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Electricity Industry (Amendment) Bill
Circulation Print
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
The Bill amends the Electricity Industry Act 2000. The principal purpose
of the Bill is to impose a licence obligation on electricity retailers to disclose
information about greenhouse gas emissions to consumers.
Clause 1 sets out the purpose of the Act, which is to require holders of
licences to sell electricity to disclose information about
greenhouse gas emissions to consumers.
Clause 2 provides for the commencement of the Act.
Sub-clause (1) allows for commencement of the Act by
proclamation.
Sub-clause (2) provides that, if the Act does not come into
operation before 31 December 2002, it will come into operation
on that date.
Clause 3 amends the Electricity Industry Act 2000 by inserting a new
Section 23A, which imposes a new obligation on electricity
retailers by way of a deemed licence condition. Proposed sub-
section (1) provides that a licence to sell electricity is deemed to
include a condition requiring the licensee to include information
about greenhouse gas emissions in each bill issued to a customer.
The bill must include the information that is specified in
guidelines issued by the Essential Services Commission for the
purpose of this section, which may relate to emissions connected
with the electricity supplied to the customer or electricity
generation in general.
Proposed sub-sections (2), (3), (4) and (5) provide for guidelines
to be issued by the Essential Services Commission for the
purpose of this section. Proposed sub-section (2) requires the
Commission to prepare and issue such guidelines. Under
proposed sub-section (3), the Commission is empowered to
amend the guidelines. Under proposed sub-section (4), the
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Commission is required to consult with the Sustainable Energy
Authority Victoria before issuing or amending any guidelines.
To ensure that licensees (and other interested parties) can
determine the content of the deemed licence condition, the
Commission is required to publish the guidelines (and any
amendments) pursuant to proposed sub-section (5).
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