Regulatory Framework

The primary legislation governing Queensland's electricity industry is the Electricity Act 1994 and the Electricity Regulation 2006.

The matters governed by the Electricity Act and Regulation include:

• regulation of the electricity industry and electricity use, including licensing of electricity industry participants and monitoring of licence compliance
• establishment of a framework for retail competition, including ensuring the interests of customers are protected
• making and approval of industry codes, such as the Electricity Industry Code which deals with supply reliability, standard customer contracts of electricity distributors and retailers, and other customer service matters
• approval of electricity prices for non-market customers
• assisting in the settlement of disputes between electricity entities and between electricity entities and public entities
• administration of electricity restrictions and electricity rationing procedures

Many of these matters are statutory functions of the Regulator, who for the purposes of the Electricity Act is the Director-General, Department of Mines and Energy. The Department of Mines and Energy administers many of these matters, including the statutory functions of the Regulator.

Since the commencement of full retail competition (FRC) on 1 July 2007, the Queensland Competition Authority has responsibility for administering some matters under the Electricity Act and, in particular, the Electricity Industry Code.

Also since the commencement of FRC, disputes between small electricity customers and electricity entities are dealt with under the Energy Ombudsman Act 2006. Information can be obtained from the Energy Ombudsman Queensland website.

Electrical safety matters, including licensing of electrical workers and contractors, are dealt with under the Electrical Safety Act 2002 and administered by the Electrical Safety Office within the Department of Industrial Relations.

The Electricity - National Scheme (Queensland) Act 1997 (National Scheme Act) governs Queensland's participation in the National Electricity Market (NEM). This Act also applies the National Electricity Rules to the NEM in Queensland.

The regulatory bodies who undertake economic regulation of the electricity transmission and distribution networks in accordance with the National Scheme Act and the National Electricity Rules are:

• the Queensland Competition Authority, who has responsibility for price regulation of electricity distribution networks.
• the Australian Energy Regulator, who has responsibility for economic regulation (including pricing) of electricity transmission networks.