By adding emissions considerations to the national energy objectives, Energy Ministers created a powerful tool that can help drive the clean energy transition further, faster.
We saw the opportunity to employ legal expertise to convert this high-level intent into durable mechanisms that enable concrete actions to help decarbonise our energy system.
Through our Sustainable and Fair Energy Transition (SAFE) project we have worked to ensure these changes drive fundamental shifts in decision making, by making emissions reduction a central consideration for all decisions shaping our energy system. This work aligns with the JEC’s vision for an energy transition that is rapid and fairly costed to address disadvantage.
Making emissions objectives as robust as possible
Our unique legal and energy expertise supported the implementation of an emissions objective in law. Our experience with energy rules and how they’re applied helped identify what was needed. Our legal experts argued for amendments to the legislation to ensure a strong emissions objective.
Embedding emissions objectives in the rules and guidelines
With the new objective, electricity and gas rules had to change. We worked to ensure the updated rules made emissions reduction practical to implement by the rule maker (Australian Energy Market Commission), regulator (Australian Energy Regulator) and system operator (Australian Energy Market Operator). This established a strong foundation for real emissions reduction, making achieving emissions targets possible in a way that’s fair for all consumers.
We engaged directly with AEMC decision-makers during a range of rule change proposals, including important proposals about approving network investments. Previously, energy businesses weren’t assessed on emissions reduction considerations at all in their planning. Our work helped ensure it became a requirement.
The AER also adopted our proposal to make emissions a default consideration in all their decision-making processes. This enabled further advocacy from the JEC and others, including in processes where we:
- improved the proposed Orderly Exit Mechanism Framework (OEMF), which pays coal generators to keep operating to maintain reliable electricity supply, by successfully ensuring emissions must be considered whenever it is activated.
- limited the impact of a rule enabling mothballed diesel generators to be reintroduced for emergency generation.
And there is still more work to be done to further embed emissions in all decision-making.
Transforming our energy system requires all available tools
The energy rules weren’t created with an energy transition in mind. Aligning energy regulation with emissions policy will help accelerate the shift to renewables and ensure a cleaner affordable energy future.
