The Australian Energy Market Commission has ruled that network companies must provide detailed connection point data to the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) if requested.
The rule was requested by the COAG Energy Council as part of its energy reform agenda.
Connection point information is important for the AEMO to identify changes in demand across electricity networks. In particular, in the context of the energy market’s current transformation in response to the dynamic and widening adoption of embedded generation and storage which ranges from solar panels on family homes to local, onsite generation in commercial buildings.
This determination may result in improved long term electricity demand forecasts developed and published by AEMO to help guide investment decisions in networks across different regions so the poles and wires are not expanded more than necessary. This potential outcome may result in prices for electricity consumers being lower than what they would have been.
As part of their agenda, the COAG Energy Council agreed to task AEMO to develop demand forecasts which may be used by the Australian Energy Regulator to inform its regulatory determination processes.
One of the reform agenda objectives is for costs or benefits associated with falling demand for electricity to be shared appropriately with consumers through lower network charges.
