Pricing process improvement project
The Electricity Authority is continuing the project, which will include:
- clarifying the inputs into final prices, including the high spring washer provisions;
- reviewing provisional price situations;
- looking at the treatment of wind in the final pricing;
- reviewing the overall pricing provisions of the Code to ensure they are understandable; and
- other pricing related issues.
High spring washer resolution process
The Authority has gazetted an urgent Code change to restore the effectiveness of the high spring washer resolution process. The Authority considers that it is desirable to make the amendment urgently because:
- since the system operator changed the process for applying constraints to parallel circuits in March 2011, there is a high risk that a high spring washer price situation involving parallel circuits will no longer be able to be resolved by applying clause 13.134 of the Electricity Industry Participation Code 2010 ("Code");
- such an outcome is highly likely to undermine confidence in the pricing process, and could potentially give rise to participants claiming an undesirable trading situation (due to the inability of the current methodology in the Code to resolve the high spring washer price situation); and
- although the chance of such a situation occurring within the period required to develop a normal Code amendment is low, the consequence is high enough to make it desirable in the public interest to make an urgent amendment to the Code.
The Gazette notice and Code amendment will be available on the 22 December 2011 on the Code amendments 2011 page. The amendment comes into force on 23 December 2011.
A consultation paper on this Code change will be published early in 2012 in accordance with the requirements of the Act.