AER Australian Energy Regulator : releases report on price event in Victoria’s wholesale gas market

The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) monitors and reports on events and causes when the ancillary service payment in Victoria's Declared Wholesale Gas Market (DWGM) exceeds $250,000.

On 30 November 2017 the ancillary service payment exceeded this amount, reaching $265,929.

The investigation found that an unplanned outage at one of the Longford gas production plants, combined with high gas demand resulted in additional payments for higher priced gas supplied to offset the resulting supply shortfall. During this outage, the Australian Energy Market Operator () was able to maintain system security. Market Participants bid down volumes of available supplies of gas as expected at Longford and supplied more gas from alternative supply sources.

The AER's role in monitoring wholesale energy markets and reporting on price events helps to enhance market transparency and build a culture of compliance. Our analysis provides a foundation to detect non-compliance, market irregularities, inefficiencies and consumer harm. We draw on this work to advise the Energy Council, other stakeholders and market bodies on wholesale market issues.