Page 1137 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 29 May 2007
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
domestic, commercial and industrial activities. Without a secure supply of electricity and gas, Canberra could not maintain its excellent standard of living.
The Utilities (Energy Industry Levy) Amendment Bill we are debating today is seeking to protect and enhance the provision of electricity and gas services by ensuring that technical safety and consumer protection activities are adequately funded. Over the past four years, the ACT has been actively participating in the national energy market reform program, which is aimed at streamlining the regulation of the generation and supply of electricity and gas. In June 2004, the commonwealth and all the state and territory governments agreed to the Australian energy market agreement. This agreement defines the objectives, key structure and timing of the national energy reforms.
Earlier this year, COAG supported an amendment to the agreement to formalise state and territory funding obligations to the national energy market rule-making body, the Australian Energy Market Commission. This rule-making body and its functions are necessary for the reform to be successful, as the ACT alone does not have the power or resources to undertake the duties this body performs. In accordance with the agreement, most state and territory energy market regulation functions will be progressively transferred to a national regime. This will also see the phasing out of associated jurisdictional licensing regimes from the fiscal year 2007-08.
In the ACT, the Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission currently undertakes these economic regulatory functions. In the amended agreement, states and territories have agreed to fully fund the commission on the basis of the cost-sharing arrangements agreed to by jurisdictions and embodied in the commission’s funding agreement. The ACT contribution averages 1.78 per cent of the total estimated Australian Energy Market Commission costs. The ACT’s contribution is therefore estimated at $240,000.
This bill is very simple and straightforward. The proposed legislation will overcome the funding issues associated with the phasing out of jurisdiction-based licensing regimes as part of the national energy market reform. It provides a levy that will mirror and ultimately replace the current licence fees on a strictly cost-recovery basis. Funds collected under the new regime will continue to support ACT financial requirements in relation to local and national energy regulatory activities. Currently, the services of supply and distribution of electricity and gas are regulated by state and territory regulators. As part of the national reform process, most of these regulatory functions will be transferred to a national regime with a single national regulator.
That is at the heart of this legislation. The issues in relation to national electricity and reform of the energy market and the decisions and positions that states and territories have taken always sound very technical. The legislation today is essentially machinery legislation designed to change the regimes under which we currently operate to a National Australian Energy Market Commission that will accept overarching regulatory responsibility for the regulation of this very important industry in Australia. It will essentially take functions that to date have been performed by the Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission and vest those functions in a national regulator.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .