PIAC lodged a joint submission with the Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS) to a consultation of proposed alternatives to activating the Reliability Obligation of the National Energy Guarantee (NEG). PIAC strongly opposes all of the proposed alternatives.
We note that generation reliability is not a pressing concern for the NEG to address as significant generation shortfalls are not forecast and there are other mechanisms already in place for responding to potential shortfalls. By contrast, affordability of electricity supply is a pressing concern for many consumers and it is essential that any new mechanism address, or at the very least not worsen, the current affordability issues facing many consumers.
As outlined in PIAC’s earlier submission, the Reliability Obligation must be benign when it is not triggered. This must inform both the design of the obligation itself, as well as the design of a robust and transparent governance process for triggering the obligation. The proposed alternatives run counter to this.
