The next meeting of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Energy Council will be held on August 19, in Canberra.
Established in 2013, the COAG Energy Council is the principal body for national energy policy discussion and reform and meets twice a year.
When announcing the meeting, Minister for the Environment and Energy Josh Frydenberg all state and territories have been invited todiscuss recent developments in South Australia and to strengthen co-operation between state, territory and federal governments to ensure energy markets remain stable and secure.
Key items for discussion will include:
- adapting to the transformation of energy markets, ensuring a greater use of renewables and new technologies, like battery storage, can be effectively integrated into the future energy mix;
- gas prices and supply, to promote gas market reform to ensure prices are competitive. This will include consideration of the recommendations from the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) review and Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) report into the competitiveness of wholesale gas prices; and
- ensuring energy investments are made in the long term interests of energy consumers.
“This meeting follows the success of the December 2015 meeting, where ministers committed to a deeper programme of co-operative work around gas supply, including establishing an annual unconventional gas activities report to provide a consistent, national information source on activities across all jurisdictions,” Mr Frydenberg said.
“There was also a productive videoconference held in April this year, following the release of the ACCC report, which allowed Energy Council ministers to discuss the report’s recommendations in advance of the August meeting.
“I look forward to working with my state and territory colleagues as we seek to put in place policies that provide for a lower emissions future while ensuring affordable, accessible and stable energy supply.”