Statutes Amendment (National Energy Laws) (Data Access) Bill

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 29 August 2024.)

The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO (Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (15:27): I will keep my contribution short, given the importance of the next bill that is coming up. I rise today to speak in support of the Statutes Amendment (National Energy Laws) (Data Access) Bill and indicate that I am the lead speaker for the opposition. This bill is a step in improving how energy data is managed and shared in Australia with the aim of supporting better decision-making and planning as our energy system continues to evolve.

At its core, this bill will allow the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) to share protected energy data with trusted bodies, such as government departments, the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the Clean Energy Regulator and researchers. This is data that AEMO already collects but can only be shared in a limited way under current laws. By broadening the list of bodies that AEMO can share the data with, the bill enables more effective planning, policy development and research on energy matters.

Proper data analysis can help to produce policy in order to reduce rising household energy costs. Late last year, when I spoke to the National Electricity (South Australia) (Orderly Exit Management Framework) Amendment Bill, I highlighted the unprecedented energy costs that South Australian households and businesses are facing. Since then, South Australians are still facing some of the highest power bills in the nation. Currently, energy departments at the state level have often found it difficult to access AEMO's data in a timely manner, due to competing priorities and a lack of formalised agreements.

This bill gives the South Australian energy and mining minister the power to establish rules around the data access amendments. This ensures the regulatory framework can adapt as technology and the energy landscape change. However, as always, the opposition will monitor closely how the minister uses these powers.

The Statutes Amendment (National Energy Laws) (Data Access) Bill is a pragmatic step to improve how energy data is used in Australia. With that, I support the bill.

The Hon. S.L. GAME (15:29): I rise to speak on the Statutes Amendment (National Energy Laws) (Data Access) Bill. These proposed amendments to national energy laws are designed to develop a data strategy for the National Electricity Market. One of the key elements of the strategy is to remove barriers in accessing data from the Australian Energy Market Operator. The removal of legislative barriers will allow the market operator to share consumer data with an expanded list of prescribed bodies. This will allow policymakers, planners and researchers access to data from consumer meters and renewable energy units or systems that are located at houses or businesses to provide power.

The rationale for expanding access to consumer data is to gain a better understanding of different consumer behaviour and the impact of the energy transition that will inform forecasting, investments, new services and consumer protections. It has also been stated that this data could support energy accounting, reporting and net zero aspirations. However, even the minister in this place has highlighted the clear risk of data security and the need to increase public confidence in data sharing between the energy operator and wider stakeholders.

While the minister has assured this chamber that the disclosure of protected information for data-sharing purposes will be limited and restricted, with civil penalties imposed for breaches of protection requirements, I remain concerned about the expanded dissemination of protected consumer data and also how government bodies might accumulate data to use against consumers by restricting access or imposing quotas or penalties. I am also concerned about how effectively the market operator will be enforcing any breaches of consumer data by these newly prescribed bodies.

Further to this, the bill creates broad power for the minister to make rules or revoke or amend a rule because of the enactment of the data access amendments. In short, this means that further expansion and dissemination of consumer data could be enacted with limited oversight. With this, I put my concerns before the chamber regarding this bill, the risk it poses to protected consumer data and the potential for this data to be used against consumers in the future.

The Hon. T.T. NGO (15:31): I rise to speak in support of the Statutes Amendment (National Energy Laws) (Data Access) Bill. The reforms in this bill are part of a broader data strategy which is essential to ensure consumers benefit from the rapid changes in the energy system. A consequence of allowing private companies to own and control energy services is that it has become harder for public agencies to create well-informed policies that benefit everyone. Fundamentally, this bill is about helping to control costs in order to keep energy affordable for consumers and to make sure South Australians are protected and treated fairly by energy companies.

This government understands that a coordinated data strategy will facilitate informed decision-making by enabling research and policy development processes to be improved. In recommending reforms, the Energy Security Board has identified that data gaps have already led to avoidable inefficiencies, higher costs and risks for consumers. The board also found that these data gaps were frequently caused by decision-makers not having access to relevant data. Not having this important information has shown that people struggle to choose the best energy plans or solar systems because, as consumers, they are not given enough information about energy use and potential savings.

Although since 2014 consumers have had the right to access and share their energy use data, the complicated processes and inconsistent standards make it difficult to understand this information. This was highlighted in a survey by Energy Consumers Australia, which found that only about half of consumers feel they have enough information to make informed energy choices.

In addition to this, important research groups and policymakers cannot access key energy data such as meter readings or electricity bills, even if the data is anonymous. This makes it harder to identify important issues such as how rooftop solar, electric cars and energy programs for low income households affect the energy system. Creating smart policy becomes challenging, and it can also makes it very hard for networks such as SA Power Networks to develop cost-effective alternatives for consumers.

Likewise, new energy companies struggle to improve their services because they cannot access the customer's energy use history, unlike older, well-established energy companies who have large amounts of past data, giving them an unfair advantage. Consequently, this prevents new companies from offering better services to consumers.

This bill aims to fix these problems by creating rules for sharing energy data safely and fairly. It allows the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) to share data with trusted organisations to help with research and planning and in making better energy policies. The bill allows for specified agencies that follow existing obligations on data protection to be classified as class A, such as state energy departments and jurisdictional regulators.

The bill will allow other agencies to be classified as class B, such as the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, Energy Consumers Australia, and universities that working on energy projects. This will come with strict data protection rules as well as strict penalties if those rules.

Today, too much of the knowledge about the energy system that powers our homes and businesses is being kept out of reach of those who can use this data to benefit consumers. This bill seeks to redress that imbalance, and I hope honourable members support it.

The Hon. J.E. HANSON (15:36): Who doesn't love a good energy bill? Everyone does; it is really good. The Hon. Mr Ngo has actually said some of the things I was going to say, but—

An honourable member: Say them again.

The Hon. J.E. HANSON: I might. Mine goes a little bit further and mentions a quote from Sir Francis Bacon, so just hang in there—it is towards the end.

The Hon. B.R. Hood interjecting:

The Hon. J.E. HANSON: Sir Francis Bacon, that is right, Hon. Mr Hood. I rise to speak in support of the Statutes Amendment (National Energy Laws) (Data Access) Bill. As pointed out by the Hon. Mr Ngo, the reforms in this bill are part of a broader data strategy—and all the rest of that stuff.

Privatisation of the energy system has created barriers to good public policy, but we have to work within the constraints to manage risks and affordability to protect consumers. Currently there is a lack of access to data, which inhibits doing that, certainly efficiently, and definitely limits us in terms of effective decision-making. That affects consumers, obviously, registered market participants, new entrants, planners, forecasters, policymakers—aka pretty much everyone.

The uptake of digital technologies and increasing data needs have emphasised the shortcomings in the system, as I just outlined. In recommending reforms the Energy Security Board, as the Hon. Mr Ngo has pointed out, found that data gaps have already led to avoidable inefficiencies, higher costs, risk for consumers, and contributed to affordability and security challenges.

The board actually went further than what the Hon. Mr Ngo had to say, and said that data gaps were frequently caused by decision-makers not having access to relevant data, even if sharing the data would clearly be in the wider interests of consumers. There are out of date regulatory frameworks governing data, lack of process to manage or share data, and a lack of incentives for parties to make data available. At this stage if you are not thinking of Star Trek, sir, I would be surprised.

A coordinated data strategy will be a key enabler to improving processes, better targeting research, guiding policy development and enabling informed decision making. So getting settings right, if you like, will support innovative services, and enable a higher uptake of renewable and low emission technologies. It will reduce inefficiencies which are clearly associated with poor operational or poor investment decisions, and support a more affordable energy outcome for households, businesses, communities—basically everyone.

The Energy Security Board cited several examples of data gaps, and I am going to go into a few of them. They included the following: consumers currently make choices on new energy plans and solar voltaic systems without easy access to data on how they use their energy. What that means is what the best services for them may be or whether they may be better off with another choice to be made is actually difficult for them to ascertain. For example, a household where people leave to go to work during the day are likely to derive more of their benefit, for instance, from battery than those who stay at home during the day. So the diverse usage patterns of households will benefit from better data to allow them to understand their individual circumstances.

Consumers have had a right to access their own metered data, as was pointed out by the Hon. Mr Ngo, and share it with other service providers since around about 2014. There is an obligation on retailers and networkers to provide it. However, a lack of required common processes, such as a common way to do it, a common identification verification and common data standards to facilitate that means that most consumers—and I would think even most people even in this building—will still struggle to gain access or only access to it in a form that limits the ability to share that data, the portability of that data.

The Energy Consumers Australia consumer sentiment survey, as cited by Mr Ngo, indicated that only half of consumers feel confident that they have enough information to make good energy decisions. I would actually think, in practice, it may be well below that. Secondly, there is planning and forecasting. System planners, forecasters and market participants have had to forecast demand with limited visibility of current demand and many unseen factors driving consumer change, including uptake and impacts of new technologies, such as air-conditioning units, and energy efficient technologies, such as solar voltaic cells, have led to key challenges in forecasting major changes in the other aspects—so not usage but demand.

These forecasting challenges are a contributing factor to price rises over recent decades. When demand fell unexpectedly, higher forecasts contributed to overinvestment in networks. There is also the development of network-supporting services. At present, most demand management is focused on reducing load during higher price periods. Essentially, demand management is a substitute for peaking generation; however, it can be an efficient substitute for network investment.

Greater visibility of load profiles would help distribution network service providers, which is SA Power Networks in this state, to develop non-network alternatives to network upgrades; for instance, for particular customers, during a small number of peak periods driving a need to upgrade a substation, there may be opportunities for that provider to work with customers to develop mutually beneficial alternatives, if you like, that are much cheaper than a substation upgrade.

Lastly, getting to ourselves—the policymakers and regulatory bodies—policymakers make significant investments in programs to trial new technologies and to address concerns around vulnerable consumers and exposed sectors. However, access to data and metrics to measure the impact of these measures and evaluate consumer benefits is inadequate. This reduces benefits and learnings from the programs and limits the improvement in future programs.

Similar challenges are experienced with customer surveys or trials where limits on consumer consent, due to a lack of clear requirements and advice, mean findings are unable to be shared. Only retailers, as was pointed out by the Hon. Mr Ngo, currently can see what consumers actually pay for energy. No other party can currently access usage data, tariffs or even bills in a way that can support some sort of broad statistical analysis or understanding of ongoing impacts on consumers. This is a major challenge for everybody but definitely for us here in trying to institute things like consumer protections or retail transparency and wider consumer policy.

Regulators and policymakers have limited access to data and to evaluate how consumers are impacted by different policies and services, making it challenging to monitor consumer protections, to assess and advise jurisdictions—even our own—on retail margins or design or test policy options.

Regulators monitor retail market prices based on prices offered in the market and do not have clear visibility on which tariffs consumers are actually on or what consumers really pay. Published estimates for consumer bills vary widely and provide no insights into impacts on different consumer segments.

The distribution of tariff reform or changes to the structure of distribution of tariffs will redistribute who pays for network costs. For instance—Mr President, I know that you are right across that—if networks are moved toward time-of-use charges, customers who use their power predominantly during peak periods are likely to have to pay higher bills. Making more granular data available to parties responsible for tariff reform will help ensure that restructuring is targeted towards delivering more efficient outcomes, without disproportionately impacting any particular group of customers.

As tariff structures change, better data will also help customers adapt their behaviour in ways that reduces bills and overall system cost. The bill before us seeks to create a framework to begin to close gaps in access to data. It does so in a pretty structured way by allowing the Australian Energy Market Operator to share data with specified bodies to improve planning, regulation and research. The bill allows for specified bodies to be classified as class A, with our existing obligations on data protection. These are bodies such as jurisdictional regulators and state energy departments.

It is pretty absurd that a legacy of privatisation is that our own Department for Energy and Mining cannot currently access all the relevant data it needs to make informed policy recommendations. This bill allows for certain other bodies to be classified, not just as class A but the nifty class B. These will include the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, Energy Consumers Australia and universities, all of which are working on energy policy and program projects. Class B will be bound by explicit data protection conditions, backed by a pretty hefty civil penalty framework.

As promised, in my wrap-up I said that I would get to the quote of Sir Francis Bacon, which I know we have all been hanging out for, in particular the Hon. Mr Hood. Back in 1597—quite some time ago, I think it was the last time the Liberals were in power—he wrote that 'knowledge is power', and this remains true all these centuries later, it really does. We could even amend it to say that knowledge about power is power. There you go, see! Today, too much knowledge about power, about the energy system that powers our homes and businesses, is being kept out of reach of those who can benefit—consumers. This bill seeks to redress that imbalance, and with that I commend it to the chamber.

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (15:47): I thank honourable members for their contributions: the Hon. Ms Girolamo, the Hon. Ms Game, the Hon. Mr Ngo and the Hon. Mr Hanson. I appreciate the indications of support for the bill.

Bill read a second time.

Committee Stage

In committee.

Clause 1.

The Hon. S.L. GAME: I have a couple of questions for the minister at clause 1. What measures have been put in place to review the effectiveness of the new civil penalty regime for breaches of consumer data and, other than penalties for breaching the rules regarding access to consumer data, can the government outline what other measures or actions have been taken to protect consumer data once access has been given to these newly prescribed bodies?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: I am advised that—and we probably all agree—protecting Australia's energy sector from cyberthreats is of national importance. This has been recognised by the inclusion of the energy sector within the Security of Critical Infrastructure Act 2018, and the reforms. These reforms support the ability of the energy sector to maintain secure and reliable energy supplies, thereby supporting our economic stability and national security.

AEMO has worked closely with the commonwealth and industry to develop the Australian Energy Sector Cyber Security Framework. AEMO securely receives, stores and shares significant amounts of information as part of operating energy markets, and is consistently uplifting cyber capabilities in accordance with the AESCSF, act and an evolving threat landscape.

The initial data strategy reforms make provision for AEMO to share information that it currently holds. In terms of sharing this information, AEMO will firstly need to understand the capability of the party requesting the information, and that will conclude with a data-sharing agreement being put in place. The actual sharing of information will be through one of AEMO's secure channels so that it is within the monitored and managed infrastructure. This process is likely to require the recipient to be onboarded as an authenticated user prior to sharing.

Clause passed.

Remaining clauses (2 to 14) and title passed.

Bill reported without amendment.

Third Reading

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (15:52): I move:

That this bill be now read a third time.

Bill read a third time and passed.