ACCC grants authorisation for electricity industry coordination

The news: The ACCC has granted authorisation for coordination between the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) and electricity industry participants in the National Electricity Market. The authorisation covers coordination of the scheduling of repairs, maintenance, renewals upgrades and new connections and associated information sharing.

The numbers: AEMO is the independent market and system operator for gas and electricity systems across Australia, including the National Electricity Market, which connects six Australian states and territories and around 80% of the nation's total electricity consumption.

The context: Since 2020, arising from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the ACCC has authorised broader coordination arrangements for AEMO and industry participants. In November 2022, the competition watchdog authorised industry coordination to reduce the risk of major outages during a crisis, though that authorisation expired in April. In Thursday's announcement, the ACCC recognised the challenges, including of outage risks, in managing the National Electricity Market during the ongoing transition to renewables.

What they said: ACCC deputy chair Mick Keogh said: “The proposed coordination will increase AEMO’s ability to manage the scheduling of outages, providing greater security for the supply of electricity over the next two summer periods, which are forecast to be challenging.”