URF position papers on achieving greater national consistency in energy frameworks

The Utility Regulators Forum is keen to play a positive role in assisting the Ministerial Council on Energy in its efforts to strengthen competition and encourage investment in the energy market by improving the quality of energy regulation.

In mid 2004, the URF agreed to review opportunities for achieving greater national consistency in the development and implementation of retail regulatory frameworks in the energy sector. The URF prepared three position papers which were submitted to the MCE’s Standing Committee of Officials for consideration in the development of the national framework for energy retail regulation. The papers were also forwarded to the Australian Energy Market Commission and the Australian Energy Regulator.

The papers addressed retail service standards in the national market, marketing conduct and compliance monitoring, and set out the URF’s approach to best practice energy retail regulation in each of these areas.

The forum also presented a paper to the MCE in April 2005 examining possible revisions to the energy regulatory environment to achieve greater economic efficiency by enhancing regulatory decision-making and appeals processes.

The URF's Steering Committee on National Regulatory Reporting Requirements also prepared a paper on national energy retail performance indicators. The paper was designed to enhance consistency in reporting and enable better comparison to be made between retail fuel sectors across jurisdictions.