Inquiry into downstream gas supply and availability in NSW

In April 2013, the NSW Legislative Assembly’s State and Regional Development Committee (the Committee) began an inquiry into the issue of downstream gas supply and availability in NSW. The inquiry examined issues including transmission infrastructure, consumer protections and the effectiveness of competition. PIAC provided the Committee with a copy of the submission that it prepared for the Australian Energy Market Commission’s (AEMC) review of the effectiveness of retail competition in NSW electricity and gas markets. PIAC highlighted to the Committee that the AEMC had produced a draft report for its competition review which examined gas supply to residential consumers as part of dual fuel (electricity and gas) contracts, rather than in isolation. In the context of this decision by the AEMC, PIAC reaffirmed the comments made in its original submission, which argued that competition in retail gas markets was significantly lower than that in electricity markets.