Energy Articles

The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) has just released its list of enforcement priorities for the upcoming year. Below we set ...
Read More

The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) has published its Notice of Draft Instrument – AER Retail Pricing Information Guidelines – version ...
Read More

Explicit informed consent is a ubiquitous term in the energy industry and is found in the national energy retail rules as ...
Read More

The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) has just released its final report on the embedded networks update. This is a ...
Read More

As noted in previous posts the Australian Energy Markets Commission (AEMC) is working on rule and law changes for the ...
Read More

Tomorrow the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) will hold a stakeholder forum to examine the question of what will happen ...
Read More

The new rule proposal for exempt gas sellers A consultation paper was released last week by the Australian Energy Market ...
Read More

Following our webinar on the topic last week (which you can watch at https://zoom.us/recording/share/jBd95cUmW_4wZ9fGoZMqnXaJEe-kDAaVBhehvD2pp7uwIumekTziMw?startTime=1551409241000)), we had a range of questions ...
Read More

The New Zealand Government’s Electricity Pricing Review has just released an options paper looking at changes in a range of ...
Read More

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) recently released a Consultation paper on data access models for energy data.[1] The ...
Read More

The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) has published its draft determination of default market offer prices. Below we look at the methodology ...
Read More

With up to 1 million energy consumers in the embedded networks, the AEMC has proposed sweeping changes to the existing ...
Read More

On 31 January 2019, the Australian Energy Market Commission (‘AEMC’) released its draft report on its project labelled ‘Updating the ...
Read More

In December 2018 the federal government introduced the Treasury Laws Amendment (Prohibiting Energy Market Misconduct) Bill 2018 (‘Bill’) to Parliament ...
Read More

In this webinar, lawyer and regulatory energy expert Alex Silcock provides a review of regulatory arrangements for embedded networks titled ...
Read More

The regulatory landscape for embedded networks in Australia is complicated. There are four separate regulatory frameworks: New South Wales, South ...
Read More

AER has just released a new Life Support Registration Guide (the Guide) ahead of the commencement of the new Life ...
Read More

The Commonwealth Government has just directed that the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) begin work on developing a mechanism for introducing ...
Read More

In this webinar, Compliance Quarter founder Connor James provides an in-depth guide to the Compliance HUB software and its features ...
Read More

Retail prices have dominated the headlines over the past week, with ongoing discussion of some retailers posting record profits and ...
Read More

In this Compliance Quarter free webinar, founder Connor James, is joined by Alex Silcock to look at the recent news ...
Read More

Customer hardship remains an area of significant concern for regulators of the Australian energy market. As energy is an essential ...
Read More

Energy Ministers met on 10 August 2018 for the 18th Energy Council Ministerial Meeting. The Ministers considered a number of ...
Read More

The CQ monthly round-up is the only comprehensive coverage of regulatory changes for energy businesses across the eastern and south-eastern ...
Read More

This content is only available for paid clients

In the just released final report of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) retail electricity pricing inquiry[1], energy retailers ...
Read More

The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) has released a guidance note on performance reporting. The AER notes "Energy retailer performance data ...
Read More

In this recent webinar, we looked at the implications of the ACCC Report for innovative energy businesses. As a valued ...
Read More

This content is only available for paid clients

The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) Chair, Paula Conboy delivered a speech at the Energy Networks Australia Regulation Seminar 2018 on ...
Read More

The Australian Energy Regulator has issued two infringement notices to Alinta Energy in relation to breaches of s 38(b) of ...
Read More

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Chair Rod Sims has delivered a speech to the National Consumer Data Policy ...
Read More

The recommendations from the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) in its recent ‘ACCC Retail Electricity Pricing Inquiry—Final Report’ (the ...
Read More

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has released its final report in relation to Retail Electricity Pricing; Restoring electricity ...
Read More

Regulation for the National Electricity Market jurisdictions (Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Australian Capital Territory, South Australia and Tasmania) is ...
Read More

In this article, we look at two regulatory announcements for the Victorian Retail Energy Market over the last ten days ...
Read More

Last month, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) announced approval of $738 million worth of projects for electric vehicle (EV) ...
Read More

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has instituted proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia against Click Energy alleging it ...
Read More

What will be the practical impact of the National Energy Guarantee (NEG) on retailers? When we first discussed the NEG, ...
Read More

On 18 June the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) announced that it was reviewing its Compliance Procedures and Guidelines (Guidelines) to ...
Read More

The Energy and Water Ombudsman of NSW (EWON) has announced changes to its Constitution and a new funding model. This follows ...
Read More

On 3 July, the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) released its final report on the value of solar feed-in ...
Read More

In this article, we include the transcript and presentation slides from a recent free webinar that examines Jurisdictional Derogations under the ...
Read More

This content is only available for paid clients

This week saw the commencement of the AEMC’s rule change ‘putting a stop to pseudo-discount deals that leave consumers worse ...
Read More

Solar Power Purchase Agreements are on the rise in Australia. Solar PPAs are regulated primarily through AER's (and in Victoria, ...
Read More

The National Energy Guarantee (NEG) was announced by the Federal Government in April. This followed on from the recommendations made ...
Read More

The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) recently released summaries of compliance audits for 2017 in relating to customer disconnection and AER ...
Read More

In today’s article, our focus is not on any regulatory proposals, but three innovation opportunities for energy businesses that are ...
Read More

In providing legal, regulatory and compliance services, we see a variety of approaches towards compliance and enable clients to outsource ...
Read More

One year ago, I arrived in Buenos Aires for the first time. Heading to a salsa club in the fashionable ...
Read More

May has been another massive month for regulatory and compliance developments in Australia. While April was dominated by the National ...
Read More

The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) has just begun consultation on a rule change request that would change National Electricity ...
Read More

It is essential that all businesses in the energy industry understand their obligations to customers undergoing financial hardship. We talked ...
Read More

The Australian Energy Regulator’s (AER) Quarterly Compliance Report: National Electricity and Gas Laws 1 January – 31 March 2018 was ...
Read More

On 25 May the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force. If you need help in working out ...
Read More

The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) recently announced a review on how much estimated tax it will allocate when making revenue ...
Read More

This content is only available for paid clients

The key driver of rising electricity bills in Australia has been network costs.[1] Accordingly, a range of measures have been ...
Read More

Here at Compliance Quarter, a key focus of ours is supporting Australian energy retailers with licensing, authorisation and general compliance ...
Read More

The obligation to ensure adherence to general and specific laws applying to your company’s operations is at the heart of ...
Read More

A huge amount of media and public commentary over the last month has been devoted to the National Energy Guarantee ...
Read More

Government Confirms New Framework for Data Availability and Use - We have discussed the Federal Government’s response to the Productivity ...
Read More

By Anne Wardell, Compliance Quarter.  The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) has released new Retail Pricing Information Guidelines (the new Guidelines) which ...
Read More

Last week the CEO of PG & E, Geisha Williams, California’s largest utility provider, explained PG & E’s move away ...
Read More

By Anne Wardell, Compliance Quarter.  Photo by Jefferson Santos on Unsplash The OAIC has published its first quarterly statistics report ...
Read More

Last week, New Zealand’s electricity regulator announced that “consumer choice has reached record levels, with 47 different retail brands now ...
Read More

Innovation in the Energy Market - If you believe the news, we are in the midst of an energy crisis ...
Read More

By Anne Wardell, Compliance Quarter.  AER Reporting procedures - The Australian Energy Regulator has released an updated AER (Retail Law) ...
Read More

Key considerations for energy retailers - So, your business has decided to obtain an energy retail authorisation? We have seen ...
Read More

On 23 March, the Australian Energy Regulator (AER), Energy Consumers Australia and Energy Networks Australia announced the ‘New Reg’ initiative ...
Read More

Under the National Energy Retail Law (see sections 43-51) and associated Rules (see rules 31 and 71-73), energy retailers have ...
Read More

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has ramped up its enforcement activities in relation to telemarketing practices in the ...
Read More

Supporting compliance in embedded networks is an important focus here at Compliance Quarter. Embedded networks are private electricity networks or ...
Read More

This content is only available for paid clients

In our March energy news update we summarise the key regulatory changes and consultations announced in March that all energy ...
Read More

By Anne Wardell, Compliance Quarter.  The New South Wales Government (government) has lodged a submission with the Australian Energy Market ...
Read More

By Anne Wardell, Compliance Quarter.  The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) has released an Issues Paper for discussion on ...
Read More

EWON Consultation Review - Under the new Retail Exemption Guidelines and Network Exemption Guidelines – from July 2018 – All ...
Read More

By Anne Wardell, Compliance Quarter.  The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) has released an updated Retail (Exempt) Selling Guideline Version 5 March ...
Read More

Last Friday we ran a free webinar on the common misconceptions in embedded networks for exempt and authorised retailers. You ...
Read More

On 15 March 2018, the QLD State Development, Natural Resources and Agricultural Industry Development Committee ('Committee') published its report on the Electricity ...
Read More

The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) has issued infringement notices to Energex after the distributor allegedly left life support (LS) customers ...
Read More

This is a quick update on the Australian Energy Regulator’s recent announcements regarding Metering Coordinator requirements and the revised Exempt ...
Read More

Opportunities for innovators in frequency control? ARENA invests half a million in wind farm feasibility study. The Australian Renewable Energy ...
Read More

February Fintech Roundup: The Open Banking Review and Fintech lending to SMEs. In February we saw the release of two ...
Read More

Embedded Network Managers in Queensland: What's the Deal? In a previous post, we looked at the Electricity and Other Legislation ...
Read More

By Anne Wardell, Compliance Quarter.  The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) has released an updated Electricity Service Provider - Registration Exemption ...
Read More

Photo by Jordan Andrews on Unsplash By Anne Wardell, Compliance Quarter.  Property group penalised $60,000 by AER for alleged unauthorised sale of energy ...
Read More

This morning we ran a webinar on Customer Hardship. A recording of the webinar is available to our clients via ...
Read More

A couple of weeks ago the International Energy Agency (IEA) released a lengthy report (250 pages) on their review of ...
Read More

The Federal Government announced on 21 February that it has submitted a rule change request to the Australian Energy Market ...
Read More

On 28 February 2018, the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) released three discussion papers as part of their review of the ...
Read More

On 15 February, the Electricity and Other Legislation (Batteries and Premium Feed-in Tariff) Amendment Bill 2018 was introduced to the ...
Read More

We recently discussed the Energy Security Board’s (ESB) consultation on high-level design for the emissions obligation in the National Energy ...
Read More

In this article, we examine ACCC compliance and enforcement priorities for 2018, including energy and the consumer data right. By ...
Read More

In today’s update, we provide a whirlwind summary of three issues (Service Classification, Asset Exemption, Revenue Proposals and RIT Applications) ...
Read More

By Anne Wardell, Compliance Quarter.  Owners corporations must ensure that all windows fitted to common property, above the ground floor, ...
Read More

By Anne Wardell, Compliance Quarter.  The AGL group of companies has paid penalties totalling $60,000 in response to three infringement ...
Read More

By Anne Wardell, Compliance Quarter.  The National Energy Retail Amendment (Notification of end of fixed benefit period) Rule 2017 No ...
Read More

Yesterday we received some further information on the National Energy Guarantee in the form of a consultation paper. We have ...
Read More

Explicit informed consent is required to 'switch' a consumer from one retailer to another. Following extensive news and political coverage ...
Read More

In addition to our regular news updates and analysis, the regulatory energy experts at Compliance Quarter have been busy helping ...
Read More

The Government recently released an exposure draft of a Bill (the draft Bill) capturing many of the recommendations of 2017’s ...
Read More

The ESC announces registration and provision of key information in relation to the sale or supply of electricity in Victoria ...
Read More

Photo by Adam Birkett on Unsplash By Anne Wardell, Compliance Quarter.  The Electricity Supply (Safety and Network Management) Regulation 2014 requires all NSW electricity network ...
Read More

On February 1, the Commonwealth Government announced new restrictions on foreign investment in energy - future applications for the sale ...
Read More

We recently discussed changes to the way in which retail pricing information is communicated to retail customers (see https://compliancequarter.com.au/new-format-communicating-retail-pricing-information-energy-customers/). Another ...
Read More

There has been strong demand over the last few years for improved customer access to information that will help them ...
Read More

Under a PPA, the energy consumer pays for electricity consumed or generated from a solar PV system installed on their ...
Read More

If implemented, the AEMC recommendations will effectively take an axe to the existing regulation of embedded networks - embedded network ...
Read More

With only the first month of the year gone there have already been a range of regulatory initiatives announced that ...
Read More

The Government is currently seeking submissions on an exposure draft of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Taxation and Superannuation Guarantee Integrity ...
Read More

NSW irrigators will soon be subject to a host of new water compliance reform obligations, due to a swift government ...
Read More

On 21 December 2017, the Government began consultation on the exposure draft of a new law (the draft Bill) which ...
Read More

Photo by Jair Lázaro on Unsplash By Anne Wardell, Compliance Quarter.  The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) has today released ...
Read More

Last month we talked about Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) and Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) funding of the ‘Innovative ...
Read More

As part of the ‘Power of Choice’ reforms, on 1 December 2017, the life support notification obligations for embedded networks ...
Read More

Last week we looked at some of the proposals contained in the draft electricity network service provider registration exemption guideline ...
Read More

The sale of electricity in Victoria is regulated by the Electricity Industry Act 2000 (VIC).  Sellers must either operate under ...
Read More

Yesterday we spoke about the final Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) report on the regulation of embedded networks. Recommendations from ...
Read More

On 17 November, the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) released the latest Draft Guideline – Exemption from Registration as a Network ...
Read More

In this post on understanding GDPR, we'll look at the following: Data Disruption Regulation in the age of Data The ...
Read More

Today we look at two new publications that will impact the regulation of embedded networks in 2018. This month saw ...
Read More

On 26 November the Federal Government announced its intention to legislate a national Consumer Data Right next year, following the ...
Read More

Should we be looking to collaborate with the energy industry regulators and push for an energy sandbox that will foster ...
Read More

‘Smart contracts’ have not yet taken off as a common commercial tool in Australia. In light of this, consideration of ...
Read More

The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) has just announced that a transitional compliance approach to the new embedded network manager (ENM) ...
Read More

We recently summarised the changes proposed in the new draft retail exempt selling guideline (the draft guideline) issued by the ...
Read More

Last week we talked about the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal NSW (IPART) Review of Compliance and Enforcement Policy (read ...
Read More

In the past, we have looked at some of the existing powers and proposed powers that the Australian Securities & ...
Read More

On 19 October, the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) and New Zealand’s Financial Markets Authority (FMA) “re-affirmed” a commitment ...
Read More

On 11 October, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) jointly announced that 10 ...
Read More

By Anne Wardell, Compliance Quarter.  On 6 November 2017 the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) released a revised Draft Retail Exempt ...
Read More

On Thursday, 26 October, the Annual Report of the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) was tabled in the House ...
Read More

We have previously looked at the sweeping changes to privacy laws coming into effect in the EU. These laws will ...
Read More

By Anne Wardell, Compliance Quarter.  The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal NSW (IPART) is currently undertaking a review of its ...
Read More

Several months ago, we discussed the Government’s announced expansion of the FinTech regulatory sandbox (https://compliancequarter.com.au/regulatory-changes/). It was proposed then to ...
Read More

The AEMC has made a number of rule changes which come in to force on 1 December 2017. The changes ...
Read More

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) released its Annual Report last month. It summarises the work of the ...
Read More

On 17 October, the Commonwealth Government announced that it intends to introduce a ‘National Energy Guarantee' (NEG) scheme.[1] The scheme ...
Read More

We have looked at a range of reports, inquiries and policies over the last few months which are, at least ...
Read More

The Turnbull Government yesterday announced that it would accept the recommendation of the Energy Security Board (ESB) for the introduction ...
Read More

On 16 October, the federal Government passed the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Abolition of Limited Merits Review) Bill 2017 (the ...
Read More

A few months ago, in The low-down on the retail client money reforms for OTC derivatives, we looked at client ...
Read More

Last time in The Banking Executive Accountability Regime (BEAR) Exposure Draft - Part One we talked about the new role ...
Read More

By Anne Wardell, Compliance Quarter The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) has released a consultation draft of proposed new AER Compliance ...
Read More

In May we talked about the Government’s Budget commitment to a new Banking Executive Accountability Regime (BEAR) in Budget 2017 ...
Read More

Today we are pleased to announce a number of updates to the Compliance HUB. The focus of our most recent ...
Read More

By Anne Wardell, Compliance Quarter On 12 September 2017 the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) released a Draft Report which ...
Read More

By Anne Wardell, Compliance Quarter UPDATE: In the JJ Richards matter the Federal Court has declared by consent that eight of ...
Read More

By Anne Wardell, Compliance Quarter The Australian Energy Market Operator has released Package 3 changes to amend a number of ...
Read More

By Anne Wardell, Compliance Quarter The Australian Energy Market Commission has released a draft rule to support a competitive market ...
Read More

On 31 July, the Prime Minister requested the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) to consider conducting a nation-wide compliance review (https://www.mdba.gov.au/media/mr/basin-wide-compliance-review) ...
Read More

In May 2017, the Clean Energy Council (CEC) released a Briefing Paper, Charging Forward: Policy and regulatory reforms to unlock ...
Read More

Today we look at proposed changes to regulatory obligations for those operating in the superannuation sector. Namely, the seven key ...
Read More

On July 20, the Government announced that an independent review has been set up to consider the best process for ...
Read More

There are some key definitions contained in the Energy Retail Law which need to be understood.  Chapter 10 of the ...
Read More

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has just announced that it is increasing the capital adequacy ratios for banks and ...
Read More

Earlier this year, the Government’s cyber security advisor, Alastair MacGibbon, described a “prevailing ‘tick box’ compliance culture” for federal government ...
Read More

The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) has just released a report (12 July) Securities & derivatives sector: money ...
Read More

A key part of the Government’s Budget package last year was a reduction in company tax rates for small businesses ...
Read More

Most businesses that facilitate the trading of assets or financial instruments (‘market venues’) are required to hold an Australian Market ...
Read More

In May, we discussed the Government’s announcement that there would be significant changes to Temporary Work (Skilled) (subclass 457) visas, ...
Read More

On 14 June 2017, the High Court of Australia delivered its decision in Air New Zealand Ltd v ACCC; Pt ...
Read More

By Anne Wardell, Compliance Quarter Professor Ross Garnaut recently delivered a lecture to the Faculty of Business and Economics at ...
Read More

By Anne Wardell, Compliance Quarter The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) has obtained an extension of the timeframe for publication ...
Read More

The Federal Government has recently issued a discussion paper (the paper) titled Tax Deductible Gift Recipient Reform Opportunities. The proposed ...
Read More

In our earlier article, The Productivity Commission’s proposed comprehensive consumer right to data, we looked at the new consumer right ...
Read More

Yesterday we mentioned AFSL obligations in relation to OTC derivatives trading by electricity retailers who operate under an energy retail ...
Read More

It is an interesting time in the energy market. The energy market is currently characterised by structural change and policy ...
Read More

We recently looked at changes to compliance reporting guidelines issued by the Australian Energy Regulator (AER), today we examine three ...
Read More

By Dr. Drew Donnelly, Compliance Quarter. Last month in Financial crime doesn’t pay – three ways in which wrongdoers may ...
Read More

By Dr. Drew Donnelly, Compliance Quarter. In our last article on blockchain, Understanding smart contracts, we talked through an example ...
Read More

By Dr Drew Donnelly, Compliance Quarter. Continuing in our series of posts on blockchain and related financial technology, today we ...
Read More

By Anne Wardell and Connor James, Compliance Quarter. A variety of businesses are involved in the sale of energy. These ...
Read More

By Dr Drew Donnelly, Compliance Quarter. Today, continuing in our series of articles concerning developments in the fintech regulatory space ...
Read More

By Dr Drew Donnelly, Compliance Quarter. Last year, the Federal Government announced its commitment to Australia being a world-leader in ...
Read More

By Dr Drew Donnelly, Compliance Quarter. On 13 June, The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and Australian Securities ...
Read More

By Dr Drew Donnelly, Compliance Quarter. Over the last couple of weeks we have asked the question ‘Is your business ...
Read More

By Dr Drew Donnelly, Compliance Quarter. The Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) has just announced that it has passed the ...
Read More

By Anne Wardell, Compliance Quarter. In a recent article, Embedded Networks under the spotlight, Connor James outlined the Australian Energy ...
Read More

By Connor James, Compliance Quarter. The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) is reviewing the regulatory arrangements for embedded networks. Embedded ...
Read More

By Dr Drew Donnelly, Compliance Quarter. We mentioned last time that the Government is consulting on some options for curbing ...
Read More

By Anne Wardell, Compliance Quarter. Small customers of authorised retailers and distributors of energy have access to free and independent ...
Read More

By Anne Wardell, Compliance Quarter On 9 June 2017, the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) released the following documents: Compliance procedures ...
Read More

On 7 June in Paris, 68 nations signed the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base ...
Read More

Last month, we discussed recent Senate committee proposals to strengthen the civil penalties regime under the Corporations Act 2001 for ...
Read More

This is our second post on the Notifiable Data Breaches Scheme. Amendments made to the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) this ...
Read More

Last Friday the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) released draft resources to help businesses comply with the Notifiable ...
Read More

As of 25 May 2018, the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will implement a new extra-territorial data protection ...
Read More

Today saw the release of the 2017 State of the Energy Market, a report published by the Australian Energy Regulator ...
Read More

In our last article, we talked about some general changes that the Government is making to the financial services industry ...
Read More

Last week we talked about the Government’s new rules for temporary working visas. On 9 May, the release of Federal ...
Read More

Are you in the hire or rental business? The law is about to change — and it’s good news On ...
Read More

Last month the Government announced sweeping changes to the temporary work visa in Australia. This suite of changes is complex ...
Read More

Located in Erina and Sydney NSW, with an exciting product that solves a significant problem for our customers, we are ...
Read More

...
Read More

In this post we provide some of the background to the compliance portal, why we are doing what we are ...
Read More

An effective corporate compliance program is essential to good governance and risk management. Many businesses have invested significantly in compliance ...
Read More

A variety of businesses are involved in selling energy. These businesses include caravan parks, building managers, shopping centres, office buildings, ...
Read More