Application for certification of the Western Australian electricity network services access regime

On 11 July 2005 the Council received an application from the Government of Western Australia seeking a recommendation that the state’s access regime for electricity network services — Electricity Networks Access Code 2004 — is an effective access regime under s44M of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (TPA). Section 44M of the TPA requires the Council to determine whether the Western Australian regime satisfies the principles set out in clauses 6(2) to 6(4) of the Competition Principles Agreement (CPA).

The Council released a draft recommendation on 3 August 2005 that the access regime be certified for 15 years. The Council received no submissions in response to the draft recommendation.

The Council forwarded a final recommendation to the decision-maker (in this case the Hon Chris Pearce MP, Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer) on 12 October 2005. Under the TPA, once a decision is made, the decision maker must publish his or her decision. At that time, he or she must also provide a statement of the reasons for the decision and a copy of the Council’s recommendation to the applicant.

On 17 July 2006 the Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer decided that the Western Australian third party access regime for electricity network services is an effective access regime under the National Access Regime and certified it for a period of 15 years. The Parliamentary Secretary's press release is available on his website. The Minister's reason for his decision, the Council's final and draft recommendations, the Western Australian application for certification, and other relevant documents are available for download via the relevant tabs on the left-hand panel.