The Public Interest Advocacy Centre’s (PIAC’s) overarching conclusion is that the governance of Australian Energy Markets is fragmented, overly complex, not sufficiently focused on competition and lacking in meaningful consumer representation. We have come to this conclusion based on both our many years of experience as consumer advocates and the research we have commissioned for the Governance Review.
Given the systemic weaknesses of regulatory and market outcomes and the general features of arrangements that might be held to be defective, PIAC’s view is that there is an urgent need to deregulate, consolidate and reduce complexity in order to enhance competition, especially in given the transformation underway in Australian energy markets. PIAC believes partial changes are unlikely to address the systemic weaknesses, especially given that unbalanced nature of the rule making. These changes must be accompanied by enhanced consumer representation, as well as generally making the governance arrangements more democratic, transparent and accountable. PIAC’s submission contains numerous detailed recommendations as to how the governance of Australian Energy Markets might be improved in both the short and long term.
