The JEC made a submission on Energy Minister Bowen’s rule change proposal seeking to encourage transmission service providers (TNSP) to bring works forward into Early Works.
We strongly opposed the proposal to delay the Australian Energy Market Commission review of the Integrated System Plan (ISP) from its scheduled delivery date of July 2025 to July 2027. The proposed delay would mean that any changes emanating from the review would not be implemented until the 2030 ISP, at which point all the major investments of the transition would be initiated, and the value of the review would be substantially reduced.
We recommended that the wording around the Australian Energy Regulator’s treatment of cost changes from the Early Works Contingent Project Application (CPA) to the later revenue determinations (CPA1 and CPA2) is clarified.
We also recommended that a ceiling for Early Works spending was stipulated as part of the rule, defined as a proportion of the overall project costs. This would help mitigate the risk of consumers paying for Early Works on projects that do not end up being completed.
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