Special Reports to the Minister
Section 9 of the Electricity Supply Industry Act 1995 requires the Regulator to report to the Minister on subjects on which the Minister requires a report as and when required by the Minister.
Aurora Pay As You Go 2009 Review
The Regulator has now completed the APAYG Review Final Report, which takes into account matters raised in submissions to the review, in accordance with the Terms of Reference.
The Regulator received submissions in response to the Draft Report from the following parties:
A  Draft Report was prepared in accordance with the Terms of Reference, which presented the Regulator's preliminary assessment in relation to each matter required to be considered. The Regulator also prepared a Summary of Matters for Consultation to assist interested parties in making a submission. Submissions closed at 5:00 pm on Friday 9 October 2009. Submissions were taken into account by the Regulator in preparing the Final Report to the Treasurer.
The Government wrote to the Regulator requesting, pursuant to section 9 of the Electricity Supply Industry Act 1995, the Regulator undertake a review into a number of aspects of the APAYG offering by Aurora, in accordance with the Terms of Reference. The Terms of Reference required the Regulator to prepare and publish a draft report on or before 24 September 2009 and a final report on or before 5 November 2009.
Public Benefit Assessment into Full Retail Competition
On 27 September 2007, the Regulator received a request from The Hon Michael Aird MLC, Treasurer, enclosing the Terms of Reference, to undertake a public benefit assessment of the implications of the introduction of electricity retail competition in Tasmania to the final tranche of residential and small business customers.
The Regulator entered into a contract with Network Advisory Services Pty Ltd in December 2007 to complete some aspects of the assessment. Network Advisory Services Pty Ltd provided the Regulator with a Report on issues relating to the public benefit assessment.
The Regulator's Public Benefit Assessment Draft Report presents the Regulator’s preliminary assessment of the public benefit of extending retail competition to all Tasmanian electricity customers together with proposed recommendations on the most appropriate timing and circumstances for doing so.
The Draft Report found that while it is certain that there would be costs in extending competition to all customers, the benefits are less certain in the current conditions and will only be realised if there is dynamic competition in the retail market.
The Regulator’s draft assessment does not endorse full competition from 1 July 2010, as is currently proposed. However, the draft assessment proposes that competition could be extended to small to medium sized businesses, with annual electricity costs of around $8 000 or more (customers whose annual consumption exceeds 50 MWh), as the costs of doing so would be low and these customers might have better opportunities to benefit.
Given the significance of the issues raised in the Draft Report, the Treasurer amended the Terms of Reference under Section 9 of the ESI Act, extending the date for completion of the Final Report to 1 August 2008, to allow interested parties additional time to consider and lodge submissions. Submissions closed 4 July 2008.
The Final Report was sent to the Treasurer on 31 July 2008 and takes account of the full range of issues raised in submissions to the Draft Report.
The Regulator received submissions on the Draft Report from the following organisation:
The Regulator received submissions on the Terms of Reference and proposed approach from the following organisations:
Review of the Use of Interval Meters
The Regulator received a request from The Hon Michael Aird MLC, Treasurer, to conduct a review of the economic implications of the use of interval meters and assess the relative benefits of an interval meter rollout. Interval meters allow for time-of-use pricing and can assist customers to voluntarily manage their energy use and use less electricity at peak times. This could avoid or defer the need for infrastructure spending.
The Regulator forwarded his Final Report on the Costs and Benefits of the Rollout of Interval Meters in Tasmania, to the Treasurer in October 2006. The Regulator found that for all scenarios considered, the costs of mandated interval metering for small customers were found to exceed the benefits, owing to the absence of peak demand constraints in generation and network capacity. The Regulator recommended that no rollout of interval meters to small customers be mandated in Tasmania under the current jurisdictional arrangements.
The review did however conclude that some economic benefits would accrue through providing interval meters to a smaller number of high consumption customers, and a number of recommendations arising from this observation are included in the report.
Consultation Process
The Regulator released a Draft Report on the Costs and Benefits of the Rollout of Interval Meters in Tasmania on 30 August 2006 for public comment. The consultation period within which to provide submissions on the Draft Report closed on 20 September 2006.
One submission in regard to the Draft Report was received, from the Tasmanian Council of Social Service Inc.
The Regulator will produce a Final Report in October 2006. The Final Report will discharge the jurisdiction's commitment as given to the Ministerial Council on Energy to conduct such an investigation into the benefits of an interval meter rollout. It will take account of the procedure outlined in the MCE's Common Principles for the Assessment of Interval Meters: Overview Paper.
The Regulator received the request to produce a report pursuant to Section 9 of the Electricity Supply Industry Act 1995 and the Terms of Reference for the review on 1 June 2006.
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