What happened this month in the Australian electricity and gas markets?

National Electricity Rules

1. On 1 April 2021:
   • The AEMC published a draft determination for the Prioritising arrangements for system security during market suspension rule change.  The AEMC determined not to make the proposed rule change.  Stakeholders can make submissions on the draft determination by 13 May 2021.
2. On 8 April 2021:
   • The AEMC published a final determination for the Participant derogation – financeability of ISP projects (TransGrid) rule change. The AEMC determined not to make the proposed rule change.
   • The AEMC published a final determination for the Participant derogation – financeability of ISP projects (ElectraNet) rule change. The AEMC determined not to make the proposed rule change.
3. On 22 April 2021:
   • The AEMC published a consultation paper for the Settlement under low operational demand rule change. Stakeholders can make submissions on the consultation paper by 20 May 2021.
   • The AEMC published a consultation paper for the NEM settlement under low, zero and negative demand conditions rule change, which is proposed to be expedited as an urgent rule change request. Stakeholders can submit written requests objecting to the use of the expedited process by 6 May 2021, and can make submissions on the consultation paper by 20 May 2021.
   • The AEMC published a draft determination and draft rule on the Fast frequency response market ancillary service rule change.  Stakeholders can make submissions on the draft determination and draft rule by 3 June 2021.
   • The AEMC extended the time to make the draft determination and draft rule for the Enhancing operational resilience in relation to indistinct events rule change to 28 October 2021.
   • The AEMC extended the time for making the final determination and final rule for the Implementing a general power system risk review rule change to 3 June 2021.
4. On 29 April 2021:

National Energy Retail Rules

• No retail rule change requests were received in April.

National Gas Rules

• No gas rule change requests were received in April.

Other updates

• On 30 April 2021, the ESB released its Post 2025 Market Design Options Paper, to form the basis for a final round of consultation ahead of final recommendations to Ministers in mid-2021. A copy of the options paper can be found here. Stakeholders can make submissions on the options paper by 9 June 2021.
• On 29 April 2021, AEMO released its State of the System update, being a regular round-up of development in the NEM.  A copy of the report can be found here. 
• On 6 April 2021, the AER released its Retail Energy Market Performance Update data covering the period from October to December 2020.  A copy of the update can be found here.