Chapter 4 Retail Energy Markets
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Jim Rice (Fairfax) Rice Jim 4 RETAIL ENERGY MARKETS Energy retailers buy electricity and gas in wholesale > The Queensland Government owns Ergon Energy, markets and package it with transportation services which has significant market share in rural and for sale to customers. State and territory governments regional Queensland but is not permitted to compete are responsible for regulating retail energy markets. for new customers. Governments agreed in 2004, however, to transfer > The ACT Government operates ActewAGL — a joint several non-price regulatory functions to a national venture with the private sector — to provide both framework that the Australian Energy Market electricity and gas retail services. Commission (AEMC) and the Australian Energy Table 4.1 lists licensed retailers that were active in the Regulator (AER) will administer (box 4.1). electricity and gas markets for residential and small This chapter covers the retailing of energy to small business customers in July 2010. An active retailer is an customers in those jurisdictions expected to implement authorised retailer that is supplying energy services to the national reforms — Queensland, New South Wales, customers (whether or not the retailer is seeking new Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the Australian customers). Two retailers — Dodo Power & Gas and 1 Capital Territory (ACT). Qenergy — began operating in 2009 – 10. Also, a number of retailers (including Australian Power & Gas, Click 4.1 Retail market structure Energy, Lumo Energy and Sanctuary Energy) widened CHAPTER the geographic range of their activity. Jackgreen was The energy retail sector is increasingly run by privately suspended from wholesale market trading in the owned businesses. Three privately owned retailers — National Electricity Market (NEM) in December 2009, AGL Energy, Origin Energy and TRUenergy — and subsequently entered voluntary administration. 4 MARKETS R collectively supply the bulk of small customers in etail While governments introduced reforms to structurally Victoria and South Australia, and are building market separate the energy supply industry in the 1990s, the share in New South Wales. AGL Energy and Origin E sectors have significant ownership links. In particular, nergy Energy entered the Queensland small customer significant vertical integration exists between energy market in 2006 – 07 following the privatisation of state retail markets and upstream energy production: owned retailers. More recently, Simply Energy and > AGL Energy, Origin Energy, TRUenergy and Lumo Energy have emerged as significant private International Power are significant players in both retailers in some jurisdictions. electricity generation and energy retail. While ownership is increasingly in private hands, > The public electricity sector also exhibits vertical some governments own energy retailers: integration. Snowy Hydro owns Red Energy, which > The New South Wales Government owns has market share in Victoria and South Australia. EnergyAustralia, Integral Energy and Country In 2009 Hydro Tasmania (Tasmanian Government) Energy, but in 2010 was progressing plans to privatise acquired full ownership of Momentum Energy. these entities (box 1.1, chapter 1). > AGL Energy, Origin Energy and TRUenergy have > Snowy Hydro (jointly owned by the New South interests in gas production and/or gas storage. Origin Wales, Victorian and Australian governments) Energy is a gas producer in Queensland, South owns Red Energy. Australia and Victoria. AGL Energy is a producer of > The Tasmanian Government owns Aurora Energy coal seam gas in Queensland and New South Wales. and Momentum Energy. TRUenergy has gas storage facilities in Victoria. 1 In New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, small electricity customers are those consuming less than 160 megawatt hours (MWh) per year. In Queensland and the ACT, the threshold is 100 MWh per year; in Tasmania, it is 150 MWh per year. In gas, small customers are those consuming less than 1 terajoule per year. 93 Box 4.1 National retail regulation Governments agreed in the Australian Energy Market > reporting on performance matters such as customer Agreement 2004 to introduce a national scheme for service, and on energy affordability and retail energy retail regulation. The reform’s architecture, the market activity National Energy Customer Framework, includes the > administering a ‘retailer of last resort’ scheme National Energy Retail Law, Rules and Regulations. > publishing retailers’ standing offer prices and an The framework aims to deliver streamlined national online price comparison service for small customers, regulation that supports an efficient retail market with where required by a jurisdiction. appropriate consumer protection. The states and territories will retain responsibility for The legislative package to implement the national control of regulated prices. framework was introduced to the South Australian To prepare for the transition, the AER has been parliament in the 2010 spring sitting. State and consulting with energy customers, consumer advocacy territory governments are expected to implement the groups, energy retailers, jurisdictional regulators framework between 2011 and 2013. The transfer of and ombudsmen, and state and territory government functions is not expected to occur in Western Australia departments. In 2010 it ran 11 stakeholder forums or the Northern Territory at this time. on the national arrangements and its proposed The national framework will transfer several functions approach to retail regulation. It also published issues to the AER, including: papers covering retail pricing information, retailer > monitoring compliance and enforcing breaches authorisations and exemptions, the development of of the laws, rules and regulations hardship program indicators, performance reporting > approving the authorisation and exemption of and a proposed compliance framework. For some of energy retailers these processes, it has published draft guidelines. > approving retailers’ customer hardship policies The issues papers and draft guidelines are available on the AER’s web site (www.aer.gov.au). 2 In addition, the New South Wales, Queensland and The Queensland Government owns Ergon Energy’s Tasmanian governments own joint distribution – retail retail business, which supplies electricity at regulated businesses. The ACT Government has ownership prices to customers in rural and regional areas. Ergon interests in both the host energy retailer and distributor. Energy is not permitted to compete for new customers. If links exist between retail and network sectors, regulators apply ring fencing arrangements to ensure 4.1.2 New South Wales operational separation of the businesses. At June 2010 New South Wales had 27 licensed 4.1.1 Queensland electricity retailers, of which 11 supplied to residential and ⁄or small business customers. The latter group At June 2010 Queensland had 28 licensed electricity included three host retailers — the government owned retailers and five licensed gas retailers, of which 11 were EnergyAustralia, Integral Energy and Country active in the electricity market and three were active in Energy, which jointly supply over 80 per cent of small the gas market. Origin Energy and AGL Energy are customers — and eight new entrants (comprising a mix of the leading retailers, with Integral Energy emerging established interstate players and niche market entrants). as the third major player in electricity. 2 In New South Wales, privatisation plans for the contestable sectors of the energy market (generation and retail) will result in structural separation of the distribution and retail sectors. 94 STATE OF THE ENERGY MARKET 2010 Table 4.1 Active energy retailers — small customer market, June 2010 Retailer OwnersHiP QlD NSW ViC sA TAs ACT • ActewAGL Retail ACT Government and AGL Energy • • • • AGL Energy AGL Energy • • • • Aurora Energy Tasmanian Government Australian Power & Gas Australian Power & Gas Click Energy Click Energy • Country Energy New South Wales Government1 • Dodo Power & Gas Dodo Power & Gas • Energy Australia New South Wales Government1 Ergon Energy Queensland Government CHAPTER Integral Energy New South Wales Government1 • Lumo Energy Infratil Hydro Tasmania Momentum Energy 4 (Tasmanian Government) MARKETS R etail Neighbourhood Energy Neighbourhood Energy2 • • E Origin Energy Origin Energy • • • • nergy Powerdirect3 AGL Energy • Qenergy Qenergy Red Energy Snowy Hydro3 Sanctuary Energy Sanctuary Energy4 Simply Energy International Power Tas Gas Retail (formerly Option One) Prime Infrastructure5 • TRUenergy CLP Group • Electricity retailer ■ Gas retailer ■ Local area retailer • 1. The New South Wales Government was in 2010 progressing plans to privatise this entity. 2. Alinta Energy (formerly Babcock & Brown Power) became a major shareholder of Neighbourhood Energy in March 2010. 3. Snowy Hydro is owned by the New South Wales Government (58 per cent), the Victorian Government (29 per cent) and the Australian Government (13 per cent). 4. Sanctuary Energy is owned by Living Choice Australia (50 per cent) and Sanctuary Life (50 per cent). 5. Prime Infrastructure was formerly named Babcock & Brown Infrastructure. Note: A ‘local area retailer’ is required to offer a contract to supply energy services to customers that establish a new connection to the electricity or gas network within a designated geographic region. Sources: Jurisdictional regulator websites, retailer websites and other public sources. 95 Six of the 11