Regulator supports industry to develop innovations in the Victorian energy market
29 June 2022
The Essential Services Commission has released a guideline to support industry to trial new innovations that could benefit the long-term interests of Victorian energy consumers through its new regulatory sandboxing function.
As of this month, the Essential Services Commission can now grant time-limited waivers from existing rules to businesses that sell, supply, generate or transmit electricity or gas. This will enable businesses to test innovative technologies, approaches, business models, products and services in the Victorian energy market.
The commission’s Acting Executive Director of Energy Cherie Canning said the regulatory sandbox will allow testing, in a controlled setting, of whether permanent changes to particular energy rules would benefit Victorian consumers.
“The regulatory sandbox will encourage new and innovative technologies that can help reduce the costs of providing secure and reliable energy, as well as carbon emissions,” said Ms Canning.
“To support this important work, we have released a final guideline for businesses wanting to test out new ideas in Victoria using the regulatory sandbox. It provides Victorian-specific guidance to innovators on the requirements to operate a project in Victoria.”
The final guideline sets out the commission’s proposed approach, as well as the information and process requirements that it will consider for trial waiver applications. It also explains how decisions on trial waiver applications will be made.
