AGL recently submitted to the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit Inquiry into the recent Auditor-General’s (AG) Report No.5 2020-21 on the Regulation of the National Energy Market (NEM Report).

The AG undertook an audit of the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) to ensure that it is effective in its role monitoring, reporting and enforcing compliance with the National Energy Laws, Rules and Regulations. The NEM report made six recommendations to improve the effectiveness of AER governance and processes, all of which have been accepted by the AER and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

AGL supports the improvement of the AER in these six areas. In our submission, we encourage further governance and consideration by Government to ensure the AER remains fit-for-purpose, accountable and effective, in the following areas:

1. Ensuring delineation between the roles of the AER as the rules enforcer, the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) as the rule maker, and the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) as market operator.

2. Applying more rigorous regulatory impact assessment requirements on the AER for their mandatory guideline making powers.

The above recommendations will help provide greater certainty for industry and consistency in the way that rules and obligations are developed for the energy market.

You can read our full submission here.