How we monitor the electricity market
Being the kaitiaki of electricity means a lot of monitoring and tracking behind the scenes.
The electricity industry is large and complex, but we have the skills, tools and data to effectively monitor the market and the activity of industry participants.
On this page —
Trading conduct reports
We publish weekly trading conduct reports that provide high level indicators of trading conduct and highlight trading periods for further analysis.
We also publish quarterly market performance reviews on a broad range of topics.
Enquiries, reviews and investigations
We carry out enquiries, reviews and investigations into issues raised through our monitoring of the market, such as out of the ordinary events. We may also be asked to look into a particular issue by an external party or by our Responsible Minister, the Minister for Energy (under Section 18 of the Electricity Industry Act 2010).
Our findings may result in suggestions for Code amendments, market facilitation measures, or no further action. We publish the findings of all our market enquiries, reviews and investigations on the related project page.
How we monitor the market
We collect and work with a large amount of electricity data that we use to create performance metrics and analytical tools to help monitor the electricity market. We track and monitor all aspects of the sector. For example, we:
- provide weekly trading conduct reports and quarterly market performance reviews
- conduct in-depth reviews and studies of particular topics
- track and report on final prices, retail market share and consumer switching on the Electricity Market Information website
- maintain databases and make analytical tools available (such as vSPD and JADE) to improve industry participants’ own monitoring capacity
- assess offers and prices to check participants' compliance with the trading conduct rule - see our approach to monitoring trading conduct.
Why we monitor the market
It's our statutory objective to promote competition, ensure there’s a reliable supply of electricity and the electricity industry is operated effectively for the long-term benefit of consumers. It's also our function to "undertake industry and market monitoring, and carry out and make publicly available reviews, studies, and inquiries into any matter relating to the electricity industry" (Section 16(g) of the Electricity Industry Act 2010). The monitoring we do:
- ascertains whether the observed market performance is consistent with a well-functioning and disciplined market and is to the long-term benefit of consumers
- reviews initiatives we’ve undertaken to see if they’re working as planned
- investigates whether long-term opportunities and incentives for efficient entry, exit and investment and innovation in the market are occurring
- checks whether industry participants are efficiently developing and operating the electricity system to manage both the security and reliability of our electricity supply
- checks whether industry participants are complying with the Code. See our compliance monitoring framework.
- informs Code amendments - industry participant's responsibilities and our own duties and responsibilities.
See our approach to monitoring compliance with the wholesale trading conduct provisions of the Code.
The place to go for all electricity data
