Page 3532 - Week 08 - Thursday, 18 August 2011
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Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission
Paper and statement by minister
MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for the Environment and Sustainable Development, Minister for Territory and Municipal Services and Minister for Police and Emergency Services): For the information of members, I present the following paper:
Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission Act, pursuant to section 24—Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission—Report 4 of 2011—ACT Greenhouse Gas Abatement Scheme—Compliance and operation of the Scheme for the 2010 compliance year, dated June 2011.
I seek leave to make a statement in relation to the paper.
Leave granted.
MR CORBELL: I bring to the Assembly today the sixth annual report on the operation of the ACT greenhouse gas abatement scheme, for the 2010 compliance year. The greenhouse gas abatement scheme was developed to reduce or offset greenhouse gases associated with the reduction of electricity used in the ACT. The scheme was established in the ACT under the Electricity (Greenhouse Gas Emissions) Act 2004 and commenced on 1 January 2005. The ACT scheme mirrors the New South Wales greenhouse gas abatement scheme. The New South Wales and the ACT schemes are in many respects operated as a single scheme.
The scheme is designed to reduce or offset greenhouse gas emissions associated with the production of electricity. It requires retailers of electricity in the ACT to procure an increasing component of their products from cleaner and greener means, thereby effecting large reductions in associated greenhouse gas emissions. Tackling our emissions from electricity use is key to reducing the territory’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Under the act, the ICRC is the scheme regulator in the ACT. One of the commission’s functions as regulator is to determine the greenhouse gas reduction target or benchmark for the ACT in any given year. In 2010, there were 19 entities licensed to sell electricity in the territory. A total of 543,006 New South Wales greenhouse gas abatement certificates and New South Wales greenhouse abatement certificate equivalents were surrendered in 2010. This is equivalent to 543,006 tonnes of greenhouse gas. Emission reductions attributable to the scheme since its introduction total 2,875,068 tonnes of greenhouse gas.
The greenhouse gas abatement scheme is one of the most effective greenhouse gas abatement measures in the territory. Members will recall that in November 2007 the Assembly agreed to extend operation of the scheme from 2013 to 2020 or until such time as an effective national emissions trading scheme was put in place.
The commonwealth government have recently announced that they will be introducing a carbon price which will commence on 1 July next year. For the first
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