On behalf of Australia, Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) Chairman, John Pierce, has signed the International Confederation of Energy Regulators’ (ICER) updated global statutes, which reinforce its commitment to international energy cooperation.
The ICER is a voluntary framework for cooperation between energy regulators from around the world, focussed on the exchange of information and collaboration to improve the effectiveness of energy regulation. It’s an international body whose membership includes more than 200 regulatory authorities from around the world.
ICER’s aim is to improve policy-makers’ awareness and understanding of new thinking on energy regulation and explore best practice regulatory outcomes in an international context.
Australia is part of the 15-member ICER steering committee. Steering committee members participated in an official ceremony which updated the confederation’s statutes to commemorate the 10th anniversary of ICER’s foundation.
The updated statutes reinforce ICER’s commitment to international cooperation and actively promoting equal opportunities for women in energy.
Mr Pierce also presented on the Australian experience with system security and resilience to ICER’s V Foro Global de Energía (Fifth Global Energy Forum).
Mr Pierce’s speech explained the uniqueness of Australia’s ‘open source’ regulatory process where any and all stakeholders can request a rule change – and then outlined how new technologies are changing the way power systems operate with a focus on the absolute priority to make sure the costs to consumers are kept as low as possible as the energy system transforms.
“Investment in new forms of generation has been positive in that it has significantly reduced greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity sector. But the types of generation that are being installed have different technical characteristics from the types of generation that have been retiring,” Mr Pierce said.
“Services that were once provided as a by-product of the technology producing energy are not being provided in the same way anymore. The system needs these services to continue to function.”
Mr Pierce explained to international colleagues how the AEMC, AEMO and the AER are working together to identify and address system security issues, and through a comprehensive work program have made significant changes to improve system security frameworks in the last two years.
The ICER steering committee meeting also initiated planning for the 8th World Forum on Energy Regulation which will be held in Peru in March 2021.
