We thank energy market officials for the opportunity to comment on the Incorporating an Emissions Reduction Objective into the National Energy Objectives Consultation Paper.
RE-Alliance supports the proposed changes to the National Energy Objectives. It has been a deficiency particularly in the National Electricity Objective over the last seventeen years since the introduction of the National Electricity Objective in 2005 that the environment and climate change couldn’t be considered by energy market officials in a range of contexts including Australian Energy Market Commission Rule Changes and Reviews. It also constrained the Australian Energy Regulator and the Australian Energy Market Operator in its activities to some extent e.g. the development of the Integrated System Plan.
In particular, we support inserting the emissions reduction objective into the existing ‘economic-efficiency’ framework and agree that this will enable the energy market bodies to consider emissions reduction alongside the other limbs of the NEO – price, quality, safety and reliability and security of supply of electricity (and gas for the National Gas Objective) and the reliability, safety and security of the national electricity system.