Submissions

This submission focuses on questions posed by stage 1 of the AEMC’s Electricity Network Regulation Review, around when networks, as monopoly businesses, should be allowed to participate in the delivery of contestable services.

We strongly support the reforms in the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC)'s draft determination and consultation paper regarding the proposed rule change requests by the Australian Energy Regulator (AER).

While we support the Australian Energy Regulator (AER)'s introduction of design principles, such as requiring retailers to communicate "fairly and honestly", our submission highlights the structural limits of what guidelines can do on their own, and calls for an overarching consumer duty.

​Around 174,000 households and 20,000 small businesses across Victoria buy electricity and gas through private embedded network arrangements. Our submission calls for a regulatory framework that ensures protections do not depend on where a consumer lives or how their energy is supplied.

We support the broad aims and policy intent of the Midday Power Saver to benefit households who can shift their electricity use to the middle of the day.

The Minimum Energy Efficiency Rental Standards (MEERS) investigation marks an important step towards creating safer, healthier and more energy efficient homes for renters New South Wales.

Energy Consumers Australia appreciates the opportunity to provide feedback on the second stage of the Essential Services Commission’s review of the Energy Retail Code of Practice.

We commend the AEMC for seeking to ensure that life support protections provide a fundamental safety net that remains universal for all consumers dependent on life support equipment.

We strongly support the overall direction of the draft decision and are pleased to see that it adopts a more balanced framework that prioritises safety, resilience and consumer protection.