NECA: National Electricity Tribunal hands down penalties in relation to Friday ,14 January 2005
NECA has completed an investigation into the events of 14 January 2005 when a unit at the Millmerran Power Station tripped following a fault. Millmerran Power Station is located south of Braemar in Queensland, and is operated by Millmerran Energy Trader Pty Ltd (Millmerran), a company controlled by Intergen. As a result of that investigation, the National Electricity Tribunal has found that Millmerran breached its performance standards and fined Millmerran Energy Trader $40 000.
The tribunal has also ordered that Millmerran Energy Trader give the Australian Energy Regulator an undertaking that it will, in accordance with clause 5.7.3(b) of the national electricity rules, continue to negotiate in good faith and, subject to the cooperation of its network service provider and NEMMCO, implement that compliance monitoring programme by 8 December 2005.
From 1 July 2005 the AER assumed NECA’s responsibility for investigating alleged breaches of the National Electricity Law and national electricity rules and initiated proceedings for alleged breaches of civil penalty provisions.
The orders of the National Electricity Tribunal make clear the importance of generator performance standards to the maintenance of power system security. The AER, as part of its compliance monitoring program, will be targeting generator performance standard compliance programs to ensure these arrangements are effective.
The NECA press release and details of the National Electricity Tribunal decision are available to download.
