Last week’s COAG Energy Council meeting was deemed a success – or was it? Views are divided.
Announced in late July by Minister for the Environment and Energy, Josh Frydenberg, the meeting occurred in Canberra on Thursday and Friday last week. Among the major agenda items were issues concerning transforming energy markets to better cater to the integration of renewables and battery storage, and the thorny topic of gas prices and supply.
In relation to gas, the Ministers agreed to develop a comprehensive domestic market reform package to increase competition, which they say will translate to more gas at lower prices. As part of this, a new Gas Market Reform Group will be formed, headed by Dr Michael Vertigan.
With regard to energy market transformation, among the actions will be three consultation papers seeking views on appropriate regulatory frameworks for stand-alone systems, approaches to registration of battery systems and the level of consumer protection required for energy supply products and behind-the-meter services.
Officials will also be tasked with preparing advice to support the implementation of cost reflective network tariffs; which will be considered and decided upon at the December 2016 COAG Energy Council meeting.
Also agreed upon was a review of the regulatory test for investment for new transmission assets (e.g. interconnectors) to ensure it remains effective in the current market environment.
The COAG Energy Council meeting communiqué can be viewed here (PDF).
Minister Frydenberg appeared to be very pleased with the meeting’s outcomes.
“The Council has proved its ability to respond to current issues and I look forward to further engagement with my colleagues when we meet again in December to build on the progress made today,” he said.
Minister Frydenberg’s op-ed of the meeting can be viewed here (PDF).
The Clean Energy Council was generally upbeat about the results of the meeting.
“The (COAG) Energy Council’s moves to ensure consumers are fully empowered to choose new technologies to reduce their energy bills, as well as exploring better connectivity between different parts of the market, make good sense,” said CEC Chief Executive Kane Thornton.
“We believe there has been positive progress that can be built on in the months to come.”
Mr. Thornton said that due to the rise of wind and solar power, coupled with the battery storage revolution, redesigning Australia’s electricity system would take time and needed to be approached very carefully.
Solar Citizens was unimpressed with the meeting, stating it resulted in few tangible outcomes.
“It’s safe to say this is a disappointing outcome at a time when we urgently need real, practical and meaningful policy interventions that drive change the community wants,” said Claire O’Rourke, the group’s National Director.
“What we wanted to see from the COAG Energy Council is agreement that a fundamental rewrite of our energy laws is needed to facilitate the orderly transition to 100% renewable power and the steps to get that process underway.”
Ms. O’Rourke stated that while the recognition of the role of battery storage in Australia’s energy future was an important step; it appeared to have been overshadowed by the gas industry’s campaigning efforts.
