The Review, being led by the Commonwealths Chief Scientist, Dr Alan Finkel, was announced at the extraordinary COAG Energy Council meeting on 7 October 2016. That meeting was called to discuss the issues in South Australia on 28 September during an extreme weather event. The meeting Communique said of the Review:
Given the critical importance of energy security, reliability and system resilience, the Council agreed that it is timely for a wider independent review to take stock of the current state of the security and reliability of the national electricity market and provide advice to governments on a coordinated, national reform blueprint.
Since the meeting a further four members of the Review have been appointed:
- Karen Moses, former Origin Energy Chief Financial Officer
- Chloe Munro, Clean Energy Regulator Chief Executive Officer
- Professor Mary OKane, NSW Chief Scientist
- Terry Effeney, former Energex Chief Executive Officer
On 30 October Federal Minister Josh Frydenberg announced that the
International Energy Agency (IEA) will be assisting with the Review.
The assistance of the IEA reflects the significance of the Review, as further identified in the Communique:
In light of this body of work, the Australian Governments commitment at Paris and the integration of climate and energy policy at the federal level, the blueprint will outline national policy, legislative, governance and rule changes required to maintain the security, reliability, affordability and sustainability of the national electricity market.