 for the element. 18
NEM load, of the State, means the total kWh of the loads 19
supplied at each Queensland transmission network connection 20
point as defined under the National Electricity Rules. 21
relevant tariff year see section 91B. 22
`Subdivision 2 General provisions for notified 23
prices for relevant tariff year 24
s 25 46 s 25
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`91D Tariff schedule for the relevant tariff year 1
`(1) Notified prices for the relevant tariff year must consist of a 2
tariff schedule that states each tariff that forms part of the 3
notified prices. 4
`(2) The pricing entity may, if it considers it reasonable to do so, 5
add a new tariff to, or remove a tariff from, the tariff schedule 6
for the previous tariff year. 7
`91E Formula for working out each tariff in tariff schedule 8
for relevant tariff year 9
`(1) Each tariff in the tariff schedule must be worked out by 10
applying the following formula-- 11
Ty = Ty 1 × By / By 1 12
where-- 13
Ty is the tariff component for the relevant tariff year. 14
Ty-1 is the relevant tariff component for the preceding tariff 15
year. 16
By is the benchmark retail cost index for the relevant tariff 17
year, as worked out under subdivision 3. 18
By-1 is the benchmark retail cost index for the preceding tariff 19
year. 20
`(2) For subsection (1), the benchmark retail cost index for the 21
preceding tariff year is worked out under subdivision 3 as if a 22
reference in the subdivision to the relevant tariff year were a 23
reference to the preceding tariff year. 24
`(3) In this section-- 25
tariff component, for the relevant tariff year, means each 26
separate charge or fee stated in the notified prices that applies 27
for a particular tariff category. 28
29
Examples of tariff components--
30
service fees, demand charges, energy charges, annual payments and
31
minimum payments
s 25 47 s 25
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`Subdivision 3 Benchmark retail cost index for 1
relevant tariff year 2
`91F Benchmark retail cost index 3
`The benchmark retail cost index for the relevant tariff year is 4
the index, expressed in c/kWh, for the State, worked out by 5
applying the following formula-- 6
B = R/L
where-- 7
B is the benchmark retail cost index for the year. 8
R is the total benchmark retail cost for the year. 9
L is all of the NEM load of the State for the year. 10
`91G Total benchmark retail cost 11
`(1) For section 91F, the total benchmark retail cost, expressed as 12
c/kWh, for the relevant tariff year is the estimated total cost of 13
supplying customers in the State during that year, as worked 14
out by the pricing entity. 15
`(2) The total cost must be the total of each of the following (each 16
a benchmark retail cost element) as fixed by the entity-- 17
(a) the cost of energy, as worked out under section 92; 18
(b) network costs, as worked out under section 93; 19
(c) retail costs, as worked out under section 94; 20
(d) any other relevant costs the pricing entity considers 21
relevant. 22
`(3) In fixing a benchmark retail cost element other than network 23
costs, the pricing entity must consult with interested persons 24
in the way prescribed under a regulation. 25
`(4) The working out of any particular benchmark retail cost 26
element is subject to any relevant fixed principle. 27
s 25 48 s 25
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`(5) If the fixed principle is inconsistent with the operation of a 1
section stated in subsection (2), the principle prevails to the 2
extent of the inconsistency. 3
`92 Cost of energy 4
`(1) The cost of energy must reflect the pricing entity's view of the 5
likely total of the costs to be incurred during the relevant tariff 6
year to purchase energy to supply all of the NEM load of the 7
State for the relevant tariff year. 8
`(2) The view must be based on the pricing entity's most recent 9
estimate of the long run marginal cost of energy in the part of 10
the State connected to the national grid, after taking into 11
account-- 12
(a) the 13% gas scheme under chapter 5A; and 13
(b) the scheme under the Renewable Energy (Electricity) 14
Act 2000 (Cwlth). 15
`(3) The estimate must take into account the most efficient 16
combination of generating plant to supply all of the NEM load 17
of the State for relevant tariff year. 18
`(4) Unless the cost of energy is subject to a fixed principle, the 19
long run marginal cost estimate must be prepared at least 20
every 3 years. 21
`(5) Subsection (4) does not prevent the pricing entity preparing 22
the long run marginal cost estimate more frequently. 23
`(6) In estimating the long run marginal cost, the pricing entity 24
must comply with any methodology prescribed under a 25
regulation. 26
`93 Network costs 27
`The network costs must reflect the pricing entity's view of 28
the likely total revenue requirements for the relevant tariff 29
year for transmission entities and distribution entities in the 30
State. 31
s 25 49 s 25
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`94 Retail costs 1
`(1) The retail costs must reflect the pricing entity's view of the 2
likely cost of providing customer retail services to 3
Queensland customers connected to the national grid, based 4
on an efficient entity carrying on an electricity retail business 5
that meets all of the following criteria-- 6
(a) it is carried on separately from any other business; 7
(b) it has a significant market share of the State's electricity 8
retail market; 9
(c) it provides customer retail services to a cross-section of 10
customers. 11
`(2) The costs must include a reasonable retail margin, expressed 12
in c/kWh. 13
`Subdivision 4 Miscellaneous provisions 14
`95 Fixing of future principles for benchmark retail cost 15
element 16
`(1) The pricing entity may, in deciding notified prices for the 17
relevant tariff year, fix principles to apply for a benchmark 18
retail cost element. 19
20
Example of a fixed principle--
21
The Minister may decide that, for the next 2 tariff years, the retail costs
22
for the years must be a stated amount of c/kWh, escalated at 100% of
23
the CPI for the preceding year.
`(2) The decision must state the tariff years for which the 24
principles are to apply. 25
`96 When prices must be notified 26
`(1) The pricing entity must decide and gazette the notified prices 27
at least 1 month before the relevant tariff year starts. 28
`(2) However, a failure to comply with subsection (1) does not 29
invalidate or otherwise affect the deciding of the notified 30
prices for the relevant tariff year.'. 31
s 26 50 s 28
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
Clause 26 Amendment of s 118 (Retail entity may recover amount 1
for electricity sold to a person occupying premises) 2
(1) Section 118, heading-- 3
omit, insert-- 4
`118 Financially responsible retail entity may recover amount 5
for electricity consumed by person occupying premises'. 6
(2) Section 118(a), `sold by a retail entity'-- 7
omit. 8
(3) Section 118, `retail entity'-- 9
omit, insert-- 10
`financially responsible retail entity'. 11
Clause 27 Omission of ss 119 and 119A 12
Sections 119 and 119A-- 13
omit. 14
Clause 28 Amendment of s 120AA (Regulator's powers concerning 15
audit of compliance with Act etc.) 16
(1) Section 120AA(3)-- 17
renumber as section 120AA(4). 18
(2) Section 120AA(2)-- 19
omit, insert-- 20
`(2) The notice may state terms of reference for carrying out the 21
audit. 22
`(3) The regulator may appoint a person as an independent auditor 23
to carry out an audit of all or any of the things mentioned in 24
subsection (1)(a) concerning the entity or holder if-- 25
(a) the regulator reasonably considers that the person 26
appointed under subsection (1) does not have 27
appropriate qualifications or experience for carrying out 28
the audit; or 29
(b) the entity or holder does not comply with a notice given 30
to it under the subsection.'. 31
s 29 51 s 30
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(3) Section 120AA(4), as renumbered, `(2)'-- 1
omit, insert-- 2
`(3)'. 3
Clause 29 Amendment of s 120AC (Independent auditor may require 4
reasonable help or information) 5
(1) Section 120AC(2)-- 6
insert-- 7
`Maximum penalty--1000 penalty units.'. 8
(2) Section 120AC, note-- 9
omit. 10
Clause 30 Replacement of ch 5, pts 1A1C 11
Chapter 5, parts 1A to 1C-- 12
omit, insert-- 13
`Part 1A Industry codes 14
`Division 1 Preliminary 15
`120A Definition for pt 1A 16
`In this part-- 17
electricity entity includes a special approval holder. 18
`Division 2 Initial industry codes 19
`120B Making of initial industry codes by Minister 20
`(1) The Minister may make initial industry codes to apply to all or 21
any of the following and their customers-- 22
(a) distribution entities; 23
(b) retail entities; 24
s 30 52 s 30
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(c) special approval holders authorised to carry out 1
activities for which a distribution authority or retail 2
authority would otherwise be required under this Act. 3
`(2) A code must state the electricity entities to which it applies. 4
`(3) A code is not subordinate legislation. 5
6
Note--
7
QCA must keep a register of industry codes and publish them on its
8
website. See section 254B and the QCA Act, sections 227A to 227C.
`120C Specific matters for which code may provide 9
`(1) Without limiting section 120B, an initial industry code may 10
provide for all or any of the following-- 11
(a) the rights and obligations of distribution entities, retail 12
entities and customers about customer connection 13
services and customer retail services, including, for 14
example-- 15
(i) their rights and obligations in relation to the 16
disconnection or reconnection of the services; and 17
(ii) rights of compensation for a contravention of an 18
obligation mentioned in subparagraph (i); 19
(b) minimum service standards for electricity supply to be 20
met by distribution entities; 21
(c) the service levels to be provided by distribution entities 22
and retail entities to customers; 23
(d) the payment of amounts by distribution entities to 24
affected customers for failure to provide a stated service 25
level; 26
(e) the preparation, by a distribution entity, of plans about 27
the operation and management of the entity's supply 28
network; 29
(f) the terms of standard connection contracts and standard 30
retail contracts; 31
(g) a standard coordination agreement for distribution 32
entities and retail entities under which they will help 33
each other perform their functions under-- 34
s 30 53 s 30
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(i) this Act or another Act or law relating to electricity 1
that applies in the State; or 2
(ii) a procedure or protocol made under an Act or law 3
mentioned in subparagraph (i); 4
(h) minimum requirements for distribution entities and 5
retail entities in dealing with customer complaints; 6
(i) minimum terms for negotiated connection contracts or 7
negotiated retail contracts for small customers, 8
including permitted departures from the terms; 9
(j) protecting small customers entering into negotiated 10
retail contracts, including imposing cooling-off periods; 11
(k) requirements for obtaining consent of small customers 12
to enter into negotiated retail contracts; 13
(l) marketing conduct of retail entities to small customers; 14
(m) metering; 15
(n) public lighting; 16
(o) customer transfers. 17
`(2) In this section-- 18
distribution entity includes a special approval holder 19
authorised to carry out activities for which a distribution 20
authority would otherwise be required under this Act. 21
retail entity includes a special approval holder authorised to 22
carry out activities for which a retail authority would 23
otherwise be required under this Act. 24
`120D Gazettal and taking of effect of code 25
`(1) The Minister must, as soon as practicable after making an 26
initial industry code, publish a gazette notice stating the 27
Minister has made the code and where it may be inspected. 28
`(2) The code takes effect on the later of the following days-- 29
(a) a day of effect stated in the gazette notice; 30
(b) if no day of effect is stated in the notice--the day the 31
notice is gazetted. 32
s 30 54 s 30
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`120E Tabling of code 1
`(1) Within 14 days after an initial industry code takes effect, the 2
Minister must table a copy in the Legislative Assembly. 3
`(2) The copy is tabled for information only. 4
`(3) A failure to table the copy does not affect the code's ongoing 5
effect. 6
`Division 3 QCA industry codes 7
`120F QCA may make industry code 8
`(1) Subject to sections 120G and 120H, QCA may make industry 9
codes. 10
`(2) However, a code made by QCA has no effect unless it is 11
approved by the Minister. 12
`(3) A code may provide for any matter that may be provided for 13
under an initial industry code. 14
`(4) Sections 120B and 120C apply to the making of an industry 15
code by QCA as if the code were an initial industry code. 16
`120G QCA code objective 17
`(1) The objective (the QCA code objective) of an industry code 18
made by QCA is to promote efficient investment in, and 19
efficient use of, electricity services for the long-term interests 20
of Queensland customers about-- 21
(a) price, quality, reliability and security of supply of 22
electricity; and 23
(b) the reliability, safety and security of the Queensland 24
electricity system. 25
`(2) QCA may make an industry code only if it is satisfied the 26
code will, or is likely to, contribute to the achievement of the 27
QCA code objective. 28
`(3) In this section-- 29
electricity services means electricity services as defined under 30
the National Electricity (Queensland) Law. 31
s 30 55 s 30
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`120H Required consultation 1
`(1) This section applies if QCA proposes to make an industry 2
code, unless QCA considers the code-- 3
(a) is needed urgently; or 4
(b) does not materially affect anyone's interests. 5
`(2) Before QCA makes the industry code it must prepare a draft 6
of the code and engage in the consultation prescribed under a 7
regulation. 8
`120I Ministerial approval 9
`(1) QCA must, as soon as practicable after making an industry 10
code, give the Minister a copy. 11
`(2) The Minister may, within 20 business days after receiving the 12
code, decide whether to approve it. 13
`(3) The Minister must, in making the decision, have regard to the 14
QCA code objective. 15
`(4) If the decision is not to approve the code, the Minister must, 16
as soon as practicable after the making of the decision, give 17
QCA a notice stating the decision, and the reasons for it. 18
`(5) If the Minister does not make the decision within the 20 19
business days, the Minister is taken to have approved the 20
code. 21
`120J When approved QCA industry code takes effect 22
`(1) This section applies for an industry code made by QCA only 23
if the Minister approves the code. 24
`(2) QCA must, as soon as practicable after the approval, publish a 25
gazette notice stating the Minister has approved the code and 26
where it may be inspected. 27
`(3) The code takes effect on the later of the following days-- 28
(a) a day of effect stated in the gazette notice; 29
(b) if no day of effect is stated in the notice--the day the 30
notice is gazetted. 31
s 30 56 s 30
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`120K Tabling of QCA industry code 1
`(1) If an industry code made by QCA takes effect, the Minister 2
must, within 14 sitting days, table a copy of the code in the 3
Legislative Assembly. 4
`(2) The copy is tabled for information only. 5
`(3) A failure to table the copy does not affect the code's ongoing 6
effect. 7
`Division 4 Review of industry codes and 8
related matters 9
`120L Direction by Minister to review 10
`(1) The Minister may, by gazette notice, give QCA a written 11
direction to conduct a review into-- 12
(a) any matter relating to the Queensland electricity market; 13
or 14
(b) the operation and effectiveness of an industry code; or 15
(c) any matter relating to an industry code. 16
`(2) QCA must comply with the direction. 17
`(3) QCA must publish the direction on its website. 18
`120M Terms of reference 19
`The direction may do all or any of the following-- 20
(a) state the terms of reference of the review; 21
(b) require QCA to give the Minister a report on the review 22
within a stated period; 23
(c) require QCA to make the report publicly available or 24
available to a stated entity; 25
(d) require QCA to, during the review, make a draft report 26
publicly available or available to a stated entity; 27
(e) require QCA to, in conducting the review-- 28
(i) consider stated matters; and 29
s 30 57 s 30
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(ii) have stated objectives; 1
(f) give QCA other directions the Minister considers 2
appropriate. 3
`120N Notice of review or amended term of reference or 4
direction 5
`QCA must publish a notice of the following on its website 6
and in a Statewide newspaper-- 7
(a) the review; 8
(b) if a term of reference or direction relating to the review 9
is amended--the amended term of reference or 10
direction. 11
`120O Conduct of review 12
`(1) The QCA Act, part 6, other than section 171, (the applied 13
part) applies for the review-- 14
(a) as if a reference in the applied part to an investigation 15
were a reference to the review; and 16
(b) as if the QCA Act, section 176(3), required the notice 17
mentioned in that subsection to be given to any entity 18
that QCA knows would be potentially affected by the 19
review; and 20
(c) with other necessary changes. 21
`(2) However, the applied part applies subject to any requirement 22
or direction of the Minister. 23
`(3) Any definitions under the QCA Act relevant to the applied 24
part also applies. 25
`Division 5 Amending Industry codes 26
`120P Amending code 27
`(1) QCA may amend an industry code. 28
`(2) Division 3 applies to the amendment-- 29
s 30 58 s 30
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(a) as if a reference in the division to making the code were 1
a reference to the making of the amendment; and 2
(b) as if a reference in the division to the code were a 3
reference to the amendment; and 4
(c) with other necessary changes. 5
`Division 6 Enforcing industry codes 6
`Subdivision 1 Code contravention notices 7
`120Q Application of sdiv 1 8
`This subdivision applies if QCA suspects-- 9
(a) an electricity entity-- 10
(i) has contravened, or is contravening, an industry 11
code; or 12
(ii) is involved in an activity that is likely to result in a 13
contravention of an industry code; and 14
(b) the contravention or likely contravention is, or is likely 15
to be, a material contravention of the code. 16
`120R Criteria for deciding material contravention 17
`(1) This section applies to the making of any decision under this 18
part about whether a contravention of an industry code is a 19
material contravention of the code. 20
`(2) Regard must be had to the QCA code objective. 21
`(3) Subsection (2) does not limit or otherwise affect what may be 22
considered in making the decision. 23
`120S Warning notice may be given 24
`(1) QCA may give the electricity entity a notice (the warning 25
notice) warning the entity that QCA proposes to give the 26
entity a further notice about the contravention or likely 27
contravention (a code contravention notice). 28
s 30 59 s 30
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`(2) QCA must make the decision about whether to give the 1
warning notice as soon as practicable after forming the 2
suspicion. 3
`(3) However, a failure to comply with subsection (2) does not 4
affect the validity of the warning notice or any subsequent 5
code contravention notice. 6
`(4) Despite subsections (2) and (3), if the warning notice is 7
proposed to be given for a contravention, it can only be given 8
within 2 years after the day on which the contravention 9
happened. 10
`120T Requirements for warning notice 11
`(1) The warning notice must state each of the following-- 12
(a) particulars of the contravention or likely contravention; 13
(b) that QCA proposes to give the electricity entity a code 14
contravention notice unless the entity-- 15
(i) takes steps reasonably necessary to remedy the 16
contravention or avoid the likely contravention; 17
and 18
(ii) gives QCA a written assurance (a conduct 19
assurance), in the terms stated in the warning 20
notice, that the entity will-- 21
(A) avoid any similar future contravention; and 22
(B) take steps reasonably necessary to avoid a 23
future recurrence of the contravention; 24
(c) a period (the warning period) after which the code 25
contravention notice may be given unless the warning 26
notice is complied with; 27
(d) that the entity may make, within the period, written 28
submissions to show why the proposed code 29
contravention notice should not be given. 30
`(2) The warning period must be-- 31
(a) if the warning notice is given because QCA considers 32
the contravention or likely contravention is of a type that 33
s 30 60 s 30
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
requires urgent action--a period that QCA considers is 1
reasonable in the circumstances; or 2
(b) otherwise--at least 20 business days. 3
`(3) The warning notice may also state the steps QCA reasonably 4
believes are necessary to remedy the contravention or avoid its 5
future recurrence, or avoid the likely contravention. 6
7
Examples of steps that may remedy a contravention--
8
· refunding an amount wrongly paid because of the contravention
9
· paying compensation to someone who has damage, injury or loss
10
because of the contravention
11
· disclosing particular information
12
· publishing advertisements about the contravention or action to
13
remedy it
`120U Considering submissions on warning notice 14
`(1) QCA must consider any written submission made under 15
section 120T(1)(d) by the electricity entity within the period 16
stated in the warning notice. 17
`(2) If QCA at any time decides not to give the proposed code 18
contravention notice, it must, as soon as practicable, give the 19
electricity entity notice of the decision. 20
`120V Giving of code contravention notice 21
`(1) QCA may give the proposed code contravention notice if-- 22
(a) the electricity entity has not complied with the warning 23
notice; and 24
(b) after complying with section 120U, QCA still believes 25
the code contravention notice ought to be given. 26
`(2) The code contravention notice must state-- 27
(a) that the electricity entity-- 28
(i) has contravened, or is contravening, an industry 29
code; or 30
(ii) is likely to contravene an industry code; and 31
s 30 61 s 30
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(b) the contravention or likely contravention is, or is likely 1
to be, a material contravention of the code; and 2
(c) particulars of the contravention or likely contravention. 3
`(3) Subsection (4) applies if the warning notice was given on the 4
basis of a contravention of the industry code and the 5
electricity entity-- 6
(a) has taken steps reasonably necessary to remedy the 7
contravention; but 8
(b) has not given the conduct assurance required under the 9
warning notice. 10
`(4) QCA may give the code contravention notice on the basis that 11
the electricity entity is still involved in an activity that is, or is 12
likely to result in, a material contravention of the industry 13
code. 14
15
Note--
16
Under section 251A, a certified copy of a conduct notice is, for a
17
proceeding under or relating to this Act, amongst other things, evidence
18
of the contravention or other things stated in it.
`120W Duration of code contravention notice 19
`The code contravention notice-- 20
(a) comes into effect-- 21
(i) when it is made; or 22
(ii) if it states a later time--at the later time; and 23
(b) ends-- 24
(i) on the day stated in the notice; or 25
(ii) if it is cancelled before that day--when it is 26
cancelled. 27
`Subdivision 2 Proceedings 28
s 30 62 s 30
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`120X Proceeding for civil penalty order 1
`(1) This section applies if, on the application of QCA, the 2
Supreme Court is satisfied an electricity entity has-- 3
(a) committed a material contravention of an industry code; 4
or 5
(b) attempted to a commit a material contravention of an 6
industry code; or 7
(c) been involved in a material contravention of an industry 8
code. 9
`(2) The court may order the entity to pay the State as a civil 10
penalty an amount of no more than-- 11
(a) for an individual--$100000; or 12
(b) for a corporation--$500000. 13
`(3) In fixing the penalty, the court must consider-- 14
(a) the nature and extent of-- 15
(i) the contravention; and 16
(ii) loss or damage suffered because of the 17
contravention; and 18
(b) the circumstances in which the contravention took 19
place; and 20
(c) whether the entity has previously been found by the 21
court in proceedings under this Act to have engaged in 22
any similar conduct. 23
`(4) For subsection (1)(c), an electricity entity is involved in a 24
contravention if the entity -- 25
(a) has aided, abetted, counselled or procured the 26
contravention; or 27
(b) has induced the contravention, whether through threats, 28
promises or in another way; or 29
(c) has been in any way, directly or indirectly, knowingly 30
concerned in, or party to, the contravention; or 31
(d) has conspired with others to effect the contravention. 32
s 30 63 s 30
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
1
Note--
2
See also chapter 11, part 1A (Provisions for civil penalty proceedings).
`120Y How order enforced 3
`If the Supreme Court orders payment of an amount under 4
section 120X(2), the State may enforce the order as a 5
judgment of the court for a debt of that amount. 6
`120Z Injunctions 7
`(1) The Supreme Court may, on the application of QCA, grant an 8
injunction if satisfied an electricity entity has engaged or is 9
proposing to engage, in conduct that constitutes, or would 10
constitute any of the following-- 11
(a) a contravention of an industry code; 12
(b) attempting to contravene an industry code; 13
(c) aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring an electricity 14
entity to contravene an industry code; 15
(d) inducing, or attempting to induce, whether by threats, 16
promises or otherwise, an electricity entity to contravene 17
an industry code; 18
(e) being in any way, directly or indirectly, knowingly 19
concerned in, or party to, the contravention by an 20
electricity entity of an industry code; 21
(f) conspiring with others to contravene an industry code. 22
`(2) An injunction may be granted on conditions. 23
`(3) The court may also grant an injunction by consent of all 24
parties to the application, whether or not the court is satisfied 25
an electricity entity has engaged, or is proposing to engage, in 26
conduct of a type mentioned in subsection (1). 27
`(4) The court may grant an interim injunction pending its decision 28
on the application. 29
`(5) The court must not require anyone, as a condition of granting 30
an interim injunction, to give an undertaking as to damages. 31
`(6) The court may amend an injunction or interim injunction. 32
s 30 64 s 30
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`(7) An injunction or interim injunction restraining an electricity 1
entity from engaging in conduct may be granted whether or 2
not-- 3
(a) it appears to the court that the entity intends to engage 4
again, or to continue to engage, in conduct of that kind; 5
and 6
(b) the entity has previously engaged in conduct of that 7
kind; and 8
(c) there is an imminent danger of substantial damage to 9
another person if the person engages in conduct of that 10
kind. 11
`(8) An injunction or interim injunction requiring an electricity 12
entity to do an act or thing may be granted whether or not-- 13
(a) it appears to the court that the entity intends to fail 14
again, or to continue to fail, to do that act or thing; and 15
(b) the entity has previously failed to do the act or thing; 16
and 17
(c) there is an imminent danger of substantial damage to 18
another person if the entity does not do the act or thing. 19
`120ZA Conduct by directors, servants or agents 20
`(1) This section applies to a proceeding under this subdivision. 21
`(2) If-- 22
(a) the proceeding concerns alleged conduct engaged in by 23
an electricity entity to which an industry code applies; 24
and 25
(b) it is necessary to prove the entity's state of mind; 26
it is enough to prove that a director, servant or agent (a 27
representative) of the entity, acting within the scope of the 28
representative's actual or apparent authority, had the state of 29
mind. 30
`(3) Conduct engaged in for an electricity entity by the following 31
persons is taken to have been engaged in by the entity-- 32
(a) a representative of the entity, acting within the scope of 33
the representative's actual or apparent authority; 34
s 30 65 s 30
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(b) another person at the direction, or with the consent or 1
agreement, of a representative of the entity, if the giving 2
of the direction, consent or agreement was within the 3
scope of the representative's actual or apparent 4
authority. 5
`(4) Conduct engaged in for an electricity entity by the following 6
persons is taken to have been engaged in by the entity-- 7
(a) a servant or agent of the entity, acting within the scope 8
of the servant's or agent's actual or apparent authority; 9
(b) another person at the direction or with the consent or 10
agreement, of a servant or agent of the entity, if the 11
giving of the direction, consent or agreement was within 12
the scope of the servant's or agent's actual or apparent 13
authority. 14
`(5) In this section-- 15
consent or agreement includes an implied consent or 16
agreement. 17
state of mind, of a person, may include-- 18
(a) knowledge, intention, opinion, belief or purpose of the 19
person; and 20
(b) the person's reasons for the person's intention, opinion, 21
belief or purpose. 22
`Subdivision 3 Referrals to regulator 23
`120ZB When QCA must refer material contravention 24
`If the Supreme Court decides a contravention of an industry 25
code by an electricity entity is a material contravention of the 26
code, QCA must refer the matter to the regulator. 27
28
Note--
29
For the action the regulator may take, see section 133.
s 30 66 s 30
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`120ZC When QCA may refer material contravention 1
`(1) If QCA has given an electricity entity a warning notice for a 2
material contravention or likely material contravention of an 3
industry code, QCA may refer the matter to the regulator. 4
`(2) The referral may be made whether or not a code contravention 5
notice has been given for, or a proceeding started under this 6
division about, the contravention or likely contravention. 7
8
Note--
9
If QCA has applied for a civil penalty order under section 120X, section
10
133 prevents the regulator from imposing a similar penalty.
`(3) However, the matter can not be referred before the giving of 11
the warning notice. 12
`120ZD Guidelines for exercise of QCA powers for civil 13
penalties 14
`(1) QCA must publish on its website guidelines about when it 15
will do each of the following-- 16
(a) under section 120X, apply for a civil penalty order; 17
(b) under section 120ZB, refer matters to the regulator. 18
`(2) Before publishing the guidelines, QCA must take steps it 19
considers appropriate to consult with electricity entities. 20
`(3) The guidelines are not legally binding on QCA and are 21
non-justiciable. 22
`(4) The guidelines must include information to the effect of 23
subsection (3). 24
`Subdivision 4 Production of documents or 25
information 26
`120ZE Notice to produce documents or information 27
`(1) This section applies if QCA is conducting an investigation to 28
find out whether an electricity entity is complying with an 29
industry code. 30
s 30 67 s 30
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`(2) QCA may, by written notice to the entity, require it to give 1
QCA the following things QCA believes, on reasonable 2
grounds, are relevant to the investigation-- 3
(a) information within the entity's knowledge or 4
possession; 5
(b) documents in the entity's custody, possession or power. 6
`(3) The notice must state-- 7
(a) the information or documents required; and 8
(b) a period in which the documents or information are to 9
be given of no less than 7 days; and 10
(c) a reasonable place at which the documents or 11
information are to be given. 12
`(4) The entity must comply with the notice, unless it has a 13
reasonable excuse. 14
Maximum penalty--500 penalty units. 15
`(5) An electricity entity is not required to comply with the notice 16
if it claims, on the ground of self-incrimination, a privilege the 17
entity would be entitled to claim against giving the 18
information were the entity a witness in a prosecution for an 19
offence in the Supreme Court. 20
`(6) If the entity claims that complying with the notice may tend to 21
incriminate it, QCA or the entity may make an application to 22
the Supreme Court to decide the validity of the claim. 23
`120ZF Disclosure of information to regulator 24
`(1) This section applies if an electricity entity gives QCA written 25
information about the entity under this Act, the 26
ElectricityNational Scheme (Queensland) Act 1997 or the 27
National Electricity Rules. 28
`(2) QCA must disclose the information to the regulator if-- 29
(a) the regulator requests the disclosure for performing the 30
regulator's functions; and 31
(b) the entity-- 32
(i) consents to the disclosure; or 33
s 30 68 s 30
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(ii) is required, under the entity's approval or authority, 1
to consent to the disclosure. 2
`120ZG Protection of confidential information given for 3
investigation 4
`(1) This section applies if-- 5
(a) QCA is conducting an investigation to find out whether 6
an electricity entity is complying with an industry code; 7
and 8
(b) the electricity entity gives QCA information for the 9
purpose of the investigation, whether or not the giving 10
of the information was required under section 120ZE. 11
`(2) Subject to section 120ZF, the QCA Act, section 187 applies as 12
if the information had been made available for an 13
investigation under that Act. 14
`(3) In this section-- 15
information includes a document. 16
`Subdivision 5 Audits 17
`120ZH QCA's powers concerning audit of compliance with 18
industry code 19
`(1) QCA may, by written notice to an electricity entity, require the 20
entity to-- 21
(a) carry out an internal audit of all or any of the 22
following-- 23
(i) the entity's compliance with an industry code, 24
either generally or about a stated particular matter 25
or matters; 26
(ii) the reliability and quality of information given by 27
the entity to QCA, under this Act; or 28
(b) appoint a person as an independent auditor to carry out 29
an audit of all or any of the things mentioned in 30
paragraph (a). 31
s 30 69 s 30
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`(2) The notice may state terms of reference for carrying out the 1
audit. 2
`(3) QCA may appoint a person as an independent auditor to carry 3
out an audit of all or any of the things mentioned in subsection 4
(1)(a) concerning the entity if-- 5
(a) the entity does not comply with a notice given to it 6
under the subsection; or 7
(b) QCA reasonably considers that a person appointed 8
under subsection (1) does not have appropriate 9
qualifications or experience for carrying out the audit. 10
`(4) A person may be appointed as an independent auditor under 11
subsection (1)(b) or (3) only if the appointer reasonably 12
considers the person has the appropriate qualifications or 13
experience for carrying out the audit. 14
`120ZI Responsibility for cost of audit 15
`(1) An electricity entity required under section 120ZH(1) to carry 16
out, or appoint an independent auditor to carry out, an audit is 17
responsible for the cost of the audit. 18
`(2) If QCA appoints an independent auditor to carry out an audit 19
concerning an electricity entity, the entity must reimburse 20
QCA for the cost of the audit if required to do so by QCA. 21
`120ZJ Independent auditor may require reasonable help 22
or information 23
`(1) An independent auditor appointed under section 120ZH to 24
carry out an audit concerning an electricity entity may require 25
the entity to give the auditor-- 26
(a) reasonable help to carry out the audit; or 27
28
Examples--
29
· access to the entity's premises and records
30
· help from the entity's employees
(b) information, in a form reasonably required by the 31
auditor, to help the auditor carry out the audit. 32
s 31 70 s 31
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`(2) An electricity entity required to give reasonable help under 1
subsection (1)(a), or information under subsection (1)(b), 2
must comply with the requirement unless the entity has a 3
reasonable excuse. 4
Maximum penalty--1000 penalty units. 5
`(3) If the entity is an individual, it is a reasonable excuse for the 6
individual not to comply with the requirement if complying 7
with the requirement might tend to incriminate the individual. 8
`120ZK Audit report and submissions on report 9
`(1) An electricity entity required under section 120ZH(1) to carry 10
out, or appoint an independent auditor to carry out, an audit 11
must give a copy of the audit report to QCA. 12
`(2) The copy must be given as soon as practicable after the audit 13
is completed. 14
`(3) If QCA appoints an independent auditor to carry out an audit 15
concerning an electricity entity, QCA must give the entity-- 16
(a) a copy of the draft audit report and an opportunity to 17
make submissions to QCA on the draft report; and 18
(b) a copy of the final audit report and an opportunity to 19
make further submissions to QCA on the final report.'. 20
Clause 31 Amendment of s 131A (Retailer of last resort scheme) 21
(1) Section 131A(3)(e), from `regulated', first mention to 22
`connection contract'-- 23
omit, insert-- 24
`regulated default retail contract'. 25
(2) Section 131A(3)(e), `either of'-- 26
omit. 27
(3) Section 131A(3)(f)(ii) and (iv), `customer sale'-- 28
omit, insert-- 29
`retail'. 30
(4) Section 131A(3)(f)(iii) and (v)-- 31
s 32 71 s 32
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
omit. 1
(5) Section 131A(3)(f)(iv)-- 2
renumber as section 131A(3)(f)(iii). 3
(6) Section 131A(3)(g), `the regulator'-- 4
omit, insert-- 5
`QCA'. 6
Clause 32 Amendment of s 133 (Types of disciplinary action) 7
(1) Section 133(2), `contravention of the conduct rules'-- 8
omit, insert-- 9
`material contravention of an industry code'. 10
(2) Section 133(2), `the QCA.'-- 11
omit, insert-- 12
`QCA, whether or not a proceeding has been started in 13
relation to the contravention. 14
15
Note--
16
For when QCA must or may make the referral, see sections 120ZB and
17
120ZC.'.
(3) Section 133(3)-- 18
omit. 19
(4) Section 133(4), after `Electrical Safety Act'-- 20
insert-- 21
`, the Energy Ombudsman Act 2006, an industry code'. 22
(5) Section 133(4), from `penalty of'-- 23
omit, insert-- 24
`a civil penalty of not more than the amount of 1333 penalty 25
units for each contravention. 26
27
Note--
28
See also chapter 11, part 1A (Provisions for civil penalty proceedings).'.
(6) Section 133(4)-- 29
s 33 72 s 34
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
renumber as section 133(3). 1
(7) Section 133-- 2
insert-- 3
`(4) However, if the contravention is a contravention of an industry 4
code, subsection (3) only applies if QCA has not applied for a 5
civil penalty order under section 120X.'. 6
(8) Section 133(5), `subsection (4)'-- 7
omit, insert-- 8
`subsection (3)'. 9
Clause 33 Amendment of s 135HX (Electricity sold under retailer of 10
last resort scheme or similar scheme) 11
(1) Section 135HX(1), from `under a'-- 12
omit, insert-- 13
`under the retailer of last resort scheme.'. 14
(2) Section 135HX(2)(a), `customer sale contract'-- 15
omit, insert-- 16
`retail contract'. 17
Clause 34 Replacement of s 135HY (Electricity sold under s 49A(2) 18
contract) 19
Section 135HY-- 20
omit, insert-- 21
`135HY Electricity sold under particular standard large 22
customer retail contracts 23
`(1) This section applies if-- 24
(a) under section 51, an area retail entity is taken to have 25
entered into a standard large customer retail contract 26
with a customer; and 27
(b) the retailer must, under section 48D, provide customer 28
retail services to the customer because of the 29
circumstances mentioned in section 48D(2)(b)(ii). 30
s 35 73 s 38
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`(2) An electricity load sold under the contract is a non-liable load 1
if it is supplied within 3 months after the contract was taken to 2
have been entered into.'. 3
Clause 35 Amendment of s 203 (Issue of retail authorities) 4
Section 203-- 5
insert-- 6
`(5) The regulator must not issue a retail authority without a retail 7
area to the GOC Ergon Energy or any subsidiary of Ergon 8
Energy.'. 9
Clause 36 Amendment of s 204 (Application for authority) 10
Section 204(1)(b)-- 11
omit, insert-- 12
`(b) if the application is for a retail authority with a retail 13
area--state the proposed retail area; and'. 14
Clause 37 Amendment of s 214 (Who may apply for review etc.) 15
Section 214(1), from `to the regulator'-- 16
omit, insert-- 17
`to the following entity (the reviewer) for a review of the 18
decision-- 19
(a) for a decision mentioned in section 40B or 48G about a 20
connection services application or retail services 21
application by a large customer--QCA; 22
(b) for another decision mentioned in schedule 1--the 23
regulator.'. 24
Clause 38 Amendment of s 215 (Applying for review) 25
Section 215(3), `regulator'-- 26
omit, insert-- 27
`reviewer'. 28
s 39 74 s 43
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
Clause 39 Amendment of s 216 (Stay of operation of decision etc.) 1
(1) Section 216(4), `regulator'-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`reviewer'. 4
(2) Section 216(4), `regulator's'-- 5
omit, insert-- 6
`reviewer's'. 7
Clause 40 Amendment of s 218 (Decision on reconsideration) 8
(1) Section 218, `regulator'-- 9
omit, insert-- 10
`reviewer'. 11
(2) Section 218(5), `regulator's'-- 12
omit, insert-- 13
`reviewer's'. 14
Clause 41 Amendment of s 219 (Who may make an appeal) 15
Section 219, `regulator'-- 16
omit, insert-- 17
`reviewer'. 18
Clause 42 Amendment of s 220 (Making appeals) 19
Section 220(1), `regulator'-- 20
omit, insert-- 21
`reviewer'. 22
Clause 43 Amendment of s 221 (Starting appeals) 23
Section 221(2), `regulator'-- 24
omit, insert-- 25
`reviewer'. 26
s 44 75 s 44
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
Clause 44 Insertion of new ch 11, pt 1A 1
Chapter 11,before part 1-- 2
insert-- 3
`Part 1A Provisions for civil penalty 4
proceedings 5
`244A Relationship with criminal proceedings 6
`(1) This section applies if-- 7
(a) action (the civil penalty proceeding) is taken against or 8
in relation to a person, consisting of-- 9
(i) an application under section 120X for a civil 10
penalty order; or 11
(ii) a referral under section 120ZC to the regulator and 12
any decision in relation to the referral that involves 13
the imposition of a civil penalty; and 14
(b) a criminal proceeding has been started, or has already 15
been started, against the person for an offence; and 16
(c) the conduct that constitutes the offence is the same, or 17
substantially the same, as the conduct the subject of the 18
civil penalty proceeding. 19
`(2) The civil penalty proceeding must be stayed or not continued. 20
`(3) However, the civil penalty proceeding may be resumed if, at 21
the end of the criminal proceeding, there is no conviction for 22
the offence. 23
`(4) Evidence in the civil penalty proceeding of information given, 24
or documents produced, by a person is not admissible in 25
evidence in the criminal proceeding. 26
`(5) In this section-- 27
conduct includes an omission. 28
conviction includes a finding of guilt, or the acceptance of a 29
plea of guilt, by a court whether or not a conviction is 30
recorded. 31
s 45 76 s 46
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`244B Avoidance of multiple penalties 1
`If-- 2
(a) a civil penalty proceeding under section 244A is taken; 3
and 4
(b) conduct, or substantially the same conduct, the subject 5
of the civil penalty proceeding constitutes a 6
contravention of 2 or more industry code provisions; 7
a civil penalty must not be imposed or ordered in the civil 8
penalty proceeding more than once for that conduct.'. 9
Clause 45 Replacement of s 251A Evidentiary effect of conduct 10
notice) 11
Section 251A-- 12
omit, insert-- 13
`251A Evidentiary effect of code contravention notice 14
`(1) A document purporting to be a certified copy of a code 15
contravention notice is evidence-- 16
(a) that the notice was a code contravention notice given 17
under chapter 5, part 1A, division 6, subdivision 1; and 18
(b) of the contravention or other matters stated in it; and 19
(c) that the notice has been given to the entity stated in it the 20
notice. 21
`(2) In this section-- 22
certified copy means a copy with a certificate purporting to be 23
signed by a member of QCA stating the copy is a true copy of 24
the document it purports to be.'. 25
Clause 46 Amendment of s 253 (Advisory committees) 26
(1) Section 253(5), after `advisory committee'-- 27
insert-- 28
`established under subsection (1)'. 29
(2) Section 253-- 30
insert-- 31
s 47 77 s 47
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`(6) QCA must establish a consumer advisory committee to advise 1
it on-- 2
(a) the performance of its functions under this Act and its 3
corresponding functions under the Gas Supply Act 2003, 4
including, for example, the making or amendment of an 5
industry code under the Acts; and 6
(b) any other matter about the electricity supply industry or 7
reticulated processed natural gas markets. 8
`(7) The members of the consumer advisory committee must be 9
appointed after consultation with groups who represent the 10
interests of consumers. 11
`(8) QCA must give the consumer advisory committee necessary 12
support to allow the committee to perform its functions. 13
`(9) QCA may also establish other advisory committees to advise 14
it on stated matters about the administration of industry codes 15
under either Act.'. 16
Clause 47 Insertion of new s 253A 17
After section 253-- 18
insert-- 19
`253A Reporting to Minister by QCA 20
`(1) QCA must, on or before each 31 December and 30 June, give 21
the Minister a written report about the performance of-- 22
(a) its functions under this Act; or 23
(b) any of the Minister's functions under this Act that have 24
been delegated to QCA. 25
`(2) QCA may, from time to time, give the Minister reports about 26
any significant events in the State's electricity market of 27
which it considers the Minister ought to be aware, including, 28
for example, systemic issues materially affecting consumers. 29
`(3) In this section a reference to the performance of a function 30
includes the exercise of a power.'. 31
s 48 78 s 50
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
Clause 48 Amendment of s 254 (Protection from liability) 1
(1) Section 254(1)-- 2
insert-- 3
`civil liability includes liability for the payment of costs 4
ordered to be paid in a proceeding for an offence against this 5
Act.'. 6
(2) Section 254(1), definition official, paragraph (c), from 7
`mentioned' to `and (e)-- 8
omit, insert-- 9
`under section 63'. 10
(3) Section 254(2) and (3), after `official'-- 11
insert--' 12
`or QCA'. 13
Clause 49 Insertion of new s 254B 14
Chapter 11, part 3, after section 254A-- 15
insert-- 16
`254B Registers QCA must keep 17
`QCA must keep a register of each of the following-- 18
(a) the terms of each retail entity's standard large customer 19
retail contract given to QCA by the entity; 20
(b) industry codes; 21
(c) warning notices, including expired warning notices; 22
(d) conduct assurances; 23
(e) code contravention notices, including expired code 24
contravention notices. 25
26
Note--
27
For access to the registers, see the QCA Act, sections 227A to 227C.'.
Clause 50 Amendment of s 309 (Existing electricity supply 28
contracts) 29
Section 309(1)(a), `contestable customer'-- 30
s 51 79 s 51
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
omit, insert-- 1
`customer who, under this Act as it was in force on that day, 2
was a contestable customer'. 3
Clause 51 Replacement of ch 14, pt 8 (Transitional provisions for 4
Electricity Amendment Act (No. 2) 2004) 5
Chapter 14, part 8-- 6
omit, insert-- 7
`Part 8 Transitional provisions for 8
Electricity and Other 9
Legislation Amendment Act 10
2006 11
`310 Definitions for pt 8 12
`In this part-- 13
amendment Act means the Electricity and Other Legislation 14
Amendment Act 2006. 15
commencement means the date of assent of the amendment 16
Act. 17
former, for a provision mentioned in this part, means the 18
provision to which the reference relates is a provision of the 19
pre-amended Act. 20
FRC day means the day the amendment Act, section 13 21
commences. 22
new, for a provision mentioned in this part, means the 23
provision to which the reference relates is a provision of the 24
post-amended Act, as affected by any relevant definitions 25
under the post-amended Act. 26
post-amended Act means this Act as in force from the FRC 27
day. 28
pre-amended Act means this Act as in force before the FRC 29
day. 30
s 51 80 s 51
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`311 Extension of area retail obligation 1
`(1) This section applies to a retail entity in relation to premises 2
if-- 3
(a) it is not the area retail entity for the premises; and 4
(b) it is the financially responsible retail entity for the 5
premises; and 6
(c) immediately before the FRC day, the premises were 7
owned or occupied by a customer who, under the 8
post-amended Act, is a large non-market customer for 9
the premises. 10
`(2) New section 48D applies to the retail entity as if it were an 11
area retail entity for the premises and as if the circumstances 12
mentioned in section 48D(2)(b) existed. 13
`312 Small customer may enter into negotiated retail 14
contract before FRC day 15
`(1) This section applies if-- 16
(a) under the pre-amended Act, a customer is a 17
non-contestable customer for premises; and 18
(b) the customer would, under the post-amended Act, be a 19
small customer for the premises. 20
`(2) Despite former sections 52 and 52A, the customer may enter 21
into a negotiated retail contract under the post-amended Act 22
with a retail entity for the provision of customer retail services 23
to the premises even though this Act is not in force in the form 24
of the post-amended Act. 25
`(3) However, until the FRC day-- 26
(a) customer retail services can not be provided under the 27
negotiated retail contract; and 28
(b) any standard customer sale contract or standard contract 29
between the customer and the retail entity under any of 30
the following continues to apply for the provision of the 31
services to the premises-- 32
(i) former section 49 or 49A; 33
(ii) former section 310; 34
s 51 81 s 51
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(iii) the Energy Assets (Restructuring and Disposal) 1
Act 2006, section 41. 2
`(4) Also, it is taken to be a term of the negotiated contract that the 3
customer may, by written notice to the retail entity given 4
within 10 business days after the FRC day, terminate the 5
contract without penalty. 6
`(5) The notice need not state a ground for the termination. 7
`313 Existing contestable customers who are receivers 8
`(1) This section applies to a person who, immediately before the 9
FRC day, was, under the pre-amended Act, both a contestable 10
customer and a receiver for premises. 11
`(2) Despite new section 23(2), the person is, under the 12
post-amended Act, a customer for the premises. 13
`(3) To remove any doubt, it is declared that subsection (2) 14
continues to apply despite the ending of any contract entered 15
into before the FRC day in relation to the provision of 16
customer connection services or customer retail services to 17
the premises. 18
`314 Existing standard customer connection contracts 19
`(1) This section applies on the FRC day if immediately before 20
that day a contract (the existing contract) was, under former 21
section 40 or 40AA, taken to have been in force between a 22
customer and a distribution entity for the provision of 23
customer connection services to premises. 24
`(2) The existing contract ends. 25
`(3) The ending of the existing contract does not affect rights or 26
obligations accrued under it before the FRC day. 27
`(4) The customer and the entity are, under new section 40DB, 28
taken to have entered into a standard connection contract for 29
the provision of the services to the premises. 30
s 51 82 s 51
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`(5) New section 40DB(3) to (6) apply as if the standard 1
connection contract as if were a contract taken to have been 2
entered into under that section. 3
`(6) This section is subject to the retailer of last resort scheme. 4
`315 Existing standard customer sale contracts 5
`(1) This section applies on the FRC day if immediately before 6
that day a contract (the existing contract) was, under any of 7
the following provisions, taken to have been in force between 8
a customer and a retail entity for the provision of customer 9
retail services to premises-- 10
(a) former section 49 or 49A; 11
(b) former section 310; 12
(c) the Energy Assets (Restructuring and Disposal) Act 13
2006, section 41. 14
`(2) However, subsections (3) to (6) do not apply if the Energy 15
Assets (Restructuring and Disposal) Act 2006, section 44 16
applies to the existing contract. 17
`(3) The existing contract ends. 18
`(4) The ending of the existing contract does not affect rights or 19
obligations accrued under it before the FRC day. 20
`(5) The customer and the financially responsible retail entity for 21
the premises are, under new section 51, taken to have entered 22
into a retail contract of the following type for the provision of 23
the services to the premises-- 24
(a) if the customer is a small customer for the premises--a 25
standard retail contract; 26
(b) if the customer is a large customer for the premises--a 27
standard large customer retail contract. 28
`(6) New section 52(3) and (4) applies to the retail contract as if it 29
were a contract taken to have been entered into under that 30
section. 31
`(7) The FRC entity is taken to be the financially responsible retail 32
entity for the premises under the post-amended Act. 33
s 51 83 s 51
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`(8) To remove any doubt, it is declared that subsection (7) applies 1
even though the FRC entity would not, other than for 2
subsection (7), be the financially responsible retail entity for 3
the premises. 4
`(9) Subsection (7) ceases to apply if, under the post-amended 5
Act-- 6
(a) another retail entity becomes the financially responsible 7
retail entity for the premises because of a completed 8
transfer under the National Electricity Rules taking 9
effect after the FRC day; or 10
(b) the FRC entity becomes the financially responsible 11
retail entity. 12
`(10) In this section-- 13
FRC entity means-- 14
(a) Ergon Energy; or 15
(b) an acquiring entity or a sale entity under the Energy 16
Assets (Restructuring and Disposal) Act 2006. 17
`316 References to other particular contracts under 18
pre-amended Act 19
`(1) In an Act or document, a reference to a contract of a following 20
type (the old type) under the pre-amended Act is taken to be a 21
reference to a type of contract under the post-amended Act 22
stated opposite the old type-- 23
(a) a customer connection contract--a connection contract; 24
(b) a negotiated customer connection contract--a 25
negotiated connection contract; 26
(c) a customer sale contract--a retail contract; 27
(d) a negotiated customer sale contract--a negotiated retail 28
contract. 29
`(2) Subsection (1) applies subject to new sections 312 to 315. 30
s 51 84 s 51
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`317 Exclusion of new s 40DB for existing negotiated 1
sale and connection contracts 2
`(1) This section applies if, immediately before the FRC day, a 3
negotiated sale and connection contract under the 4
pre-amended Act was in force for a customer's premises 5
connected to a distribution entity's supply network. 6
`(2) While the contract continues in force new section 40DB does 7
not apply to the customer and the entity in relation to the 8
premises. 9
`318 Street lighting with non-metered connection point 10
`(1) This section applies to a customer for street lighting that-- 11
(a) under the National Electricity Rules, has an unmetered 12
connection point; and 13
(b) is in a public place. 14
`(2) From the FRC day to relevant day the post-amended Act 15
applies to the customer in relation to the street lighting as if 16
the customer were an excluded customer for the street 17
lighting. 18
`(3) In this section-- 19
relevant day means-- 20
(a) if, before 1 July 2008, a day after 1 July 2008 is 21
prescribed under a regulation--the prescribed day; or 22
(b) otherwise--1 July 2008. 23
street lighting includes a system of street lighting. 24
`319 Other unmetered connection points 25
`(1) This section applies to a customer for premises, other than 26
street lighting mentioned in new section 318, to the extent that 27
under the National Electricity Rules, the premises has an 28
unmetered connection point. 29
30
Examples--
31
security or watchman lights and telephone booths
s 51 85 s 51
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`(2) From the FRC day to the day prescribed under a regulation the 1
the post-amended Act applies to the customer in relation to 2
the premises as if the customer were an excluded customer for 3
the premises. 4
`320 Obligation to decide notified prices for 20062007 5
financial year on basis of post amended Act 6
`(1) The pricing entity must, as soon as practicable after the 7
commencement, decide notified prices for the financial year 8
from 1 July 2007 to 30 June 2008 for-- 9
(a) customer retail services; and 10
(b) DUOS charges under new section 90. 11
`(2) New section 90, new chapter 4, part 2, division 3 and any 12
other relevant provisions of the post-amended Act apply for 13
the deciding of the notified prices, instead of former section 14
90. 15
`321 Making of transitional conduct rules about 16
marketing conduct 17
`(1) The Minister may, at any time after the commencement, make 18
conduct rules about marketing conduct by distribution entities 19
or retail entities. 20
`(2) Former section 120C and 120GB apply for the making of the 21
rules as if a reference in the sections to QCA were a reference 22
to the Minister. 23
`(3) Former sections 120D to 120GA do not apply for the making 24
of the rules. 25
`(4) The Minister must publish a gazette notice stating that the 26
Minister has made the rules. 27
`(5) The rules take effect when the notice is published, or on a later 28
day of effect stated in the notice. 29
`(6) The rules are taken to be conduct rules under the pre-amended 30
Act. 31
s 51 86 s 51
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`322 Existing mediated agreements 1
`Former chapter 5, part 1B continues to apply for a mediated 2
agreement under the pre-amended Act as if the part were still 3
in force. 4
`323 Existing orders on arbitrated disputes 5
`Former chapter 5, part 1C continues to apply for an order 6
made under former, section 120ZY, as if the part were still in 7
force. 8
`324 Preservation of appeal rights about former contribution 9
and user-pays fees 10
`If, before the commencement, a member entity under the 11
pre-amended Act had been given an information notice under 12
former section 64E for a contribution fee or user-pays fee 13
under the pre-amended Act, former section 64E and former 14
schedule 1 continue to apply for the fee. 15
`325 Transitional provision for non-liable loads 16
`(1) This section applies if-- 17
(a) immediately before the FRC day, a customer was, under 18
former section 49A, taken to have entered into a contract 19
(the old contract) for the provision of customer retail 20
services for premises; and 21
(b) under either of the following, the old contract is taken to 22
have ended and the customer is taken to have entered 23
into a standard large customer retail contract (the new 24
contract) for the provision of the services to the 25
premises on the FRC day-- 26
(i) the Energy Assets (Restructuring and Disposal) 27
Act 2006, section 44 (the EARD section); 28
(ii) new section 315. 29
`(2) An electricity load sold under the new contract is taken to be a 30
non-liable load for-- 31
s 52 87 s 52
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(a) if the new contract is with the same retail entity under 1
the old contract--3 months from the day the old 2
contract was, under former section 49A, taken to have 3
been entered into; or 4
(b) if the new contract is with a different retail entity to the 5
retail entity under the old contract--3 months from the 6
FRC day.'. 7
Clause 52 Amendment of sch 1 (Appeals against administrative 8
decisions) 9
Schedule 1, part 3, entry for sections 40 and 49-- 10
omit, insert-- 11
`40A to 40D 1 If a customer makes a connection services
application for premises, the distribution District
entity to whom the application is made
decides the connection obligation does not
apply for the services applied for.
2 However, item 1 applies only if, had the
services been provided, the customer would
have been a large customer for the premises.
Note--
For small customers' referral rights, see the Energy
Ombudsman Act 2006, sections 17 and 18.
48E to 48I 1 If a customer makes a retail services District'.
application for premises, the retail entity to
whom the application is made decides the
retail obligation does not apply for the
services applied for.
2 However, item 1 applies only if, had the
services been provided, the customer would
have been a large customer for the premises.
Note--
For small customers' referral rights, see the Energy
Ombudsman Act 2006, sections 17 and 18.
s 53 88 s 53
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
Clause 53 Amendment of sch 5 (Dictionary) 1
(1) Schedule 5, definitions conduct notice, conduct rules, 2
contestable customer, contribution fee, customer connection 3
contract, customer sale contract, electricity load, energy 4
arbitrator, energy mediator, information notice, mediated 5
agreement, member entity, membership fee, negotiated 6
customer connection contract, negotiated sale and connection 7
contract, negotiated customer sale contract, non-contestable 8
customer, premises, standard customer connection contract, 9
standard customer sale contract and user-pays fee-- 10
omit-- 11
(2) Schedule 5-- 12
insert-- 13
`area retail entity, for premises, means the retail entity in 14
whose retail area the premises are located. 15
benchmark retail cost element see section 91G(2). 16
c/kWh see section 91C. 17
code contravention notice see section 120S(1). 18
conduct assurance see section 120T(1)(b)(ii). 19
connection contract see section 40DA(1). 20
connection obligation see section 40A(3). 21
connection point means a connection point as defined under 22
the National Electricity Rules. 23
connection services application see section 40(1). 24
electricity load-- 25
(a) generally--see section 135AI(1); or 26
(b) of the State--see section 135AI(2). 27
energy ombudsman means the energy ombudsman under the 28
Energy Ombudsman Act 2006. 29
excluded customer see section 23(3). 30
financially responsible retail entity, for premises, means-- 31
s 53 89 s 53
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(a) if the premises are an excluded customer's 1
premises--the area retail entity with a retail authority 2
for the area; or 3
(b) if the premises are NMI premises-- 4
(i) if, under the National Electricity Rules the person 5
(the responsible entity) responsible for paying 6
NEMMCO for electricity consumed at the 7
premises is an area retail entity or other retail 8
entity--that entity; or 9
(ii) if the responsible entity does not hold a retail 10
authority, the area retail entity or other entity-- 11
(A) who, under the Corporations Act, is a related 12
body corporate of the responsible entity; and 13
(B) who acquires, directly or indirectly, the 14
electricity consumed at the premises from 15
the responsible entity. 16
fixed principle, for a benchmark retail cost element, see 17
section 91C. 18
industry code means-- 19
(a) an initial industry code; or 20
(b) an industry code made by QCA under chapter 5, part 1A 21
and as amended from time to time under that part. 22
information notice, for a decision, means a notice stating 23
each of the following-- 24
(a) the decision; 25
(b) reasons for the decision; 26
(c) the rights of-- 27
(i) review or appeal under this Act for the decision; or 28
(ii) referral, under the Energy Ombudsman Act 2006, 29
for the decision; 30
(d) the period within which any review or appeal or referral 31
must be started or made; 32
(e) how the rights of review or appeal or referral must be 33
exercised; 34
s 53 90 s 53
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(f) for a right of review or appeal--that a stay of a decision 1
the subject of review or appeal under this Act may be 2
applied for under this Act. 3
initial industry code means an initial industry code made by 4
the Minister under section 120B and as amended under 5
chapter 5, part 1A, division 5 from time to time. 6
large customer see section 23(6). 7
large market customer see section 23(9). 8
large non-market customer see section 23(10). 9
market customer see section 23(7). 10
negotiated connection contract see section 40DA(2). 11
negotiated retail contract see section 49(2). 12
NEM load, of the State, see section 91C. 13
NMI premises-- 14
1 An NMI premises is premises, part of a premises or a 15
group of premises-- 16
(a) that, under the National Electricity Rules, has an 17
established connection point; or 18
(b) for which, under the National Electricity Rules, a 19
connection point is to be established. 20
2 However, the term does not include premises of an 21
excluded customer. 22
non-market customer see section 23(8). 23
premises-- 24
1 premises includes-- 25
(a) a building or other structure; and 26
(b) a part of a building or other structure; and 27
(c) land where a building or other structure is situated. 28
2 premises, of a customer, means premises owned or 29
occupied by the customer. 30
QCA Act means the Queensland Competition Authority Act 31
1997. 32
s 53 91 s 53
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
QCA code objective see section 120G(1). 1
relevant tariff year see section 91B. 2
retail contract see section 49(1). 3
retailer of last resort scheme means any retailer of last resort 4
scheme made under section 131A. 5
retail obligation see section 48F(1). 6
retail services application see section 48C(1). 7
reviewer see section 214(1). 8
small customer see section 23(4). 9
standard connection contract see section 40DA(3). 10
standard large customer retail contract see section 49(4). 11
standard retail contract see section 49(3). 12
Statewide newspaper means a newspaper circulating 13
generally throughout the State. 14
tariff includes fee or charge. 15
tariff year means-- 16
(a) if, under a regulation, a period is prescribed--the 17
prescribed period; or 18
(b) otherwise--a financial year. 19
warning notice see section 120S(1).'. 20
(3) Schedule 5, definition customer, `or (1A)'-- 21
omit. 22
(4) Schedule 5, definition GST statement, `section 90(6)'-- 23
omit, insert-- 24
`section 90(8)'. 25
(5) Schedule 5, definition notified prices, `section 90(2)'-- 26
omit, insert-- 27
`section 90(4)'. 28
(6) Schedule 5, definition pricing entity, `section 90(3)'-- 29
omit, insert-- 30
s 54 92 s 55
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`section 90(5)'. 1
(7) Schedule 5, definition retail area, `section 48'-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`section 48(1)'. 4
Part 3 Amendment of Energy Assets 5
(Restructuring and Disposal) 6
Act 2006 7
Clause 54 Act amended in pt 3 8
This part amends the Energy Assets (Restructuring and 9
Disposal) Act 2006. 10
Clause 55 Replacement of s 44 (Operation of authorities and related 11
matters) 12
Section 44-- 13
omit, insert-- 14
`44 Provision for particular contracts on FRC day 15
`(1) This section applies on the FRC day if immediately before 16
that day a contract (the existing contract) was, under any of 17
the following, taken to be in force between a customer and a 18
FRC entity for the provision of customer retail services to 19
premises-- 20
(a) former section 49 or 49A of the Electricity Act; 21
(b) former section 310 of the Electricity Act; 22
(c) section 41 of this Act. 23
`(2) The existing contract ends. 24
`(3) The ending of the existing contract does not affect rights or 25
obligations accrued under it before the FRC day. 26
s 56 93 s 57
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`(4) The customer and the entity are taken to have entered into a 1
retail contract of the following type under the Electricity Act, 2
section 51, for the provision of the services-- 3
(a) if, under that Act, the customer is a small customer for 4
the premises--a standard retail contract; 5
(b) if, under that Act, the customer is a large customer for 6
the premises--a standard large customer retail contract. 7
`(5) The Electricity Act, section 52(3) and (4), applies to the retail 8
contract as if it were a contract taken to have been entered into 9
under that section. 10
`(6) This section applies despite the FRC entity not holding an 11
authority with a stated retail area. 12
`(7) This section is subject to the retailer of last resort scheme 13
under the Electricity Act. 14
`(8) In this section-- 15
FRC entity means Ergon Energy, an acquiring entity or a sale 16
entity.'. 17
Clause 56 Omission of s 51 (FRC day) 18
Section 51-- 19
omit. 20
Clause 57 Amendment of schedule (Dictionary) 21
Schedule, definition FRC day-- 22
omit, insert-- 23
`FRC day means the FRC day under the Electricity Act 1994, 24
section 310.'. 25
s 58 94 s 61
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
Part 4 Amendment of Gas Supply Act 1
2003 2
Clause 58 Act amended in pt 4 3
This part and the schedule amend the Gas Supply Act 2003. 4
Clause 59 Amendment of long title 5
Long title, `fuel gas'-- 6
omit, insert-- 7
`processed natural gas'. 8
Clause 60 Amendment of s 3 (Main purposes of Act) 9
(1) Section 3(1) and (2)(a), `fuel gas'-- 10
omit, insert-- 11
`processed natural gas'. 12
(2) Section 3(2)(b) and (c)-- 13
omit, insert-- 14
`(b) providing, under chapter 4A, for the appointment of a 15
gas retail market operator; and 16
(c) providing, under chapter 5A, for the making of industry 17
codes for reticulated processed natural gas markets.'. 18
(3) Section 3-- 19
insert-- 20
21
`Note--
22
This Act also includes particular provisions about LPG distribution
23
pipelines and LPG distribution systems. See sections 75, 75A, 131A,
24
258, 289, 295 and 297 to 299.'.
Clause 61 Amendment of s 4 (Gas-related matters to which Act 25
does not apply) 26
(1) Section 4(1)(a) and (b), `fuel gas'-- 27
omit, insert-- 28
s 62 95 s 65
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`processed natural gas'. 1
(2) Section 4(1)(c)-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`(c) regulate gases other than-- 4
(i) processed natural gas; and 5
(ii) LPG, in relation to LPG distribution pipelines and 6
LPG distribution systems.'. 7
Clause 62 Omission of s 9 (What is fuel gas) 8
Section 9-- 9
omit. 10
Clause 63 Amendment of s 10 (What is LPG) 11
(1) Section 10, definition LPG, `is a substance'-- 12
omit, insert-- 13
`means a substance'. 14
(2) Section 10, definition LPG, as amended-- 15
relocate to schedule 4. 16
(3) Section 10, as amended-- 17
omit. 18
Clause 64 Amendment of s 12 (What is a transmission pipeline) 19
Section 12, `fuel gas'-- 20
omit, insert-- 21
`processed natural gas'. 22
Clause 65 Amendment of s 13 (What is a distribution pipeline) 23
Section 13(a), `fuel gas'-- 24
omit, insert-- 25
`processed natural gas'. 26
s 66 96 s 68
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
Clause 66 Amendment of s 14 (What is a distribution system) 1
Section 14(1), `fuel gas'-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`processed natural gas'. 4
Clause 67 Amendment of s 15 (When fuel gas is reticulated) 5
(1) Section 15, heading, `fuel gas'-- 6
omit, insert-- 7
`processed natural gas'. 8
(2) Section 15, `Fuel gas'-- 9
omit, insert-- 10
`Processed natural gas'. 11
Clause 68 Replacement of ss 1618 12
Sections 16 to 18-- 13
omit, insert-- 14
`16 Who is a customer 15
`(1) A customer is a person who receives, or wants to receive, 16
reticulated processed natural gas. 17
`(2) However, a receiver is only a customer if the receiver's 18
premises has a processed natural gas installation that, to the 19
reasonable satisfaction of the distributor whose distribution 20
area includes the premises, is capable of receiving supply 21
directly from a distribution system. 22
`17 Types of customers 23
`(1) A small customer, for premises, is a customer prescribed 24
under a regulation to be a small customer for the premises. 25
`(2) A regulation made under subsection (1) may prescribe who is 26
a small customer for premises by reference only to a stated 27
consumption threshold. 28
s 69 97 s 72
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`(3) A large customer, for premises, is a customer other than a 1
small customer for the premises. 2
`(4) An excluded customer, for premises, is a customer prescribed 3
under a regulation to be an excluded customer for the 4
premises.'. 5
Clause 69 Amendment of s 19 (What are customer connection 6
services) 7
Section 19, `fuel gas'-- 8
omit, insert-- 9
`processed natural gas'. 10
Clause 70 Amendment of s 20 (What are customer retail services) 11
Section 20(1), `fuel gas'-- 12
omit, insert-- 13
`processed natural gas'. 14
Clause 71 Amendment of s 21 (What is a distribution authority) 15
Section 21(a), `fuel gas'-- 16
omit, insert-- 17
`processed natural gas'. 18
Clause 72 Amendment of s 22 (Who is a distributor) 19
(1) Section 22, heading-- 20
omit, insert-- 21
`22 Distributors and references to distributors'. 22
(2) Section 22(d)-- 23
omit, insert-- 24
`(d) gas infrastructure is-- 25
(i) if the infrastructure is the subject of a distribution 26
authority--the person who holds the authority; or 27
s 73 98 s 75
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(ii) if the infrastructure is an LPG pipeline or LPG 1
distribution system--the LPG distributor who 2
owns or operates the pipeline or system.'. 3
(3) Section 22(e), after `distributor'-- 4
insert-- 5
`or LPG distributor'. 6
(4) Section 22-- 7
insert-- 8
`(2) Otherwise, a reference to a distributor is a reference to a 9
person who holds a distribution authority.'. 10
Clause 73 Amendment of s 23 (Types of distribution authority and 11
their distributors) 12
Section 23, `fuel gas'-- 13
omit, insert-- 14
`processed natural gas'. 15
Clause 74 Amendment of s 25 (Who is a retailer) 16
(1) Section 25, heading-- 17
omit, insert-- 18
`25 Retailers and references to retailers'. 19
(2) Section 25-- 20
insert-- 21
`(2) Otherwise, a reference to a retailer is a reference to a person 22
who holds a retail authority.'. 23
Clause 75 Amendment of ch 2, hdg (Fuel gas distribution) 24
Chapter 2, heading, `Fuel gas'-- 25
omit, insert-- 26
`Processed natural gas'. 27
s 76 99 s 79
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
Clause 76 Amendment of s 28 (Requirements for application) 1
(1) Section 28(c), `fuel gas'-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`processed natural gas'. 4
(2) Section 28(d)-- 5
omit. 6
(3) Section 28(e)-- 7
renumber as section 28(d). 8
Clause 77 Amendment of s 42 (Obligation to operate and maintain 9
distribution pipes) 10
Section 42, `fuel gas'-- 11
omit, insert-- 12
`processed natural gas'. 13
Clause 78 Amendment of s 48 (Contingency practices and 14
procedures) 15
Section 48(1), `fuel gas'-- 16
omit, insert-- 17
`processed natural gas'. 18
Clause 79 Insertion of new ss 50A and 50B 19
After section 50-- 20
insert-- 21
`50A Compliance with industry codes 22
`A distributor must comply with any industry code that applies 23
to the distributor. 24
`50B Membership of energy ombudsman scheme 25
`A distributor must pay any amount that, under the Energy 26
Ombudsman Act 2006, it must pay the energy ombudsman.'. 27
s 80 100 s 83
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
Clause 80 Amendment of s 57 (Conditions for amendment, 1
cancellation or suspension) 2
Section 57(2)(b)-- 3
insert-- 4
`(v) an industry code, in a material way; or 5
6
Note--
7
For criteria for deciding a material contravention, see
8
section 270Q.'.
Clause 81 Omission of ch 2, pt 1, div 5 (Service quality standards) 9
Chapter 2, part 1, division 5-- 10
omit. 11
Clause 82 Amendment of s 75 (What is gas infrastructure and gas 12
infrastructure work) 13
Section 75(1)-- 14
omit, insert-- 15
`(1) Gas infrastructure is the whole or any part of-- 16
(a) a distribution pipeline or system the subject of a 17
distribution authority; or 18
(b) an LPG distribution pipeline; or 19
(c) an LPG distribution system.'. 20
Clause 83 Insertion of new s 75A 21
After section 75-- 22
insert-- 23
`75A References to distributor in pt 2 includes a reference 24
to LPG distributor 25
`In this part, a reference to a distributor includes a reference to 26
an LPG distributor.'. 27
s 84 101 s 88
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
Clause 84 Amendment of s 78 (Right to carry out work on publicly 1
controlled place) 2
Section 78, from `if the place' to `distribution authority'-- 3
omit. 4
Clause 85 Amendment of s 104 (Deciding application) 5
Section 104(3)-- 6
omit. 7
Clause 86 Insertion of new s 104A 8
Chapter 2, part 3, division 2, subdivision 1, after section 9
104-- 10
insert-- 11
`104A Information notice for refusal of services 12
`If the distributor decides not provide to the premises the 13
customer connection services applied for, the distributor must, 14
as soon as practicable after, but within 1 month of, receiving 15
the application give the customer an information notice about 16
the decision.'. 17
Clause 87 Amendment of s 105 (Distributor's obligation to propose 18
terms) 19
(1) Section 105(1)(d)-- 20
omit. 21
(2) Section 105(2) and (3)-- 22
omit. 23
(3) Section 105(4) to (6)-- 24
renumber as section 105(2) to (4). 25
Clause 88 Amendment of s 106 (Customer connection contract) 26
(1) Section 106, heading-- 27
omit, insert-- 28
s 89 102 s 91
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`106 Connection contract'. 1
(2) Section 106(1), definition customer connection contract, 2
`customer connection contract'-- 3
omit, insert-- 4
`connection contract'. 5
(3) Section 106-- 6
insert-- 7
`(3) The making of a connection contract is subject to subdivision 8
3.'. 9
Clause 89 Omission of s 107 (Cooling-off period for customer 10
connection contracts) 11
Section 107-- 12
omit. 13
Clause 90 Amendment of s 108 (Commencement of customer 14
connection services) 15
(1) Section 108(1), from `a customer' to `section 107'-- 16
omit, insert-- 17
`a connection contract'. 18
(2) Section 108(5), definition required period, paragraph (a), `5 19
business days'-- 20
omit, insert-- 21
`10 business days'. 22
Clause 91 Amendment of s 109 (Limits on provision of customer 23
connection services) 24
(1) Section 109(1), `fuel gas'-- 25
omit, insert-- 26
`processed natural gas'. 27
(2) Section 109(1)(c) 28
renumber as section 109(1)(d). 29
s 92 103 s 92
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(3) Section 109(1)-- 1
insert-- 2
`(c) the distributor is entitled, under its connection contract 3
or under a regulation, to disconnect customer 4
connection services to the premises;'. 5
(4) Section 109(2), `Also, the' to `division 5'-- 6
omit, insert-- 7
`The obligation ceases during any period in which the 8
provision of the services is disconnected under a connection 9
contract'. 10
(5) Section 109(3)-- 11
renumber as section 109(5). 12
(6) Section 109-- 13
insert-- 14
`(3) Also, the obligation does not apply if a regulation states the 15
obligation does not apply. 16
`(4) The obligation is subject to-- 17
(a) any relevant insufficiency of supply declaration or 18
insufficiency of supply direction; and 19
(b) the retailer of last resort scheme; and 20
(c) the conditions of the distributor's relevant distribution 21
authority; and 22
(d) any relevant provision of an industry code about 23
cooling-off periods for the provision of customer 24
connection services.'. 25
Clause 92 Insertion of new ch 2, pt 3, div 2, sdiv 3 26
Chapter 2, part 3, division 2-- 27
insert-- 28
`Subdivision 3 Requirements for connection 29
contracts 30
s 92 104 s 92
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`109A General limits on what may be negotiated 1
`(1) A connection contract must not be inconsistent with this Act 2
or any relevant industry code. 3
`(2) If-- 4
(a) customer connection services relate to processed natural 5
gas transported through a covered pipeline; and 6
(b) there is an approved access arrangement for the 7
pipeline; 8
a connection contract for the services must not be inconsistent 9
with the access arrangement. 10
`(3) A connection contract is unenforceable to the extent it does 11
not comply with this section. 12
`109B Provisions for small customers 13
`(1) This section applies to a connection contract for the provision 14
of customer connection services to a small customer's 15
premises. 16
`(2) The contract must comply with all relevant industry code 17
provisions about minimum terms for the provision of 18
customer connection services to small customers. 19
`(3) The contract is unenforceable to the extent it does not comply 20
with subsection (2). 21
`(4) If, under subsection (3), a term of the contract is 22
unenforceable because it conflicts with a minimum term 23
provision mentioned in subsection (2), the minimum term is 24
taken to be a term of the contract. 25
`109C Provisions for large customers 26
`(1) This section applies to a connection contract for the provision 27
of customer connection services to a large customer's 28
premises. 29
`(2) The contract must provide for the provision of the services on 30
fair and reasonable terms. 31
`(3) The services are taken to be provided on fair and reasonable 32
terms if the contract is consistent with relevant industry code 33
s 93 105 s 97
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
provisions about minimum terms for the provision of 1
customer connection services to small customers.'. 2
Clause 93 Amendment of ch 2, pt 3, div 3, hdg (Changes to fuel gas 3
installation) 4
Chapter 2, part 3, division 3, heading, `fuel gas'-- 5
omit, insert-- 6
`processed natural gas'. 7
Clause 94 Amendment of s 111 (Obligation to give information to 8
allow proposed changes) 9
Section 111, `fuel gas'-- 10
omit, insert-- 11
`processed natural gas'. 12
Clause 95 Amendment of s 112 (Applying to change connection) 13
Section 112(1), `fuel gas'-- 14
omit, insert-- 15
`processed natural gas'. 16
Clause 96 Omission of ch 2, pt 3, divs 4 and 5 17
Chapter 2, part 3, divisions 4 and 5-- 18
omit. 19
Clause 97 Amendment of s 125 (Operation of pt 4) 20
(1) Section 125, `non-contestable'-- 21
omit, insert-- 22
`small'. 23
(2) Section 125(2), `customer connection contract'-- 24
omit, insert-- 25
`connection contract'. 26
s 98 106 s 100
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
Clause 98 Amendment of s 126 (Distributor must provide meter) 1
Section 126(1), `fuel gas'-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`processed natural gas'. 4
Clause 99 Amendment of s 131 (Alternative measurement) 5
(1) Section 131(3), `fuel gas'-- 6
omit, insert-- 7
`processed natural gas'. 8
(2) Section 131(4), `section 120 or'-- 9
omit. 10
Clause 100 Insertion of new ch 2, pt 5, div 1A 11
Chapter 2, part 5, before division 1-- 12
insert-- 13
`Division 1A Preliminary 14
`131A References to distributor and processed natural gas 15
in pt 5 16
`In this part-- 17
(a) a reference to a distributor includes a reference to an 18
LPG distributor; and 19
(b) a reference to a distributor's distribution pipeline or 20
system includes a reference to an LPG distributor's LPG 21
pipeline or LPG distribution system; and 22
(c) a reference to processed natural gas transported through 23
a distributor's distribution pipeline or system includes, 24
for an LPG distributor's LPG pipeline or LPG 25
distribution system, a reference to LPG transported 26
through the pipeline or system.'. 27
s 101 107 s 105
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
Clause 101 Amendment of s 133 (Functions) 1
Section 133(d), `fuel gas'-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`processed natural gas'. 4
Clause 102 Amendment of s 140 (Power to enter for emergency) 5
Section 140(1), `fuel gas'-- 6
omit, insert-- 7
`processed natural gas'. 8
Clause 103 Omission of ch 2, pt 6 (Market operating arrangements in 9
natural gas market) 10
Chapter 2, part 6-- 11
omit. 12
Clause 104 Amendment of ch 3, hdg (Supply of reticulated fuel gas) 13
Chapter 3, heading, `fuel gas'-- 14
omit, insert-- 15
`processed natural gas'. 16
Clause 105 Amendment of s 148 (Who may apply for retail authority) 17
Section 148-- 18
insert-- 19
`(4) Also, Ergon Energy or a subsidiary of Ergon Energy can not 20
apply for a retail authority. 21
`(5) In this section-- 22
Ergon Energy means Ergon Energy Corporation Limited 23
ACN 087 646 062. 24
subsidiary see the Government Owned Corporations Act 25
1993, section 3.'. 26
s 106 108 s 109
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
Clause 106 Replacement of ch 3, pt 1, div 2, sdivs 2 and 3 1
Chapter 3, part 1, division 2, subdivisions 2 and 3-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`160 Obligation to have standard terms before providing 4
customer retail services 5
A retailer must ensure the retailer has standard terms in force, 6
under part 2, division 2 before it provides customer retail 7
services.'. 8
Clause 107 Amendment of s 167 (General right of retailer) 9
(1) Section 167, `Any'-- 10
omit, insert-- 11
`Subject to sections 169 and 171, any'. 12
(2) Section 167, `contestable'-- 13
omit. 14
Clause 108 Amendment of s 169 (Restriction on general retailers) 15
Section 169, `a non-contestable customer'-- 16
omit, insert-- 17
`an excluded customer's premises, unless the provision of the 18
services is authorised or required under the retailer of last 19
resort scheme'. 20
Clause 109 Insertion of new s 170 21
After section 169-- 22
insert-- 23
`170 Restriction on providing customer retail services to 24
excluded customer's premises 25
`If a customer is an excluded customer for premises in the 26
retail area for an area retail authority, a retailer must not 27
provide customer retail services to the premises unless-- 28
(a) the retailer is the area retailer for the authority; or 29
s 110 109 s 113
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(b) the provision of the services is authorised or required 1
under the retailer of last resort scheme. 2
Maximum penalty--500 penalty units.'. 3
Clause 110 Amendment of s 171 (Area retailers--restriction for 4
non-contestable customers) 5
(1) Section 171, heading, `non-contestable customers'-- 6
omit, insert-- 7
`excluded customers'. 8
(2) Section 171, `a non-contestable'-- 9
omit, insert-- 10
`an excluded'. 11
Clause 111 Omission of s 172 (Telephone hotline) 12
Section 172-- 13
omit. 14
Clause 112 Insertion of new ss 174A and 174B 15
After section 174-- 16
insert-- 17
`174A Compliance with industry codes 18
`A retailer must comply with any industry code that applies to 19
the retailer. 20
`174B Membership of energy ombudsman scheme 21
`A retailer must pay any amount that, under the Energy 22
Ombudsman Act 2006, it must pay the energy ombudsman.'. 23
Clause 113 Amendment of s 181 (Conditions for amendment, 24
cancellation or suspension) 25
Section 181(2)(b)-- 26
s 114 110 s 114
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
insert-- 1
`(v) an industry code, in a material way; or 2
3
Note--
4
For criteria for deciding a material contravention, see
5
section 270Q.'.
Clause 114 Replacement of ch 3, pt 2 (Customer retail services) 6
Chapter 3, part 2-- 7
omit, insert-- 8
`Part 2 Customer retail services 9
`Division 1 Applying for and obtaining 10
customer retail services by small 11
customer 12
`198 Applying to area retailer for provision of customer 13
retail services 14
`(1) A small customer who owns or occupies premises may make 15
an application (a retail services application) to an area retailer 16
for the provision of customer retail services to the premises. 17
`(2) However, if the customer is other than an excluded customer, 18
the customer can only make the application for the premises if 19
the premises are MIRN premises. 20
`(3) Also, if the customer is an excluded customer for the 21
premises, the customer can only make the application to the 22
area retailer in whose retail area the premises are located. 23
`(4) The application must be made in the way, and give the 24
information reasonably required, by the retailer. 25
`(5) To remove any doubt, it is declared that this section does not 26
prevent any other customer asking a retailer to provide 27
customer retail services to the premises. 28
s 114 111 s 114
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`199 Deciding application 1
`An area retailer must decide to grant or refuse a retail 2
services application made to the retailer within 10 business 3
days after the application is made. 4
`200 Information notice for refusal of services to small 5
customer 6
`(1) This section applies if-- 7
(a) a customer makes a retail services application to an area 8
retailer for premises; and 9
(b) the retailer decides the area retail obligation does not 10
apply to the services applied for; and 11
(c) had the services been provided, the customer would 12
have been a small customer for the premises. 13
`(2) The retailer must, as soon as practicable after, but within 1 14
month of, receiving the application give the customer an 15
information notice about the decision. 16
`201 Area retailer obligation 17
`(1) If a retail services application to an area retailer is for 18
premises in the retailer's retail area, the retailer must provide 19
to the premises the customer retail services applied for. 20
`(2) The obligation is the area retailer obligation. 21
`(3) The obligation is subject to sections 202 and 203. 22
23
Note--
24
Generally, in the absence of a negotiated retail contract, a standard retail
25
contract is taken to exist between the entity and the customer. See
26
section 204.
`202 Things to which area retailer obligation is subject 27
`The area retailer obligation is subject to each of the 28
following-- 29
(a) any relevant insufficiency of supply declaration or 30
insufficiency of supply direction; 31
s 114 112 s 114
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(b) the retailer of last resort scheme; 1
(c) the conditions of the retailer's relevant retail authority; 2
(d) any relevant provision of an industry code about 3
customer transfers or cooling-off periods for the 4
provision of customer retail services. 5
`203 When area retailer obligation does not apply 6
`(1) The area retailer obligation does not apply to an area retailer 7
in relation to a customer if-- 8
(a) the retailer is to arrange for customer connection 9
services for the premises and the distributor for the 10
premises is not obliged to provide, or has the right to 11
disconnect, the services; or 12
(b) the customer is to arrange for customer connection 13
services for the premises and no connection contract has 14
been entered into with the distributor for the premises; 15
or 16
(c) the retailer has asked the customer for information the 17
retailer reasonably requires to allow the retailer to 18
provide the customer retail services and the customer 19
has not complied with the request within a reasonable 20
period; or 21
(d) the retailer has asked the customer to provide or 22
maintain access, equipment, facilities, space or anything 23
else the retailer reasonably needs to provide the 24
customer retail services and the customer has not 25
complied with the request within a reasonable period; or 26
(e) the customer contravenes this Act, the Petroleum and 27
Gas (Production and Safety) Act or another relevant Act 28
and the contravention relates to safety; or 29
(f) a circumstance beyond the retailer's control prevents the 30
retailer from providing customer retail services to the 31
customer. 32
`(2) Also, the obligation does not apply if a regulation states the 33
obligation does not apply. 34
s 114 113 s 114
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`(3) The obligation ceases to apply during any period in which the 1
provision of customer connection services to the premises is 2
disconnected under a connection contract or a dangerous 3
situation direction under the Petroleum and Gas (Production 4
and Safety) Act. 5
`(4) This section does not prevent the retailer from lawfully 6
providing the customer retail services even though it is not 7
obliged to do so. 8
`Division 2 Standard retail contracts 9
`204 Standard retail contract for particular small 10
customers 11
`(1) This section applies if-- 12
(a) the area retailer obligation applies to a retailer for a 13
small customer's premises; and 14
(b) the premises are connected to a distribution system; and 15
(c) the retailer provides the customer retail services applied 16
for, in accordance with the application; and 17
(d) there is no negotiated retail contract in force between the 18
retailer and the customer in relation to the premises. 19
`(2) This section also applies if-- 20
(a) a small customer's premises are connected to a 21
distribution system without the customer having made a 22
retail services application for the premises; and 23
(b) there is no negotiated retail contract in force between a 24
retailer and the customer in relation to the premises. 25
`(3) A contract for the provision of the customer retail services to 26
the premises is taken to have been entered into between the 27
customer and-- 28
(a) for the circumstances mentioned in subsection (1)--the 29
area retailer; or 30
(b) for the circumstances mentioned in subsection (2)--the 31
retailer that, under an industry code, is the registered 32
retailer for the metering installation for the premises. 33
s 114 114 s 114
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`(4) The contract is a standard retail contract. 1
`(5) The terms of the contract are the retailer's standard terms, in 2
force from time to time that apply to the customer. 3
`(6) The customer and the retailer are taken to have agreed to 4
comply with the terms and to have entered into the contract as 5
a deed. 6
`(7) This section is subject to the retailer of last resort scheme. 7
`205 Retailer's standard terms for small customers 8
`(1) Each retailer must, before it provides customer retail services, 9
prepare the terms (its standard terms) on which it provides 10
customer retail services under a standard retail contract, 11
including its prices for the services. 12
`(2) The terms may-- 13
(a) be different for stated types of small customers; and 14
(b) be contained in a different document for any of the 15
types; and 16
(c) include a methodology for fixing the prices. 17
`(3) The retailer may amend its standard terms at any time. 18
`(4) However, the standard terms or amended standard terms take 19
effect only when the retailer complies with section 206 in 20
relation to the terms or amended terms. 21
`(5) The standard terms and any amended standard terms-- 22
(a) must not be inconsistent with this Act or any relevant 23
industry code; and 24
(b) must comply with all relevant industry code provisions 25
about minimum terms for the provision of customer 26
retail services to small customers; and 27
(c) are unenforceable to the extent they do not comply with 28
paragraphs (a) and (b). 29
`(6) If, under subsection (5)(b), a term or an amendment is 30
unenforceable because it conflicts with a minimum term 31
provision mentioned in subsection (5)(b), the minimum term 32
s 114 115 s 114
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
is taken to be included in the terms or amended standard 1
terms. 2
`(7) Subsection (4) does not apply to stop a minimum term from 3
applying under subsection (6). 4
`206 Publication of standard terms 5
`(1) This section applies only if a retailer prepares or amends its 6
standard terms. 7
`(2) The retailer must-- 8
(a) publish the terms or amended terms on its website; and 9
(b) give QCA a copy of the terms or amended terms; and 10
(c) if a small customer asks, give the customer a copy of the 11
terms or amended terms, free of charge. 12
`(3) Also, subsections (4) and (5) apply if the terms or amended 13
terms increase any price or tariff (the old price) currently 14
charged by the retailer for customer retail services. 15
`(4) The retailer must-- 16
(a) at least 10 business days before the new prices are to 17
take effect publish a notice (the price increase notice) 18
on its website; and 19
(b) give each of its small customers a copy of the price 20
increase notice with, or in, its next bill to the customer 21
for customer retail services when it gives the customer 22
the bill. 23
`(5) The price increase notice-- 24
(a) must state the increased price, or a methodology for 25
fixing the increased price, and when the increased price 26
is to start; and 27
(b) may be included with the material published under 28
subsection (2)(a). 29
`207 Ending of standard retail contract 30
`(1) A standard retail contract between a retailer and a small 31
customer for the customer's premises is taken to end if-- 32
s 114 116 s 114
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(a) the retailer and the customer enter into a negotiated 1
retail contract for the premises and that contract comes 2
into effect; or 3
(b) another retailer becomes, under an industry code, the 4
registered retailer for the metering installation for the 5
premises; or 6
(c) the retailer commences the provision of customer retail 7
services under a retail contract to another customer at 8
the premises. 9
`(2) This section does not limit how or when a standard retail 10
contract may end. 11
`Division 3 Negotiated retail contracts 12
`208 Negotiation of retail contract 13
`(1) A customer and a retailer may enter into a contract (a 14
negotiated retail contract) for the provision of customer retail 15
services from the retailer for premises of the customer on 16
terms that are different to the retailer's standard terms. 17
`(2) Subsection (1) applies subject to sections 209 and 210. 18
`209 General limit on what may be negotiated 19
`A negotiated retail contract must not be inconsistent with this 20
Act or any relevant industry code, and is unenforceable to the 21
extent that it is. 22
`210 Provisions for small customers 23
`(1) This section applies to a negotiated retail contract for the 24
provision of customer retail services to a small customer's 25
premises. 26
`(2) The contract must comply with all relevant industry code 27
provisions about minimum terms for the provision of 28
customer retail services to small customers. 29
`(3) The contract is unenforceable to the extent it does not comply 30
with subsection (2). 31
s 115 117 s 119
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`(4) If, under subsection (3), a term of the contract is 1
unenforceable because it conflicts with a minimum term 2
provision mentioned in subsection (2), the minimum term is 3
taken to be a term of the contract.'. 4
Clause 115 Amendment of s 213 (On-suppliers and their receivers) 5
Section 213, `fuel gas'-- 6
omit, insert-- 7
`processed natural gas'. 8
Clause 116 Amendment of s 214 (Common areas and common area 9
consumption) 10
Section 214(2), `fuel gas'-- 11
omit, insert-- 12
`processed natural gas'. 13
Clause 117 Omission of s 216 (Restriction of application of pt 3 for 14
LPG) 15
Section 216-- 16
omit. 17
Clause 118 Amendment of s 217 (On-supply agreements) 18
Section 217(1)(a), `fuel gas'-- 19
omit, insert-- 20
`processed natural gas'. 21
Clause 119 Amendment of s 222 (Individual metering option) 22
Section 222, `fuel gas'-- 23
omit, insert-- 24
`processed natural gas'. 25
s 120 118 s 121
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
Clause 120 Amendment of s 223 (Compensation for installation 1
damage) 2
Section 223(1)(b), `fuel gas'-- 3
omit, insert-- 4
`processed natural gas'. 5
Clause 121 Replacement of ch 3, pt 4, hdg (Pricing and service 6
quality standards) 7
Chapter 3, part 4, heading-- 8
omit, insert-- 9
`Part 4 Pricing 10
`Division 1 QCA investigation 11
`227A Direction by Minister to investigate effectiveness of 12
retail competition 13
`(1) The Minister may, by gazette notice, give QCA a written 14
direction to-- 15
(a) investigate (the pricing investigation) the effectiveness 16
of retail competition in the Queensland retail gas 17
market; and 18
(b) give the Minister a report on the pricing investigation 19
within a stated period. 20
`(2) QCA must comply with the direction. 21
`(3) QCA must publish the direction on its website. 22
`227B Period for giving report 23
`QCA must give the Minister the report within-- 24
(a) the period stated in the direction; or 25
(b) if no period is stated in the direction--6 months after it 26
receives the direction. 27
s 121 119 s 121
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`227C Terms of reference 1
`The direction may do all or any of the following-- 2
(a) state the terms of reference of the pricing investigation; 3
(b) require QCA to, during the pricing investigation, make a 4
draft report publicly available or available to a stated 5
entity; 6
(c) require QCA to, in conducting the pricing 7
investigation-- 8
(i) consider stated matters; and 9
(ii) have stated objectives; 10
(d) give QCA other directions the Minister considers 11
appropriate. 12
`227D Notice of pricing investigation or amended term of 13
reference or direction 14
`QCA must publish a notice of the following on its website 15
and in a Statewide newspaper-- 16
(a) the pricing investigation; 17
(b) if a term of reference or direction relating to the pricing 18
investigation is amended--the amended term of 19
reference or direction. 20
`227E Conduct of pricing investigation 21
`(1) The QCA Act, part 6, other than section 171, (the applied 22
part) applies for the pricing investigation-- 23
(a) as if a reference in the applied part to an investigation 24
were a reference to the pricing investigation; and 25
(b) as if the QCA Act, section 176(3), required the notice 26
mentioned in that subsection to be given to any entity 27
that QCA knows would be potentially affected by the 28
review. 29
`(2) However, the applied part applies subject to any requirement 30
or direction of the Minister. 31
s 122 120 s 122
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`227F Required consultation for report 1
`Before QCA gives the Minister the report it must prepare a 2
draft of the report and engage in the consultation prescribed 3
under a regulation. 4
`Division 2 Notified prices'. 5
Clause 122 Replacement of s 228 (Fixing of prices for customer retail 6
services or on-supply) 7
Section 228-- 8
omit, insert-- 9
`228 Fixing of prices for standard contracts or for 10
on-supply 11
`(1) Subject to section 228A, the Minister may fix prices, or a 12
methodology to fix the prices, for-- 13
(a) the provision, under a standard retail contract, of 14
services that are, or relate to, customer retail services; or 15
(b) the supply of processed natural gas by on-suppliers to 16
receivers. 17
18
Examples of matters for which prices or a methodology may be fixed--
19
· charges for selling processed natural gas
20
· security for the provision of customer retail services
21
· charges or fees for late or dishonoured payments
22
· charges or fees for discontinuing or recommencing customer
23
connection or retail services
`(2) In exercising the power, the Minister must consider the main 24
purposes of this Act and the QCA code objective. 25
`(3) The prices, or prices fixed under the methodology, are called 26
notified prices. 27
`(4) The notified prices, or methodology to fix the prices-- 28
(a) must be notified by gazette notice; and 29
(b) take effect on the later of the following days-- 30
(i) the day the notice is gazetted; 31
s 123 121 s 123
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(ii) if the gazette notice states a later day of effect--the 1
later day. 2
3
Note--
4
Under section 320, the Minister may delegate the Minister's powers
5
under this division to QCA.
`228A Restrictions on the first exercise of price fixing 6
power 7
`(1) This section applies only for the first occasion on which the 8
Minister exercises the power under section 228. 9
`(2) The power may be exercised only if-- 10
(a) either-- 11
(i) QCA has given the Minister a report about a 12
pricing investigation; or 13
(ii) AEMC has, under the AEMC Act, a report about 14
the effectiveness of retail competition in the 15
Queensland retail gas market; and 16
(b) no more than 6 months has passed since the giving of 17
the report; and 18
(c) the Minister has considered the report. 19
`(3) The Minister must-- 20
(a) publish on the department's website reasons for 21
exercising the power; and 22
(b) give each area retailer a copy of the reasons. 23
`(4) In this section-- 24
AEMC means the Australian Energy Market Commission 25
established under section 5 of the AEMC Act. 26
AEMC Act means the Australian Energy Market Commission 27
Establishment Act 2004 (SA).'. 28
Clause 123 Amendment of s 229 (Review of notified prices) 29
Section 229(2), `a reasonable period'-- 30
s 124 122 s 127
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
omit, insert-- 1
`6 months'. 2
Clause 124 Replacement of s 230 (Public advertisement of notified 3
prices) 4
Section 230-- 5
omit, insert-- 6
`230 Public advertisement of notified prices 7
`(1) This section applies if there is a change to notified prices that 8
apply to a particular retailer. 9
`(2) QCA may publish a notice giving particulars of the changed 10
prices in a newspaper circulating in each locality in which 11
small customers to whom the prices apply reside. 12
`(3) If QCA asks, the retailer must pay QCA's reasonable costs of 13
the publication.'. 14
Clause 125 Amendment of s 231 (Requirement to comply with 15
notified prices) 16
Section 231(2)(a), `fuel gas'-- 17
omit, insert-- 18
`processed natural gas'. 19
Clause 126 Amendment of s 233 (Directions for prices notification) 20
Section 233(1), examples, `fuel gas'-- 21
omit, insert-- 22
`processed natural gas'. 23
Clause 127 Omission of s 235 (Standards about quality of customer 24
retail services) 25
Section 235-- 26
omit. 27
s 128 123 s 133
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
Clause 128 Amendment of s 236 (Who is an industry participant) 1
Section 236, `fuel gas'-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`processed natural gas'. 4
Clause 129 Amendment of s 237 (Regulator's power to require plan) 5
Section 237, `fuel gas'-- 6
omit, insert-- 7
`processed natural gas'. 8
Clause 130 Amendment of s 239 (Contingency supply plan--content 9
requirements) 10
Section 239(3), `fuel gas'-- 11
omit, insert-- 12
`processed natural gas'. 13
Clause 131 Amendment of s 244 (Notice of significant disruption) 14
Section 244, `fuel gas'-- 15
omit, insert-- 16
`processed natural gas'. 17
Clause 132 Amendment of s 245 (Regulator's power to require 18
information from industry participant) 19
Section 245(1), `fuel gas'-- 20
omit, insert-- 21
`processed natural gas'. 22
Clause 133 Amendment of s 247 (Notice of intention to stop fuel gas 23
transport or customer connection or retail services) 24
(1) Section 247, `fuel gas'-- 25
omit, insert-- 26
s 134 124 s 135
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`processed natural gas'. 1
(2) Section 247(4)(a), `chapter 2'-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`a connection contract or retail contract'. 4
Clause 134 Amendment of s 248 (Regulation may provide for 5
scheme) 6
Section 248(b), after `scheme by'-- 7
insert-- 8
`the GRMO and by'. 9
Clause 135 Amendment of s 250 (Matters that may be provided for 10
under scheme) 11
(1) Section 250, `customer connection contract'-- 12
omit, insert-- 13
`connection contract'. 14
(2) Section 250, `customer retail contract'-- 15
omit, insert-- 16
`retail contract'. 17
(3) Section 250(f)(ii), `customer retail contracts'-- 18
omit, insert-- 19
`retail contracts'. 20
(4) Section 250(g), `fuel gas'-- 21
omit, insert-- 22
`processed natural gas'. 23
(5) Section 250(h), `the regulator's'-- 24
omit, insert-- 25
`QCA's'. 26
s 136 125 s 140
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
Clause 136 Amendment of s 251 (Minister's power to make 1
declaration) 2
Section 251, `fuel gas'-- 3
omit, insert-- 4
`processed natural gas'. 5
Clause 137 Amendment of s 254 (Minister's power to give directions 6
while declaration in force) 7
(1) Section 254, `fuel gas'-- 8
omit, insert-- 9
`processed natural gas'. 10
(2) Section 254(1)-- 11
insert-- 12
`(c) the GRMO.'. 13
Clause 138 Amendment of s 256 (Liability of recipient for fuel gas 14
supplied under direction) 15
Section 256, `fuel gas'-- 16
omit, insert-- 17
`processed natural gas'. 18
Clause 139 Amendment of s 257 (Direction overrides contracts) 19
Section 257(a) to (c)-- 20
omit, insert-- 21
`(a) a connection contract; 22
(b) a retail contract; 23
(c) another contract relating to the production, transport or 24
sale of processed natural gas.'. 25
Clause 140 Replacement of ch 5, hdg (Dispute resolution) 26
Chapter 5, heading-- 27
s 140 126 s 140
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
omit, insert-- 1
`Chapter 4A Gas retail market operator 2
`Part 1 General provisions about 3
operator 4
`257A Appointment 5
`(1) The Minister may, by gazette notice, appoint a body corporate 6
to be the gas retail market operator (the GRMO). 7
`(2) However-- 8
(a) the Minister can not appoint an industry participant as 9
the GRMO; and 10
(b) the Minister may appoint a body corporate as the 11
GRMO only if the Minister is satisfied the body has 12
agents, employees or officers who are appropriately 13
qualified to help it perform the GRMO's functions. 14
`257B Functions 15
`(1) The GRMO's functions are to-- 16
(a) provide services (gas retail market services) to others as 17
the operator of the gas retail market, in accordance with 18
industry codes; and 19
(b) administer the parts of any industry code that provide 20
for the following matters-- 21
(i) MIRN registration; 22
(ii) customer transfers; 23
(iii) information exchanges; 24
(iv) metering; 25
(v) gas balancing; 26
(vi) business to business transactions and information 27
exchanges under industry codes; 28
(vii) any other matter prescribed under a regulation; and 29
s 140 127 s 140
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(c) on request, give QCA advice about issues relating to 1
reticulated processed natural gas markets; and 2
(d) recommend to QCA changes to the provisions of an 3
industry code that provide for any of the matters 4
mentioned in paragraph (b); and 5
(e) perform other functions relating to industry codes 6
delegated to it under section 321A. 7
`(2) In performing its functions, the GRMO must consider, but is 8
not bound to accept, any advice given to it by any industry 9
advisory committee established under part 2. 10
`257C Obligations 11
`(1) The GRMO must do the following in performing its 12
functions-- 13
(a) comply with this Act and any relevant industry codes; 14
(b) act consistently with the functions; 15
(c) keep accounting records and prepare accounts according 16
to any principles decided by QCA; 17
(d) treat distributors and retailers on a fair and equal basis; 18
(e) give distributors and retailers access to its information 19
systems to the extent necessary to allow them to 20
participate in the reticulated processed natural gas 21
market; 22
(f) comply with any minimum service standards provided 23
for under a regulation or an industry code. 24
`(2) The GRMO must give any industry advisory committee 25
established under part 2 necessary support to allow the 26
committee to perform its functions. 27
`Part 2 Industry advisory committee 28
s 140 128 s 140
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`257D Establishment 1
`The Minister may-- 2
(a) establish 1 or more advisory committees to support the 3
GRMO; and 4
(b) fix the terms of reference of the advisory committees. 5
`257E Functions 6
`An advisory committee's functions are to-- 7
(a) advise the GRMO on the administration and operation 8
of reticulated processed natural gas markets; and 9
(b) make suggestions to the GRMO about changes under 10
section 257B(1)(d); and 11
(c) perform other functions prescribed under a regulation. 12
`257F Composition 13
`(1) An advisory committee consists of-- 14
(a) a chairperson decided by the GRMO; and 15
(b) other members decided by distributors and retailers. 16
`(2) The number of members decided by distributors and the 17
number of members decided by retailers must be the same. 18
`(3) Of the members decided by retailers, at least 1 must be an 19
individual nominated by area retailers and at least 1 must be 20
an individual nominated by general retailers. 21
`Part 3 Miscellaneous provision 22
`257G Restriction on providing gas retail market services 23
`A person other than the following must not provide gas retail 24
market services to someone else-- 25
(a) the GRMO; 26
s 141 129 s 142
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(b) a director or other officer of the GRMO acting within 1
the scope of the person's directorship or other office 2
with the GRMO; 3
(c) an employee of the GRMO acting within the course of 4
the employee's employment with the GRMO. 5
Maximum penalty--500 penalty units. 6
`Chapter 5 Resolution of gas 7
infrastructure work 8
disputes'. 9
Clause 141 Replacement of s 258 (Complaint investigation and 10
dispute resolution) 11
Section 258-- 12
omit, insert-- 13
`258 Application of ch 5 14
`This chapter applies to a dispute about gas infrastructure 15
work or proposed gas infrastructure work between a 16
distributor and a public entity or an LPG distributor and a 17
public entity.'. 18
Clause 142 Amendment of s 259 (Regulator's power to require 19
information) 20
(1) Section 259, heading and subsection (1)-- 21
omit, insert-- 22
`(1) Also, the regulator may, by notice, require the distributor, 23
LPG distributor or public entity (the party) to give the 24
regulator stated information the regulator reasonably requires 25
to mediate the dispute.'. 26
(2) Section 259, as amended-- 27
relocate to section 268 and renumber as section 268(2) to (5). 28
s 143 130 s 145
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
Clause 143 Omission of ch 5, pt 2 (Customer disputes) 1
Chapter 5, part 2-- 2
omit. 3
Clause 144 Omission of s 266 (Application of pt 3) 4
Section 266-- 5
omit. 6
Clause 145 Insertion of new ch 5A 7
After section 270-- 8
insert-- 9
`Chapter 5A Industry codes 10
`Part 1 Initial industry codes 11
`270A Making of initial industry codes by Minister 12
`(1) The Minister must make initial industry codes for reticulated 13
processed natural gas markets to apply to distributors and 14
retailers and their customers. 15
`(2) A code must state the distributors and retailers to which it 16
applies. 17
`(3) A code is not subordinate legislation. 18
19
Note--
20
QCA must keep a register of industry codes and publish them on its
21
website. See section 310A and the QCA Act, sections 227A to 227C.
`270B Specific matters for which code may provide 22
`Without limiting section 270A, an initial industry code may 23
provide for all or any of the following-- 24
(a) the rights and obligations of distributors, retailers and 25
customers about customer connection services and 26
customer retail services, including, for example-- 27
s 145 131 s 145
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(i) their rights and obligations in relation to the 1
discontinuance or recommencement of the 2
services; and 3
(ii) rights of compensation for a contravention of an 4
obligation mentioned in subparagraph (i); 5
(b) minimum terms for small customers under connection 6
contracts and retail contracts, including permitted 7
departures from the terms; 8
(c) minimum requirements for distributors and retailers in 9
dealing with customer complaints; 10
(d) marketing conduct of retail entities to small customers; 11
(e) metering; 12
(f) customer transfers; 13
(g) fees payable to the GRMO by distributors or retailers in 14
relation to the code. 15
`270C Gazettal and taking of effect of code 16
`(1) The Minister must, as soon as practicable after making an 17
initial industry code, publish a gazette notice stating the 18
Minister has made the code and where it may be inspected. 19
`(2) The code takes effect on the later of the following days-- 20
(a) a day of effect stated in the gazette notice; 21
(b) if no day of effect is stated in the notice--the day the 22
notice is gazetted. 23
`270D Tabling of code 24
`(1) Within 14 days after an initial industry code takes effect, the 25
Minister must table a copy in the Legislative Assembly. 26
`(2) The copy is tabled for information only. 27
`(3) A failure to table the copy does not affect the code's ongoing 28
effect. 29
s 145 132 s 145
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`Part 2 QCA industry codes 1
`270E QCA may make industry code 2
`(1) Subject to sections 270F and 270G, QCA may make industry 3
codes. 4
`(2) However, a code made by QCA has no effect unless it is 5
approved by the Minister. 6
`(3) A code may provide for any matter that may be provided for 7
under an initial industry code. 8
`(4) Sections 270A and 270B apply to the making of an industry 9
code by QCA as if the code were an initial industry code. 10
`270F QCA code objective 11
`(1) The objective (the QCA code objective) of an industry code 12
made by QCA is to promote efficient investment in, and 13
efficient use of, processed natural gas services for the 14
long-term interests of Queensland customers of processed 15
natural gas about price, quality, safety, reliability and security 16
of supply of processed natural gas. 17
`(2) QCA may make an industry code only if it is satisfied the 18
code will, or is likely to, contribute to the achievement of the 19
QCA code objective. 20
`270G Required consultation 21
`(1) This section applies if QCA proposes to make an industry 22
code, unless QCA considers the code-- 23
(a) is needed urgently; or 24
(b) does not materially affect anyone's interests. 25
`(2) Before QCA makes the industry code it must prepare a draft 26
of the code and engage in the consultation prescribed under a 27
regulation. 28
s 145 133 s 145
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`270H Ministerial approval 1
`(1) QCA must, as soon as practicable after making an industry 2
code, give the Minister a copy. 3
`(2) The Minister may, within 20 business days after receiving the 4
code, decide whether to approve it. 5
`(3) The Minister must, in making the decision, have regard to the 6
QCA code objective. 7
`(4) If the decision is not to approve the code, the Minister must, 8
as soon as practicable after the making of the decision, give 9
QCA a notice stating the decision, and the reasons for it. 10
`(5) If the Minister does not make the decision within the 20 11
business days, the Minister is taken to have approved the 12
code. 13
`270I When approved QCA industry code takes effect 14
`(1) This section applies for an industry code made by QCA only 15
if the Minister approves the code. 16
`(2) QCA must, as soon as practicable after the approval, publish a 17
gazette notice stating the Minister has approved the code and 18
where it may be inspected. 19
`(3) The code takes effect on the later of the following days-- 20
(a) a day of effect stated in the gazette notice; 21
(b) if no day of effect is stated in the notice--the day the 22
notice is gazetted. 23
`270J Tabling of QCA industry code 24
`(1) If an industry code made by QCA takes effect, the Minister 25
must, within 14 sitting days, table a copy of the code in the 26
Legislative Assembly. 27
`(2) The copy is tabled for information only. 28
`(3) A failure to table the copy does not affect the code's ongoing 29
effect. 30
s 145 134 s 145
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`Part 3 Review of industry codes and 1
related matters 2
`270K Direction by Minister to review 3
`(1) The Minister may, by gazette notice, give QCA a written 4
direction to conduct a review into-- 5
(a) any matter relating to the Queensland reticulated 6
processed natural gas markets; or 7
(b) the operation and effectiveness of an industry code; or 8
(c) any matter relating to an industry code. 9
`(2) QCA must comply with the direction. 10
`(3) QCA must publish the direction on its website. 11
`270L Terms of reference 12
`The direction may do all or any of the following-- 13
(a) state the terms of reference of the review; 14
(b) require QCA to give the Minister a report on the review 15
within a stated period; 16
(c) require QCA to make the report publicly available or 17
available to a stated entity; 18
(d) require QCA to, during the review, make a draft report 19
publicly available or available to a stated entity; 20
(e) require QCA to, in conducting the review-- 21
(i) consider stated matters; and 22
(ii) have stated objectives; 23
(f) give QCA other directions the Minister considers 24
appropriate. 25
`270M Notice of review or amended term of reference or 26
direction 27
`QCA must publish a notice of the following on its website 28
and in a Statewide newspaper-- 29
s 145 135 s 145
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(a) the review; 1
(b) if a term of reference or direction relating to the review 2
is amended--the amended term of reference or 3
direction. 4
`270N Conduct of review 5
`(1) The QCA Act, part 6, other than section 171, (the applied 6
part) applies for the review-- 7
(a) as if a reference in the applied part to an investigation 8
were a reference to the review; and 9
(b) as if the QCA Act, section 176(3), required the notice 10
mentioned in that subsection to be given to any entity 11
that QCA knows would be potentially affected by the 12
review. 13
`(2) However, the applied part applies subject to any requirement 14
or direction of the Minister. 15
`Part 4 Amending industry codes 16
`270O Amending code 17
`(1) QCA may amend an industry code. 18
`(2) Part 2 applies to the amendment-- 19
(a) as if a reference in the part to making the code were a 20
reference to the making of the amendment; and 21
(b) as if a reference in the part to the code were a reference 22
to the amendment. 23
`Part 5 Enforcing industry codes 24
s 145 136 s 145
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`Division 1 Code contravention notices 1
`Subdivision 1 Preliminary 2
`270P Application of div 1 3
`This division applies if QCA suspects-- 4
(a) a distributor or retailer-- 5
(i) has contravened, or is contravening, an industry 6
code; or 7
(ii) is involved in an activity that is likely to result in a 8
contravention of an industry code; and 9
(b) the contravention or likely contravention is, or is likely 10
to be, a material contravention of the code. 11
`270Q Criteria for deciding material contravention 12
`(1) This section applies to the making of any decision under this 13
Act about whether a contravention of an industry code is a 14
material contravention of the code. 15
`(2) Regard must be had to the QCA code objective. 16
`(3) Subsection (2) does not limit or otherwise affect what may be 17
considered in making the decision. 18
`Subdivision 2 Warning notices 19
`270R Warning notice may be given 20
`(1) QCA may give the distributor or retailer a notice (the warning 21
notice), warning the distributor or retailer that QCA proposes 22
to give the distributor or retailer a further notice about the 23
contravention or likely contravention (a code contravention 24
notice). 25
`(2) QCA must make the decision about whether to give the 26
warning notice as soon as practicable after forming the 27
suspicion. 28
s 145 137 s 145
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`(3) However, a failure to comply with subsection (2) does not 1
affect the validity of the warning notice or any subsequent 2
code contravention notice. 3
`(4) Despite subsections (2) and (3), if the warning notice is 4
proposed to be given for a contravention, it can only be given 5
within 2 years after the day on which the contravention 6
happened. 7
`270S Requirements for warning notice 8
`(1) The warning notice must state each of the following-- 9
(a) particulars of the contravention or likely contravention; 10
(b) that QCA proposes to give the distributor or retailer a 11
code contravention notice unless the distributor or 12
retailer-- 13
(i) takes steps reasonably necessary to remedy the 14
contravention or avoid the likely contravention; 15
and 16
(ii) gives QCA a written assurance (a conduct 17
assurance), in the terms stated in the warning 18
notice, that the distributor or retailer will-- 19
(A) avoid any similar future contravention; and 20
(B) take steps reasonably necessary to avoid a 21
future recurrence of the contravention; 22
(c) a period (the warning period) after which the code 23
contravention notice may be given unless the warning 24
notice is complied with; 25
(d) that the distributor or retailer may make, within the 26
period, written submissions to show why the proposed 27
code contravention notice should not be given. 28
`(2) The warning period must be-- 29
(a) if the warning notice is given because QCA considers 30
the contravention or likely contravention is of a type that 31
requires urgent action--a period that QCA considers is 32
reasonable in the circumstances; or 33
(b) otherwise--at least 20 business days. 34
s 145 138 s 145
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`(3) The warning notice may also state the steps QCA reasonably 1
believes are necessary to remedy the contravention or avoid its 2
future recurrence, or avoid the likely contravention. 3
4
Examples of steps that may remedy a contravention--
5
· refunding an amount wrongly paid because of the contravention
6
· paying compensation to someone who has damage, injury or loss
7
because of the contravention
8
· disclosing particular information
9
· publishing advertisements about the contravention or action to
10
remedy it
`270T Considering submissions on warning notice 11
`(1) QCA must consider any written submission made under 12
section 270S(1)(d) by the distributor or retailer within the 13
period stated in the warning notice. 14
`(2) If QCA at any time decides not to give the proposed code 15
contravention notice, it must, as soon as practicable, give the 16
distributor or retailer notice of the decision. 17
`Subdivision 3 Action after warning notice 18
`270U Giving of code contravention notice 19
`(1) QCA may give the proposed code contravention notice if-- 20
(a) the distributor or retailer has not complied with the 21
warning notice; and 22
(b) after complying with section 270T, QCA still believes 23
the code contravention notice ought to be given. 24
`(2) The code contravention notice must state-- 25
(a) that the distributor or retailer-- 26
(i) has contravened, or is contravening, an industry 27
code; or 28
(ii) is likely to contravene an industry code; and 29
(b) the contravention or likely contravention is, or is likely 30
to be, a material contravention of the code; and 31
s 145 139 s 145
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(c) particulars of the contravention or likely contravention. 1
`(3) Subsection (4) applies if the warning notice was given on the 2
basis of a contravention of the industry code and the 3
distributor or retailer-- 4
(a) has taken steps reasonably necessary to remedy the 5
contravention; but 6
(b) has not given the conduct assurance required under the 7
warning notice. 8
`(4) QCA may give the code contravention notice on the basis that 9
the distributor or retailer is still involved in an activity that is, 10
or is likely to result in, a material contravention of the industry 11
code. 12
13
Note--
14
Under section 307A, a certified copy of a conduct notice is, for a
15
proceeding under or relating to this Act, amongst other things, evidence
16
of the contravention or other things stated in it.
`270V Duration of code contravention notice 17
`The code contravention notice-- 18
(a) comes into effect-- 19
(i) when it is made; or 20
(ii) if it states a later time--at the later time; and 21
(b) ends-- 22
(i) on the day stated in the notice; or 23
(ii) if it is cancelled before that day--when it is 24
cancelled. 25
`Division 2 Proceedings 26
`270W Proceeding for civil penalty order 27
`(1) This section applies if, on the application of QCA, the 28
Supreme Court is satisfied a distributor or retailer has-- 29
(a) contravened an industry code; or 30
s 145 140 s 145
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(b) attempted to contravene an industry code; or 1
(c) been involved in a contravention of an industry code. 2
`(2) The court may order the distributor or retailer to pay the State 3
as a civil penalty an amount of no more than-- 4
(a) for an individual--$100000; or 5
(b) for a corporation--$500000. 6
`(3) In fixing the penalty, the court must consider-- 7
(a) the nature and extent of-- 8
(i) the contravention; and 9
(ii) loss or damage suffered because of the 10
contravention; and 11
(b) the circumstances in which the contravention took 12
place; and 13
(c) whether the distributor or retailer has previously been 14
found by the court in proceedings under this Act to have 15
engaged in any similar conduct. 16
`(4) For subsection (1)(c), a distributor or retailer is involved in a 17
contravention if the distributor or retailer-- 18
(a) has aided, abetted, counselled or procured the 19
contravention; or 20
(b) has induced the contravention, whether through threats, 21
promises or in another way; or 22
(c) has been in any way, directly or indirectly, knowingly 23
concerned in, or party to, the contravention; or 24
(d) has conspired with others to effect the contravention. 25
26
Note--
27
See also chapter 6, part 3, division 3 (Provisions for civil penalty
28
proceedings).
`270X How order enforced 29
`If the Supreme Court orders payment of an amount under 30
section 270W(2), the State may enforce the order as a 31
judgment of the court for a debt of that amount. 32
s 145 141 s 145
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`270Y Injunctions 1
`(1) The Supreme Court may, on the application of QCA, grant an 2
injunction if satisfied a distributor or retailer has engaged or is 3
proposing to engage, in conduct that constitutes, or would 4
constitute any of the following-- 5
(a) a contravention of an industry code; 6
(b) attempting to contravene an industry code; 7
(c) aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring a distributor 8
or retailer to contravene an industry code; 9
(d) inducing, or attempting to induce, whether by threats, 10
promises or otherwise, a distributor or retailer to 11
contravene an industry code; 12
(e) being in any way, directly or indirectly, knowingly 13
concerned in, or party to, the contravention by a 14
distributor or retailer of an industry code; 15
(f) conspiring with others to contravene an industry code. 16
`(2) An injunction may be granted on conditions. 17
`(3) The court may also grant an injunction by consent of all 18
parties to the application, whether or not the court is satisfied 19
a distributor or retailer has engaged, or is proposing to engage, 20
in conduct of a type mentioned in subsection (1). 21
`(4) The court may grant an interim injunction pending its decision 22
on the application. 23
`(5) The court must not require anyone, as a condition of granting 24
an interim injunction, to give an undertaking as to damages. 25
`(6) The court may amend an injunction or interim injunction. 26
`(7) An injunction or interim injunction restraining a distributor or 27
retailer from engaging in conduct may be granted whether or 28
not-- 29
(a) it appears to the court that the distributor or retailer 30
intends to engage again, or to continue to engage, in 31
conduct of that kind; and 32
(b) the distributor or retailer has previously engaged in 33
conduct of that kind; and 34
s 145 142 s 145
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(c) there is an imminent danger of substantial damage to 1
another person if the person engages in conduct of that 2
kind. 3
`(8) An injunction or interim injunction requiring a distributor or 4
retailer to do an act or thing may be granted whether or not-- 5
(a) it appears to the court that the distributor or retailer 6
intends to fail again, or to continue to fail, to do that act 7
or thing; and 8
(b) the distributor or retailer has previously failed to do the 9
act or thing; and 10
(c) there is an imminent danger of substantial damage to 11
another person if the distributor or retailer does not do 12
the act or thing. 13
`270Z Conduct by directors, servants or agents 14
`(1) This section applies to a proceeding under this division. 15
`(2) If-- 16
(a) the proceeding concerns alleged conduct engaged in by 17
a distributor or retailer to which an industry code 18
applies; and 19
(b) it is necessary to prove the distributor or retailer's state 20
of mind; 21
it is enough to prove that a director, servant or agent (a 22
representative) of the distributor or retailer, acting within the 23
scope of the representative's actual or apparent authority, had 24
the state of mind. 25
`(3) Conduct engaged in for a distributor or retailer by the 26
following persons is taken to have been engaged in by the 27
distributor or retailer-- 28
(a) a representative of the distributor or retailer, acting 29
within the scope of the representative's actual or 30
apparent authority; 31
(b) another person at the direction, or with the consent or 32
agreement, of a representative of the distributor or 33
retailer, if the giving of the direction, consent or 34
s 145 143 s 145
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
agreement was within the scope of the representative's 1
actual or apparent authority. 2
`(4) Conduct engaged in for a distributor or retailer (the principal) 3
by the following persons is taken to have been engaged in by 4
the principal-- 5
(a) a servant or agent of the principal, acting within the 6
scope of the servant's or agent's actual or apparent 7
authority; 8
(b) another person at the direction or with the consent or 9
agreement, of a servant or agent of the principal, if the 10
giving of the direction, consent or agreement was within 11
the scope of the servant's or agent's actual or apparent 12
authority. 13
`(5) In this section-- 14
consent or agreement includes an implied consent or 15
agreement. 16
state of mind, of a person, may include-- 17
(a) knowledge, intention, opinion, belief or purpose of the 18
person; and 19
(b) the person's reasons for the person's intention, opinion, 20
belief or purpose. 21
`Division 3 Referrals to regulator 22
`270ZA When QCA must refer material contravention 23
`If the Supreme Court decides a contravention of an industry 24
code by a distributor or retailer is a material contravention of 25
the code, QCA must refer the matter to the regulator. 26
`270ZB When QCA may refer material contravention 27
`(1) If QCA has given a distributor or retailer a warning notice for 28
a material contravention or likely material contravention of an 29
industry code, QCA may refer the matter to the regulator. 30
s 145 144 s 145
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`(2) The referral may be made whether or not a code contravention 1
notice has been given for, or a proceeding started under this 2
division about, the contravention or likely contravention. 3
4
Note--
5
If QCA has applied for a civil penalty order under section 270W, section
6
270ZK prevents the regulator from imposing a similar penalty.
`(3) However, the matter can not be referred before the giving of 7
the warning notice. 8
`270ZC Guidelines for exercise of QCA powers for civil 9
penalties 10
`(1) QCA must publish on its website guidelines about when it 11
will do each of the following-- 12
(a) under section 270W, apply for a civil penalty order; 13
(b) under section 270ZB, refer matters to the regulator. 14
`(2) Before publishing the guidelines, QCA must, take steps it 15
considers appropriate to consult with distributors and retailers. 16
`(3) The guidelines are not legally binding on QCA and are 17
non-justiciable. 18
`(4) The guidelines must include information to the effect of 19
subsection (3). 20
`270ZD How regulator deals with referral 21
`If, under this subdivision, QCA refers a matter to the 22
regulator, the regulator may take all or any of the following 23
action against the relevant distributor or retailer-- 24
(a) for a distributor or retailer--impose a civil penalty, 25
under chapter 6, part 1A; 26
(b) for a distributor--action under chapter 2, part 1, 27
division 3; 28
(c) for a retailer--action under chapter 3, part 1, division 3. 29
`Division 4 Production of documents or 30
information 31
s 145 145 s 145
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`270ZE Notice to produce documents or information 1
`(1) This section applies if QCA is conducting an investigation to 2
find out whether a distributor or retailer is complying with an 3
industry code. 4
`(2) QCA may, by notice to the distributor or retailer, require the 5
distributor or retailer to give QCA all or any the following 6
things QCA believes, on reasonable grounds, are relevant to 7
the investigation-- 8
(a) information within the distributor's or retailer's 9
knowledge or possession; 10
(b) documents in the distributor's or retailer's custody, 11
possession or power. 12
`(3) The notice must state-- 13
(a) the information or documents required; and 14
(b) a period in which the documents or information are to 15
be given of no less than 7 days; and 16
(c) a reasonable place at which the documents or 17
information are to be given. 18
`(4) The distributor or retailer must comply with the notice, unless 19
it has a reasonable excuse. 20
Maximum penalty--500 penalty units. 21
`(5) A distributor or retailer is not required to comply with the 22
notice if the distributor or retailer claims, on the ground of 23
self-incrimination, a privilege the distributor or retailer would 24
be entitled to claim against giving the information were the 25
distributor or retailer a witness in a prosecution for an offence 26
in the Supreme Court. 27
`(6) If the distributor or retailer claims that complying with the 28
notice may tend to incriminate it, QCA or the distributor or 29
retailer may make an application to the Supreme Court to 30
decide the validity of the claim. 31
`270ZF Protection of confidential information given for 32
investigation 33
`(1) This section applies if-- 34
s 145 146 s 145
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(a) QCA is conducting an investigation to find out whether 1
a distributor or retailer is complying with an industry 2
code; and 3
(b) the distributor or retailer gives QCA information for the 4
purpose of the investigation, whether or not the giving 5
of the information was required under section 270ZE. 6
`(2) The QCA Act, section 187 applies as if the information had 7
been made available for an investigation under that Act. 8
`(3) In this section-- 9
information includes a document. 10
`Division 5 Audits 11
`270ZG QCA's powers concerning audit of compliance with 12
industry code 13
`(1) QCA may, by notice to a distributor or retailer, require the 14
distributor or retailer to-- 15
(a) carry out an internal audit of all or any of the 16
following-- 17
(i) the distributor's or retailer's compliance with an 18
industry code, either generally or about a stated 19
particular matter or matters; 20
(ii) the reliability and quality of information given by 21
the distributor or retailer to QCA, under this Act; 22
or 23
(b) appoint a person as an independent auditor to carry out 24
an audit of all or any of the things mentioned in 25
paragraph (a). 26
`(2) The notice may state terms of reference QCA requires for 27
carrying out the audit. 28
`(3) QCA may appoint a person as an independent auditor to carry 29
out an audit of all or any of the things mentioned in subsection 30
(1)(a) concerning the distributor or retailer, if-- 31
(a) the distributor or retailer does not comply with a notice 32
given to it under the subsection; or 33
s 145 147 s 145
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(b) QCA reasonably considers that a person appointed 1
under subsection (1) does not have appropriate 2
qualifications or experience for carrying out the audit. 3
`(4) A person may be appointed as an independent auditor under 4
subsection (1)(b) or (3) only if the appointer reasonably 5
considers the person has the appropriate qualifications or 6
experience for carrying out the audit. 7
`270ZH Responsibility for cost of audit 8
`(1) A distributor or retailer required under section 270ZG(1) to 9
carry out, or appoint an independent auditor to carry out, an 10
audit is responsible for the cost of the audit. 11
`(2) If QCA appoints an independent auditor to carry out an audit 12
concerning a distributor or retailer, the distributor or retailer 13
must reimburse QCA for the cost of the audit if required to do 14
so by QCA. 15
`270ZI Independent auditor may require reasonable help 16
or information 17
`(1) An independent auditor appointed under section 270ZG to 18
carry out an audit concerning a distributor or retailer may 19
require the distributor or retailer to give the auditor-- 20
(a) reasonable help to carry out the audit; or 21
22
Examples--
23
· access to the distributor's or retailer's premises and records
24
· help from the distributor's or retailer's employees
(b) information, in a form reasonably required by the 25
auditor, to help the auditor carry out the audit. 26
`(2) A distributor or retailer required to give reasonable help under 27
subsection (1)(a), or information under subsection (1)(b), 28
must comply with the requirement unless the distributor or 29
retailer has a reasonable excuse. 30
Maximum penalty--1000 penalty units. 31
`(3) If the distributor or retailer is an individual, it is a reasonable 32
excuse for the individual not to comply with the requirement 33
s 146 148 s 146
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
if complying with the requirement might tend to incriminate 1
the individual. 2
`270ZJ Audit report and submissions on report 3
`(1) A distributor or retailer required under section 270ZG(1) to 4
carry out, or appoint an independent auditor to carry out, an 5
audit must give a copy of the audit report to QCA. 6
`(2) The copy must be given as soon as practicable after the audit 7
is completed. 8
`(3) If QCA appoints an independent auditor to carry out an audit 9
concerning a distributor or retailer, QCA must give the 10
distributor or retailer-- 11
(a) a copy of the draft audit report and an opportunity to 12
make submissions to QCA on the draft report; and 13
(b) a copy of the final audit report and an opportunity to 14
make further submissions to QCA on the final report.'. 15
Clause 146 Insertion of new ch 6, pt 1A 16
Chapter 6, before part 1-- 17
insert-- 18
`Part 1A Civil penalty for particular 19
contraventions 20
`270ZK Application of pt 1A 21
`(1) This part applies if-- 22
(a) any of the following are referred to the regulator in 23
relation to a distributor or retailer-- 24
(i) a material contravention of an industry code, 25
referred under section 270ZA or 270ZB; 26
(ii) a contravention of a compliance direction under 27
the Energy Ombudsman Act 2006, referred under 28
section 46 of that Act; or 29
s 146 149 s 146
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(b) a distributor or retailer does not comply with a condition 1
of the distributor's or retailer's authority under this Act 2
in relation to the Energy Ombudsman Act 2006. 3
`(2) However, if the contravention is a contravention of an industry 4
code, this part applies only if QCA has not applied for a civil 5
penalty order under section 270W. 6
`(3) To remove any doubt, it is declared that this part does not limit 7
or otherwise affect the taking of action or proposed action 8
under chapter 2, part 1, division 3 or chapter 3, part 1, division 9
3 concerning an authority under this Act held by the 10
distributor or retailer. 11
`270ZL Regulator may impose civil penalty 12
`(1) The regulator may, for the State, impose a civil penalty on the 13
distributor or retailer of no more than the monetary value of 14
1333 penalty units. 15
`(2) However, the power under subsection (1) may be exercised 16
only if-- 17
(a) the regulator has given the distributor or retailer a notice 18
stating each of the following-- 19
(i) that the regulator proposes to impose the penalty; 20
(ii) the grounds for imposing the proposed penalty; 21
(iii) the facts and circumstances that are the basis for 22
the grounds; 23
(iv) that the distributor or retailer may, within a stated 24
period of at least 20 business days, make written 25
submissions to show why the penalty should not be 26
imposed; and 27
28
Note--
29
See also chapter 6, part 3, division 3 (Provisions for civil penalty
30
proceedings).
(b) the regulator has considered any written submissions 31
made under paragraph (a)(iv) within the period stated in 32
the notice. 33
s 147 150 s 149
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`270ZM Information notice about and taking effect of decision 1
`(1) If the regulator decides to impose the civil penalty, the 2
regulator must, as soon as practicable after making the 3
decision, give the distributor or retailer an information notice 4
about the decision. 5
`(2) The decision takes effect on the later of the following days-- 6
(a) the day the information notice is given; 7
(b) a later day of effect stated in the notice. 8
`270ZN Civil penalty recoverable as a debt 9
`If the regulator imposes the civil penalty, the State may 10
recover the amount of the penalty as a debt.'. 11
Clause 147 Amendment of s 279 (Who may appeal) 12
Section 279-- 13
insert-- 14
`(3) A distributor or retailer who, under section 270ZM, has been 15
given, or is entitled to be given, an information notice about a 16
decision under section 270ZL to impose a civil penalty may 17
appeal against the decision to the District Court.'. 18
Clause 148 Amendment of s 286 (Unlawfully operating distribution 19
pipeline) 20
Section 286(2), `fuel gas'-- 21
omit, insert-- 22
`processed natural gas'. 23
Clause 149 Amendment of s 287 (Unlawful tampering with gas 24
infrastructure) 25
Section 287, after `distributor's'-- 26
insert-- 27
`or LPG distributor's'. 28
s 150 151 s 153
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
Clause 150 Amendment of s 288 (Unlawfully selling reticulated fuel 1
gas) 2
Section 288, `fuel gas'-- 3
omit, insert-- 4
`processed natural gas'. 5
Clause 151 Amendment of s 289 (Unlawfully taking fuel gas) 6
(1) Section 289, `fuel gas'-- 7
omit, insert-- 8
`processed natural gas or LPG'. 9
(2) Section 289(2)(b)-- 10
renumber as section 289(2)(c). 11
(3) Section 289(2)-- 12
insert-- 13
`(b) an LPG distribution pipeline;'. 14
Clause 152 Amendment of s 295 (Evidence of tampering with gas 15
infrastructure) 16
(1) Section 295(a), `fuel gas'-- 17
omit, insert-- 18
`processed natural gas or LPG'. 19
(2) Section 295(a), after `distributor's'-- 20
insert-- 21
`or LPG distributor's' 22
Clause 153 Amendment of ch 6, pt 3, div 2, hdg (Provisions for 23
unlawfully taking fuel gas) 24
Chapter 6, part 3, division 2, heading, `fuel gas'-- 25
omit, insert-- 26
`processed natural gas or LPG'. 27
s 154 152 s 157
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
Clause 154 Amendment of s 297 (Evidence of unlawful taking of fuel 1
gas) 2
Section 297, `fuel gas'-- 3
omit, insert-- 4
`processed natural gas or LPG'. 5
Clause 155 Amendment of s 298 (Proceeding may be for a period) 6
Section 298, `fuel gas'-- 7
omit, insert-- 8
`processed natural gas or LPG'. 9
Clause 156 Amendment of s 299 (Ownership of fuel gas for 10
proceeding) 11
Section 299, `fuel gas'-- 12
omit, insert-- 13
`processed natural gas or LPG'. 14
Clause 157 Insertion of new ch 6, pt 3, div 3 15
Chapter 6, part 3-- 16
insert-- 17
`Division 3 Provisions for civil penalty 18
proceedings 19
`299A Relationship with criminal proceedings 20
`(1) This section applies if-- 21
(a) action (a civil penalty proceeding) is taken against or in 22
relation to a person, consisting of-- 23
(i) an application under section 270W for a civil 24
penalty order; or 25
(ii) a referral under section 270ZB to the regulator and 26
any decision in relation to the referral that involves 27
the imposition of a civil penalty; and 28
s 158 153 s 158
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(b) a criminal proceeding has been started, or has already 1
been started, against the person for an offence; and 2
(c) the conduct that constitutes the offence is the same, or 3
substantially the same, as the conduct the subject of the 4
civil penalty proceeding. 5
`(2) The civil penalty proceeding must be stayed or not continued. 6
`(3) However, the civil penalty proceeding may be resumed if, at 7
the end of the criminal proceeding, there is no conviction for 8
the offence. 9
`(4) Evidence in the civil penalty proceeding of information given, 10
or documents produced, by a person is not admissible in 11
evidence in the criminal proceeding. 12
`(5) In this section-- 13
conduct includes an omission. 14
conviction includes a finding of guilt, or the acceptance of a 15
plea of guilt, by a court whether or not a conviction is 16
recorded. 17
`299B Avoidance of multiple penalties 18
`If-- 19
(a) a civil penalty proceeding under section 299A is taken; 20
and 21
(b) conduct, or substantially the same conduct, the subject 22
of the civil penalty proceeding constitutes a 23
contravention of 2 or more industry code provisions; 24
a civil penalty must not be imposed or ordered in the civil 25
penalty proceeding more than once for that conduct.'. 26
Clause 158 Amendment of s 301 (Additional consequences of 27
unlawfully operating distribution pipe) 28
Section 301, `fuel gas'-- 29
omit, insert-- 30
`processed natural gas'. 31
s 159 154 s 161
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
Clause 159 Amendment of s 302 (Additional consequences of 1
unlawfully selling reticulated fuel gas) 2
Section 302, `fuel gas'-- 3
omit, insert-- 4
`processed natural gas'. 5
Clause 160 Insertion of new s 307A 6
Chapter 6, part 5, after section 307-- 7
insert-- 8
`307A Evidentiary effect of code contravention notice 9
`(1) A document purporting to be a certified copy of a code 10
contravention notice is evidence-- 11
(a) that the notice was a code contravention notice given 12
under chapter 5A, part 5, division 1; and 13
(b) of the contravention or other matters stated in it; and 14
(c) that the notice has been given to the distributor or 15
retailer stated in the notice. 16
`(2) In this section-- 17
certified copy means a copy with a certificate purporting to be 18
signed by a member of QCA stating the copy is a true copy of 19
the document it purports to be.'. 20
Clause 161 Insertion of new s 310A 21
Chapter 6, part 6, after section 310-- 22
insert-- 23
`310A Registers QCA must keep 24
`QCA must keep a register of each of the following-- 25
(a) industry codes; 26
(b) each retailer's standard terms; 27
(c) warning notices, including expired warning notices; 28
(d) conduct assurances; 29
s 162 155 s 164
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(e) code contravention notices, including expired code 1
contravention notices. 2
3
Note--
4
For access to the registers, see the QCA Act, sections 227A to 227C.'.
Clause 162 Amendment of s 315 (Protection from civil liability for 5
particular persons) 6
Section 315(1)-- 7
insert-- 8
`(e) the GRMO; 9
(f) a director or other officer of the GRMO acting within 10
the scope of the person's directorship or other office 11
with the GRMO; 12
(g) an employee of the GRMO acting within the course of 13
the employee's employment with the GRMO; 14
(h) QCA.'. 15
Clause 163 Amendment of s 316 (Limitation of liability of distributors 16
and retailers) 17
Section 316(1), `fuel gas'-- 18
omit, insert-- 19
`processed natural gas'. 20
Clause 164 Insertion of new s 316A 21
After section 316-- 22
insert-- 23
`316A Protection from liability of member or employee of 24
QCA 25
`(1) A member or employee of QCA is not civilly liable for an act 26
done, or omission made, in good faith under this Act. 27
`(2) If subsection (1) prevents a civil liability attaching to a 28
member or employee, the liability attaches instead to QCA.'. 29
s 165 156 s 167
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
Clause 165 Amendment of s 320 (Delegation by Minister) 1
Section 320(3), `section 228 or 233'-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`chapter 3, part 4, division 2'. 4
Clause 166 Insertion of new ss 321A and 321B 5
After section 321-- 6
insert-- 7
`321A Delegation by QCA 8
`QCA may delegate, to the GRMO, QCA's functions under 9
chapter 5A, part 5 to the extent the functions relate to 10
provisions of an industry code concerning gas retail market 11
services. 12
`321B Reporting to Minister by QCA 13
`(1) QCA must, on or before each 31 December and 30 June, give 14
the Minister a written report about the performance of-- 15
(a) its functions under this Act; and 16
(b) any of the Minister's functions under this Act that have 17
been delegated to QCA. 18
`(2) QCA may, from time to time, give the Minister reports about 19
any significant events in the State's processed natural gas 20
market of which it considers the Minister ought to be aware, 21
including, for example, systemic issues materially affecting 22
consumers. 23
`(3) In this section a reference to the performance of a function 24
includes the exercise of a power.'. 25
Clause 167 Replacement of ch 7 (Transitional provisions) 26
Chapter 7-- 27
omit, insert-- 28
s 167 157 s 167
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`Chapter 7 Transitional provisions for 1
Electricity and Other 2
Legislation Amendment Act 3
2006 4
`324 Definitions for ch 7 5
`In this chapter-- 6
amendment Act means the Electricity and Other Legislation 7
Amendment Act 2006. 8
FRC day means the day the amendment Act, section 114 9
commences. 10
former, for a provision mentioned in this part, means the 11
provision to which the reference relates is a provision of the 12
pre-amended Act. 13
new, for a provision mentioned in this part, means the 14
provision to which the reference relates is a provision of the 15
post-amended Act, as affected by any relevant definitions 16
under the post-amended Act. 17
post-amended Act means this Act as in force from the FRC 18
day. 19
pre-amended Act means this Act as in force before the FRC 20
day. 21
`325 Conversion of customer retail contracts for 22
particular small customers to standard contracts 23
`(1) This section applies on the FRC day if-- 24
(a) immediately before that day, a customer retail contract 25
under the pre-amended Act (the existing contract) was 26
in force between a customer and a retailer for the 27
provision of customer retail services to premises; and 28
(b) under the post-amended Act the customer is a small 29
customer for the premises; and 30
(c) notified prices applied to the customer for the provision 31
of the services to the premises. 32
s 167 158 s 167
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`(2) The existing contract ends. 1
`(3) The ending of the existing contract does not affect rights or 2
obligations accrued under it before the FRC day. 3
`(4) The customer and the retailer are, under new section 204, 4
taken to have entered into a standard retail contract for the 5
provision of the services to the premises. 6
`(5) New sections 204 and 207 apply to the standard retail contract 7
as if it were a contract taken to have been entered into under 8
that section. 9
`326 Small customer may enter into negotiated retail 10
contract before FRC day 11
`(1) This section applies if-- 12
(a) under the pre-amended Act, a customer is a 13
non-contestable customer for premises; and 14
(b) the customer would, under the post-amended Act, be a 15
small customer for the premises. 16
`(2) Despite former section 169, the customer may enter into a 17
negotiated retail contract under the post-amended Act for the 18
provision of customer retail services to the premises even 19
though this Act is not in force in the form of the post-amended 20
Act. 21
`(3) However, until the FRC day-- 22
(a) customer retail services can not be provided under the 23
negotiated retail contract; and 24
(b) any customer retail contract under the pre-amended Act 25
continues to apply for the provision of the services. 26
`(4) Also, it is taken to be a term of the negotiated contract that the 27
customer may, by written notice to the relevant retailer given 28
within 10 business days after the FRC day, terminate the 29
contract without penalty. 30
`(5) The notice need not state a ground for the termination. 31
`327 Transitional retail contracts 32
`(1) This section applies on the FRC day if-- 33
s 167 159 s 167
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(a) immediately before that day, a customer retail contract 1
under the pre-amended Act (the existing contract) was 2
in force between a customer and a retailer for the 3
provision of customer retail services to premises; and 4
(b) in the 12 months before the FRC day, the customer at 5
the premises consumed more than 1TJ, but less than 6
10TJ, of processed natural gas; and 7
(c) notified prices applied to the customer for the provision 8
of the services to the premises. 9
`(2) The existing contract ends. 10
`(3) The ending of the existing contract does not affect rights or 11
obligations accrued under it before the FRC day. 12
`(4) The customer and the retailer are taken to have entered into a 13
a new retail contract (the transitional retail contract) for the 14
provision of the services to the premises. 15
`(5) The terms of the transitional retail contract are the retailer's 16
terms for retail contracts of the type to which this section 17
applies, as published on the area retailer's website and given 18
to QCA no later than 5 days before the FRC day. 19
`(6) The retailer must, as soon as practicable after publishing the 20
terms under subsection (5), give the customer a notice that the 21
terms of the retailer's transitional retail contracts may be 22
inspected on its website. 23
`(7) The customer and the retailer are taken to have agreed to 24
comply with the terms and to have entered into the transitional 25
retail contract as a deed. 26
`(8) New section 207 applies to the transitional retail contract as if 27
a reference in the section to a standard retail contract were a 28
reference to the transitional retail contract. 29
`(9) This section is subject to the retailer of last resort scheme. 30
`328 References to other particular contracts under 31
pre-amended Act 32
`(1) `In an Act or document, a reference to a contract of a 33
following type (the old type) under the pre-amended Act is 34
s 167 160 s 167
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
taken to be a reference to a type of contract under the 1
post-amended Act stated opposite the old type-- 2
(a) a customer connection contract--a connection contract; 3
(b) a customer retail contract--a retail contract. 4
`(2) Subsection (1) applies subject to new sections 325 to 327. 5
`329 Price publication requirements of area retailers for 6
FRC 7
`(1) Each area retailer must, before the following day, publish and 8
give the Minister and QCA a list of the indicative prices that it 9
proposes to charge its small customers under a standard retail 10
contract for the provision of customer retail services on the 11
FRC day-- 12
(a) if, before 31 March 2007, a day is prescribed under a 13
regulation--the prescribed day; 14
(b) otherwise--31 March 2007. 15
Maximum penalty--500 penalty units. 16
`(2) For subsection (1), the indicative prices are the prices that the 17
retailer reasonably estimates that it will be charging the 18
customers for the services, other than for the following 19
anticipated charges that it will pass on to them-- 20
(a) network use of system charges; 21
(b) network FRC charges passed on to the area retailer from 22
distributors; 23
(c) charges from the GRMO. 24
`(3) Each area retailer must, on the earlier of the following days, 25
publish and give the Minister and QCA a list of its actual 26
prices for the services-- 27
(a) the day that is 20 days after the last of the charges 28
mentioned in subsection (2) is fixed; 29
(b) the day that is 5 days before the FRC day. 30
Maximum penalty--500 penalty units. 31
`(4) A publication of actual prices under subsection (3) may be 32
included in a publication of the area retailer's standard terms 33
s 167 161 s 167
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
under new section 206, as that section applies because of new 1
section 330. 2
`(5) In this section-- 3
network FRC charges means charges for costs incurred by 4
distributors in implementing the amendments to this Act 5
under the amendment Act that, under their approved access 6
arrangements, may be passed on to customers. 7
network use of system charges means charges by the relevant 8
distributor for customer connection services and the 9
transportation of processed natural gas. 10
publish means publish on the area retailer's website. 11
`330 Area retailer's obligations about standard terms 12
apply 1 month before FRC day 13
`(1) New sections 160, 205 and 206 apply to each area retailer as if 14
the sections had commenced 1 month before the FRC day. 15
`(2) However, subsection (1) does not apply for the retailer's 16
standard terms to the extent the terms are its prices for 17
customer retail services. 18
`(3) Also, if the retailer gives a list as required under new section 19
329(3), the retailer may amend its standard terms to include 20
the prices without complying with new section 206. 21
`331 Price publication requirements of general retailers 22
for FRC 23
`Each general retailer must, before the FRC day, publish on its 24
website and give QCA a list of its prices on the FRC day for 25
its charges to small customers under a standard retail contract 26
for customer retail services. 27
`332 Existing mediated agreements 28
`Former section 264 continues to apply for a mediated 29
agreement under the pre-amended Act as if the section were 30
still in force. 31
s 168 162 s 170
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`333 Existing orders on arbitrated disputes 1
`Former section 265 continues to apply for an order made 2
under the section as if the section were still in force.'. 3
Clause 168 Omission of sch 1 (Contestable customers) 4
schedule 1-- 5
omit. 6
Clause 169 Omission of sch 3 (New authorities) 7
schedule 3-- 8
omit. 9
Clause 170 Amendment of sch 4 (Dictionary) 10
(1) Schedule 4, definitions contestable customer, customer 11
connection contract, customer retail contract, discontinuance 12
request, discontinue, fuel gas, information notice, LPG, 13
non-contestable customer, notified prices, protected customer 14
and register-- 15
omit. 16
(2) Schedule 4-- 17
insert-- 18
`advisory committee means an advisory committee 19
established under section 257D. 20
area retailer obligation see section 201(2). 21
code contravention notice see section 270R(1). 22
conduct assurance see section 270S(1)(b)(ii). 23
connection contract see section 106(1). 24
disconnect, for customer connection services, includes-- 25
(a) cessation, curtailment and interruption; and 26
(b) a refusal to connect or reconnect. 27
energy ombudsman means the energy ombudsman under the 28
Energy Ombudsman Act 2006. 29
s 170 163 s 170
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
excluded customer see section 17(4). 1
gas retail market services see section 257B(1)(a). 2
GRMO see section 257A(1). 3
industry code means-- 4
(a) an initial industry code; or 5
(b) an industry code made by QCA under chapter 5A and as 6
amended from time to time under that chapter. 7
information notice, for a decision, means a notice stating 8
each of the following-- 9
(a) the decision; 10
(b) reasons for the decision; 11
(c) the rights of-- 12
(i) review or appeal under this Act for the decision; or 13
(ii) referral, under the Energy Ombudsman Act 2006, 14
for the decision; 15
(d) the period within which any review or appeal or referral 16
must be started or made; 17
(e) how the rights of review or appeal or referral must be 18
exercised; 19
(f) for a right of review or appeal--that a stay of a decision 20
the subject of review or appeal under this Act may be 21
applied for under this Act. 22
initial industry code means an initial industry code made by 23
the Minister under chapter 5A and as amended from time to 24
time under that chapter. 25
large customer see section 17(3). 26
LPG distribution pipeline means a pipeline that-- 27
(a) only transports LPG; and 28
(b) would, other than for the fact that it only transports 29
LPG, be a distribution pipeline as defined under section 30
13. 31
LPG distribution system means a system of pipelines, meters 32
and other equipment that-- 33
s 170 164 s 170
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
(a) is only for LPG; and 1
(b) would, other than for the fact that the system is only for 2
LPG, be a distribution system as defined under section 3
14. 4
LPG distributor means a person who-- 5
(a) owns or operates an LPG distribution pipeline or LPG 6
distribution system; and 7
(b) provides services to premises that-- 8
(i) relate to the pipeline or system; and 9
(ii) would, if the pipeline or system was a distribution 10
pipeline or system, be customer connection 11
services as defined under section 19. 12
MIRN means a meter identification registration number under 13
an industry code. 14
MIRN premises-- 15
1 A MIRN premises is premises, a part of premises or a 16
group of premises-- 17
(a) that, under an industry code, has an established 18
metering installation with a MIRN; or 19
(b) for which, under an industry code, a metering 20
installation with a MIRN is to be established. 21
2 However, the term does not include a premises of an 22
excluded customer. 23
negotiated retail contract see section 208(1). 24
notified prices see section 228(3). 25
premises, of a customer, means premises owned or occupied 26
by the customer. 27
pricing investigation see section 227A(1)(a). 28
QCA Act means the Queensland Competition Authority Act 29
1997. 30
QCA code objective see section 270F(1). 31
register of authorities means the register the regulator keeps 32
under section 308. 33
s 171 165 s 171
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
retail contract means a negotiated retail contract or a standard 1
retail contract. 2
retail services application see section 198(1). 3
small customer see section 17(1). 4
standard retail contract see section 204(4). 5
standard terms, for a retailer, see section 205(1). 6
warning notice see section 270R(1).'. 7
(3) Schedule 4, definition corresponding authority, paragraph (h) 8
and definitions meter, reticulated and supply, `fuel gas'-- 9
omit, insert-- 10
`processed natural gas'. 11
(4) Schedule 4, definition holder, after `register'-- 12
insert-- 13
`of authorities'. 14
(5) Schedule 4, definition QCA, `Queensland Competition 15
Authority Act 1997'-- 16
omit, insert-- 17
`QCA Act'. 18
(6) Schedule 4-- 19
renumber as schedule 2. 20
Part 5 Amendment of Queensland 21
Competition Authority Act 1997 22
Clause 171 Act amended in pt 5 23
This part amends the Queensland Competition Authority Act 24
1997. 25
s 172 166 s 174
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
Clause 172 Amendment of s 10 (Authority's functions) 1
(1) Section 10(j), (k) and (l)-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`(j) to make industry codes, other than an initial industry 4
code, under the Electricity Act 1994 and the Gas Supply 5
Act 2003; and 6
(k) to monitor compliance with industry codes under the 7
Electricity Act 1994 and the Gas Supply Act 2003; and 8
(l) to review particular decisions under the Electricity Act 9
1994; and'. 10
(2) Section 10(m), `this or another Act; and'-- 11
omit, insert-- 12
`an Act, including, for example-- 13
(i) performing a function or exercising a power 14
delegated to it under an Act; or 15
(ii) doing an act it is directed to do under an Act; and'. 16
Clause 173 Amendment of s 187 (Confidential information) 17
(1) Section 187(3)(f), `section 63(1)(e)'-- 18
omit, insert-- 19
`section 63(1)(c)'. 20
(2) Section 187(3)(g) and (h)-- 21
renumber as section 187(3)(h) and (i). 22
(3) Section 187(3)-- 23
insert-- 24
`(g) the regulator under the Gas Supply Act 2003, to 25
facilitate the performance of the regulator's function of 26
monitoring compliance with the conditions of 27
authorities under that Act; or'. 28
Clause 174 Replacement of s 227A (Keeping registers) 29
Section 227A-- 30
s 175 167 s 176
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
omit, insert-- 1
`227A Keeping registers 2
`(1) The authority may keep a register in the way it considers 3
appropriate. 4
`(2) However, if the register is a register of industry codes under 5
the Electricity Act 1994 or the Gas Supply Act 2003, the 6
authority must keep the register in a way that ensures each 7
code included in the register is published on its website.'. 8
Clause 175 Amendment of s 239 (Confidential information) 9
(1) Section 239(2)(d), `section 63(1)(e)'-- 10
omit, insert-- 11
`section 63(1)(c)'. 12
(2) Section 239(2)(e) and (f)-- 13
renumber as section 239(2)(f) and (g). 14
(3) Section 239(2)-- 15
insert-- 16
`(e) the regulator under the Gas Supply Act 2003, to facilitate the 17
performance of the regulator's function of monitoring 18
compliance with the conditions of authorities under that Act; 19
or'. 20
Clause 176 Amendment of schedule (Dictionary) 21
Schedule, definition register, paragraph (f)-- 22
omit, insert-- 23
`(f) a register that the authority is required to keep under the 24
Electricity Act 1994, section 254B or the Gas Supply Act 25
2003, section 310A;'. 26
s 177 168 s 177
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
Part 6 Minor and consequential 1
amendments 2
Clause 177 Acts amended in schedule 3
(1) The schedule amends the Acts it mentions. 4
(2) However, subsection (1) does not apply in relation to a 5
particular Act if another provision of this Act states that the 6
schedule amends the particular Act. 7
169
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
Schedule Minor and consequential 1
amendments 2
sections 3, 58 and 177 3
Electricity Act 1994 4
1 Chapter 1, part 3, heading, `and notes in text'-- 5
omit. 6
2 Section 4A-- 7
omit. 8
3 Chapter 2, part 2, heading, `and contestable customers'-- 9
omit. 10
4 Before section 37-- 11
insert-- 12
`Division 1 Preliminary'. 13
5 After section 41-- 14
insert-- 15
`Division 5 Conditions of distribution 16
authorities'. 17
6 Chapter 2, part 8, division 1, heading-- 18
omit. 19
170
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
Schedule 1 (continued)
7 Section 89A(8), and schedule 5, definition QCA, 1
`Queensland Competition Authority Act 1997'-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`QCA Act'. 4
8 Sections 89B and 254AA, `the QCA'-- 5
omit, insert-- 6
`QCA'. 7
9 Sections 89B(3), `The QCA'-- 8
omit, insert-- 9
`QCA'. 10
10 Section 135AI, heading, after `electricity load'-- 11
insert-- 12
`and the electricity load of the State'. 13
11 Section 135AK, definition information notice-- 14
omit. 15
12 Sections 179A(1), 188A(1), 196A(1) and 204A(1), `daily 16
newspaper generally circulating in the State'-- 17
omit, insert-- 18
`Statewide newspaper'. 19
13 Schedule 1, part 1, `27(b)(vii)'-- 20
omit, insert-- 21
`27(b)(vi)'. 22
171
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
Schedule 1 (continued)
14 Schedule 1, part 1, `31(a)(vi)'-- 1
omit, insert-- 2
`31(a)(v)'. 3
15 Schedule 1, part 1, `42(a)(v)'-- 4
omit, insert-- 5
`42(a)(iv)'. 6
16 Schedule 1, part 1, `55D(g)'-- 7
omit, insert-- 8
`55D(i)'. 9
17 Schedule 1, part 3, entry for section 64E-- 10
omit. 11
Gas Supply Act 2003 12
1 Section 7, `schedule 4'-- 13
omit, insert-- 14
`schedule 2'. 15
2 Chapter 1, part 3, division 2, subdivision 2, heading-- 16
omit, insert-- 17
`Subdivision 2 Processed natural gas'. 18
172
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
Schedule 1 (continued)
3 Sections 52, 176, 307(a)(iv), 309 and 310, `register'-- 1
omit, insert-- 2
`register of authorities'. 3
4 Section 159(3), `162, 163, 169 and 171'-- 4
omit, insert-- 5
`169, 170 and 171'. 6
5 Chapter 3, part 1, division 2, subdivisions 1 and 4, 7
headings-- 8
omit. 9
6 Section 232(5), `customer retail contract'-- 10
omit, insert-- 11
`retail contract'. 12
7 Chapter 5, parts 1 and 3, headings-- 13
omit. 14
8 Section 271(1), `schedule 2'-- 15
omit, insert-- 16
`schedule 1'. 17
9 Chapter 6, part 6, heading-- 18
omit, insert-- 19
173
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
Schedule 1 (continued)
`Part 6 Registers'. 1
10 Section 308, heading-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`308 Register of authorities'. 4
11 Section 309(1)(a), `section 28(a) to (d)'-- 5
omit, insert-- 6
`section 28(a), (b) and (c)'. 7
12 Section 310(3), definition appropriate fee, `a copy of a'-- 8
omit, insert-- 9
`a copy of the'. 10
13 Schedule 2, `259'-- 11
omit, insert-- 12
`268'. 13
14 Schedule 2, entry for section 331, 2 entries for section 14
334 and entry for schedule 1, section 5-- 15
omit. 16
15 Schedule 2-- 17
renumber as schedule 1. 18
174
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
Schedule 1 (continued)
Integrated Planning Act 1997 1
1 Schedule 10, definition specified activity, paragraph 2
(e)(ii)-- 3
omit, insert-- 4
`(ii) the Electricity Regulation 2006, section 17; or'. 5
Petroleum and Gas (Production and Safety) Act 2004 6
1 Schedule 2, definition distribution pipeline-- 7
omit, insert-- 8
`distribution pipeline means a pipeline that-- 9
(a) transports fuel gas as-- 10
(i) part of a reticulation system, within a fuel gas 11
market; or 12
(ii) a single point-to-point pipeline to a specific 13
commercial or industrial facility; and 14
(b) is not a transmission pipeline.'. 15
© State of Queensland 2006
AMENDMENTS TO BILL
1
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
Electricity and Other Legislation
Amendment Bill 2006
Amendments agreed to during Consideration
1 Clause 22 (Amendment of s 90 (Deciding prices for
non-contestable customers))--
At page 43, lines 24 and 25--
omit, insert--
` `(2) The prices or methodology decided under subsection (1) must
be in the form of a tariff schedule.
`(2A) To remove any doubt, the following is declared for decisions
under subsection (1)--
(a) they may be made from time to time and not just once a
year;
(b) a tariff from the tariff schedule for the previous tariff
year may be added to, removed or changed;
(c) they can not be made for non-DUOS charges.'.
2 Clause 22 (Amendment of s 90 (Deciding prices for
non-contestable customers))--
At page 43, line 30, after `comply with'--
insert--
`any indexation required under'.
3 Clause 25 (Insertion of new ch 4, pt 2, div 3)--
At page 45, line 2 to page 46, line 10--
omit, insert--
2
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
` `Division 3 Annual indexation
`Subdivision 1 Preliminary
`91B Operation and application of div 3
`(1) This division requires the annual indexation of tariffs in the
current tariff schedule to the extent the tariffs, or components
of the tariffs, will continue to apply in the next tariff year (the
relevant tariff year).
`(2) However, indexation under this division only applies to--
(a) customer retail charges; and
(b) DUOS charges under section 90.
`(4) Also, this division does not prevent the pricing entity from,
under section 90, adding to, removing or changing a tariff
when indexation is required under this division.
`(3) Each tariff indexed under this division applies from the start
of the relevant tariff year.
`91C Definitions for div 3
`In this division--
benchmark retail cost element see section 91G(2).
c/kWh means cents per kilowatt hour.
current tariff schedule means the tariff schedule under
section 90 for notified prices for the current tariff year.
NEM load, of the State, means the State's NEM load, as
worked out under section 91F.
relevant tariff year see section 91B(1).
3
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
`Subdivision 2 Indexation formula for relevant tariff
year
`91D Indexation formula
`(1) Each tariff in the current tariff schedule must be indexed by'.
4 Clause 25 (Insertion of new ch 4, pt 2, div 3)--
At page 47, line 3, `91F'--
omit, insert--
`91E'.
5 Clause 25 (Insertion of new ch 4, pt 2, div 3)--
At page 47, after line 10--
insert--
` `91F Working out NEM load
`(1) The pricing entity must work out the State's NEM load for the
relevant tariff year.
`(2) The NEM load is the pricing entity's view of the total of the
loads for the State supplied at each transmission connection
point to a supply network, as adjusted for any matter
prescribed under a regulation.
`(3) The total must be expressed in kWH.
`(4) The pricing entity must consult with interested persons about
the methodology it proposes to use to form the view.
`(5) In this section--
transmission connection point means a Queensland
transmission network connection point as defined under the
National Electricity Rules.'.
6 Clause 25 (Insertion of new ch 4, pt 2, div 3)--
At page 47, line 12, `section 91F'--
4
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
omit, insert--
`section 91E'.
7 Clause 25 (Insertion of new ch 4, pt 2, div 3)--
At page 48, line 28, ` `The'--
omit, insert--
` `(1) The'.
8 Clause 25 (Insertion of new ch 4, pt 2, div 3)--
At page 48, after line 31--
insert--
` `(2) In forming the view the pricing entity must comply with any
methodology prescribed under a regulation.'.
9 Clause 25 (Insertion of new ch 4, pt 2, div 3)--
At page 49, lines 10 to 13--
omit, insert--
`(c) it provides customer retail services to a cross-section of
customers;
(d) it earns a reasonable retail margin.
`(3) In forming the view the pricing entity must comply with any
methodology prescribed under a regulation.'.
10 Clause 25 (Insertion of new ch 4, pt 2, div 3)--
At page 49, lines 26 to 31--
omit, insert--
` `96 Gazettal of indexed prices
`(1) The pricing entity must ensure notified prices indexed under
this division are gazetted at least 1 month before the relevant
tariff year starts.
`(2) However, a failure to comply with subsection (1) does not
invalidate or otherwise affect the indexation.'.'.
5
Electricity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006
11 Clause 53 (Amendment of sch 5 (Dictionary))--
At page 91, line 2, `section 91B'--
omit, insert--
`section 91B(1)'.
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