Australian energy industry
The Australian energy industry is barely recognisable from that which operated in the 1990s. Regulatory barriers to interstate trade have been removed. There are regimes for third party access to the services of energy infrastructure. The old public monopolies have been split up. Where a single government-owned business used to generate, transport and sell electricity, there are now competing generators and retailers. Specialist businesses run the transmission (long distance) and distribution (local area) networks that transport electricity to customers.
The states of Vıctoria, South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland have privatised some or all of their electricity supply. The gas industry has undergone similar restructuring and is mostly now in private hands. These changes have allowed competitive energy markets with a more national focus to develop.
Queensland, New South Wales, Vıctoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory have established a National Electricity Market (NEM) in which power can flow across state borders to meet customer demand in other jurisdictions. The NEM operates as a competitive spot market in which prices adjust in real time to supply and demand conditions. A map showing the generation and transmission infrastructure in the NEM can be found on the AEMO website.
While upstream gas is a lightly regulated sector, recent developments significantly enhance transparency. The National Gas Market Bulletin Board, which began in July 2008, provides real time information on the state of the gas market, system constraints and market opportunities. An interactive map demonstrating the gas supply and capacity notifications is available from the National Gas Market Bulletin Board website. In addition, new spot markets for short term gas trading are being introduced at major hubs to complement a separate market that already operates in Victoria.
The energy retail sector is also being transformed, with millions of customers now free to choose their energy supplier. With the introduction of full retail contestability in Queensland on 1 July 2007, all customers nationally are eligible to choose their natural gas supplier and similar arrangements for electricity apply in New South Wales, Vıctoria, Queensland, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory.
From 1 July 2012 the new legislative package to transfer a range of retail regulatory functions to a national framework will complete the regulatory reform process.
This section of the AER's website brings together:
- the AER's State of the Energy Market reports;
- long term performance indicators for each of the energy sectors;
- access to the legislative arrangements administered by the AEMC and state governments; and
- a summary of significant milestones in the reform process
- access to the agencies responsible for energy emissions.