Aussie competition watchdog to deny coordination between electricity participants (updated)

CLP Holdings

12/10/2023 03:16

(Adds details on AEMO members in paragraph 5-6, context in
paragraph 7, further details in paragraph 8-9)
       Oct 12 (Reuters) - Australia's competition watchdog said
on Thursday it intended to deny authorization for industry
participants in the national electricity market to coordinate
information sharing, on concerns it would breach the country's
competition laws. 
    The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is
proposing a draft determination against allowing the sharing of
information between Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) and
industry participants, such as schedule of repairs, maintenance,
renewals upgrades and new connections.
    The regulator was not satisfied the proposed coordination
was likely to result in public benefits that would outweigh
likely harm to competition, ACCC Acting Chair Mick Keogh said. 
    "While there are challenges arising from the transition
towards renewable electricity, currently we do not consider that
the proposed coordination would significantly increase AEMO's
ability to manage the scheduling of outages," Keogh added.
    The country's top gas retailers Origin Energy  ORG.AX , AGL
Energy  AGL.AX  and EnergyAustralia, owned by Hong Kong's CLP
Holdings  0002.HK , are all registered under the AEMO as
participants in the national electricity market. 
    Origin and AGL did not immediately respond to requests for
clarification on whether the ACCC's intended intervention was
going to result in any impact on operations. 
    Meanwhile, the current reforms in place amid increased
scrutiny of the gas industry include the introduction of price
caps and a proposal to expand powers to curb liquefied natural
gas exports from East Coast plants.
    The ACCC, however, said a conditional interim authorization
will remain in place for these arrangements with room for the
participants and AEMO to respond to the draft determination
before a final decision is made. 
    In 2020, the ACCC has permitted broader coordination
arrangements to respond to issues pertaining to the COVID-19
pandemic, and in late 2022 the regulator allowed industry
co-ordination to respond to the energy crisis. 
     
      
    
    

 (Reporting by Roushni Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna
Chandra Eluri)
 ((Roushni.Nair@thomsonreuters.com;))