COGATI directions paper

PIAC responded to the Australian Energy Market Commission’s (AEMC) coordination of generation and transmission investment (COGATI) consultation.

We contend a planning and investment framework is needed that encourages the optimal development of the energy system, delivers strategic, whole-of-system investment and the timely and cost-effective transformation of the energy system.

Within this framework we propose cost should be recovered on a beneficiary-pays basis and risk should be allocated to those best placed to manage it.

PIAC can only support the AEMC’s proposed suit of reforms – dynamic regional pricing, transmission hedging, and transmission planning – if they translate into more efficient investment decisions that capture the potential economies of scale, avoid the risk of overinvestment and help facilitate the timely transition to low-emissions generation.

As such, this submission focusses on how access reform translates into transmission planning and investment decisions including Renewable Energy Zones. Further, we look forward to further work examining models for how the dynamic regional pricing and transmission hedging can be incorporated into the planning and investment-making processes for both transmission and generation.