Page 4258 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 24 October 2017
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exemption power in relation to the embedded electricity networks. This provides that certain types of utilities services do not need to comply with the regulatory schemes and inserts flexibility into determining the application of the regulatory framework.
Embedded networks should deliver lower electricity prices and, as such, we will be supporting this bill today. Currently the regulatory schemes in both utilities laws have a broad application. In most situations a broad definition of utility services is appropriate. However, some new technologies or new utility services delivery models are falling into the broad definition. Small-scale installations that should not require this level of regulation are having licensing and operating certificate regimes imposed on them. This bill will allow for a class of utility services to be exempt from the application of each act, provided that safety preconditions are met.
The bill excludes embedded networks from the regulatory schemes of the act. Embedded networks are an electricity distribution system which involves multiple customers aggregated together through a single connection point. This allows for customers to combine their electricity buying power to reduce their costs. Currently under the act this is considered to be a utility service and, as such, is heavily regulated. Considering that there are only minor infrastructure differences, this is not considered appropriate.
Due to the small scale of embedded networks, they are appropriately regulated under the Electricity Safety Act without the need for additional regulation under the Utilities Act or the Utilities (Technical Regulation) Act. As such, the bill is intended to remove unnecessary regulation. Given that it has the capacity and, hopefully, the outcome of reducing of costs to deliver lower electricity prices for consumers, we are pleased to support this bill today.
MR RATTENBURY (Kurrajong—Minister for Climate Change and Sustainability, Minister for Justice, Consumer Affairs and Road Safety, Minister for Corrections and Minister for Mental Health) (4.22), in reply: I thank Ms Lawder for her contribution during the debate on this bill today. The bill is a leading example of the government’s commitment to reducing red tape and providing regulatory frameworks that encourage innovation. Energy policy, of course, is in the spotlight at both the territory and national levels, with regular media stories on rising costs for consumers, concerns about the security of supply and the sources of the energy that we use. Today’s bill is a positive story for the utilities industry and consumers in the territory as the government moves to reduce regulatory barriers for industry, which will lead to lower regulatory costs and lower prices offered to consumers.
In removing the requirement for some classes of utilities services to be licensed or hold an operating certificate, the government is removing local red tape that restricts the effect of national energy laws and rules. This will allow innovators to come into the market more readily and offer new products and services to consumers.
The government is seeking to achieve these deregulation objectives by making changes to the two major laws that regulate the provision of utility services in the territory—namely, the Utilities Act 2000 and the Utilities (Technical Regulation)
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