Scheme Participants
Related Documents
Scheme Participants consist of all holders of New South Wales electricity retail licences, New South Wales electricity generators that supply directly to retail customers in New South Wales, and market customers in New South Wales who purchase their electricity directly from the National Electricity Market. The Energy Savings Scheme (ESS) sets mandatory individual Energy Savings targets for Scheme Participants. The liable parties in the ESS are the same as for GGAS and are listed in Table 1 below.
Table 1: Scheme Participants of ESS
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Some Scheme Participants may supply electricity to NSW Sites that the Commonwealth Government has found to carry out emissions-intensive trade-exposed activities. These Sites have been classified as emissions-intensive trade-exposed and have been granted partial exemptions from the ESS.
Scheme Participants and Exemptions to the ESS
Exemptions have been allowed under the ESS and were granted by the NSW Minister for Energy in a Ministerial Order, published in the Government Gazette on 14 August 2009. The Order lists the exempted Sites, their location, the emissions-intensive trade-exposed activity being carried out and the proportion of exemption granted (either 60 or 90 per cent). It also allows a further deduction for network losses and authorises the Scheme Regulator to make rules with respect to the way in which the deduction of the exempt load is applied and the evidence needed in support of these deductions.
If you are a Scheme Participant who supplies to a customer identified in the Ministerial Order with a partially exempt Site, then you are entitled to deduct the specified portion (as stated in the Ministerial Order) of that Sites’ electricity load from your Liable Acquisitions under the ESS using the Energy Savings Scheme - Scheme Regulator Exemptions Rule No. 1 of 2009 (Exemptions Rule), determined by the Scheme Regulator on 10 September 2009.
In accordance with the Ministerial Order, the Exemptions Rule provides guidance to Scheme Participants concerning the calculation of deductions for their exempt loads, of either 60 or 90 per cent, minus a further deduction of 5 per cent to account for network losses. This amount is then deducted from the Scheme Participants’ Liable Acquisitions to obtain their Total Liable Acquisitions. The Exemptions Rule also provides guidance on the type of evidence required by the Scheme Regulator to ensure compliance and verification with the ESS.
A Scheme Participants’ Total Liable Acquisitions is all the electricity supplied to customers in NSW, minus any approved electricity loads from Exempted Sites, in accordance with the Ministerial Order. The Total Liable Acquisitions amount is then used to calculate the Scheme Participants’ individual Energy Savings target. The annual Energy Savings target is calculated by multiplying the Total Liable Acquisitions by the Energy Savings target for that year, which can be found in Schedule 5 of the Electricity Supply Act 1995 (the Act) . The result is the Scheme Participants individual Energy Savings target for the year and is expressed in megawatt hours (MWh). This figure is converted into tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2-e) of greenhouse gas emissions by multiplying by the Energy Conversion Factor, which is listed in Schedule 5 of the Act.
Scheme Participants can meet their individual Energy Savings Targets by surrendering Energy Savings Certificates created by Accredited Certificate Providers carrying out eligible energy savings activities in NSW. A Scheme Participant meets their annual individual Energy Savings target if their Energy Savings for that year is equivalent to or exceeds their individual target. If the savings are less than the target, i.e. the total value of ESCs surrendered is insufficient, then the Scheme Participant has an Energy Savings shortfall for that year. A Scheme Participant who has an Energy Savings shortfall may be liable to pay a penalty in respect of that year (which is the Energy Savings shortfall penalty).
Note: The Exempted Sites listed within the Ministerial Order should align with the approach the Commonwealth Government is taking regarding emissions-intensive trade-exposed industries in implementing its expanded Renewable Energy Target and the proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme.
If a Site is not listed in the Order a request for review may be made to the Minister for Energy. If approved, any changes will be included in a subsequent Ministerial Order and will apply for the next calendar year. For further information see the Policy Framework accompanying the Ministerial Order.
