Power bid faces review

By JONATHON HOWARD

IT could be back to the drawing board for Ergon Energy’s plans to build a second power line from Warwick to Stanthorpe after compliance concerns were recently flagged by the Australian Energy Regulator (AER).
Concerned with the process undertaken by the State Government-owned Ergon Energy and the now discontinued Power Community Reference Group, Warwick resident Greg Payne wrote to AER to ask if the regulator could review Ergon’s compliance.
In a response letter, General Manager of AER Market Branch, Tom Leuner, said the company’s compliance review indentified two potential compliance concerns with Ergon’s proposal.
The review focused on Ergon’s compliance with clause 5.6.2 of the electricity rules.
“Firstly, the eligibility criteria which Ergon applied for non-network options to be considered against network options in the Warwick to Stanthorpe regulator test exceeded the requirements of the Regulatory Test,” Mr Leuner stated.
“Secondly, for the Warwick to Stanthorpe regulatory test, Ergon applied version two of the regulatory test instead of version three which was applicable at the time.”
The letter said the regulatory test was also conducted at a time close to the time augmentation was required, with Ergon noting that it was to be completed by the end of 2012.
“This may have restricted the options that could be considered.”
Subsequent to this Ergon has noted that the project will now not be required until 2016, although a company representative for Ergon refused to set a time frame for the project.
Ergon has agreed to carry out another regulatory request and will invite and assess alternate options from interested parties.
Community members with any questions on review and approvals stages can contact community engagement manager Rubina Smith on 1800 067 929 or email community@ergon.com.au.

BREAK OUT
NOW the Power Community Reference Group’s final report recommending line route five has been submitted to Ergon, it will be subjected to internal decision-making processes and external approvals.
The stages are as follows:

1) Internal decision-making process:
o A technical and regulatory review by the Network Investment Review Committee.
o A financial review by the Investment Review Committee.
o A final decision by the Board and Chief Executive.

2) If Ergon adopts the CRG recommendation, it will then commence line route selection within the recommended corridor, seeking feedback from landowners to influence the position of the line route.

3) Another regulatory test, as required by the Australian Energy Regulator, will be conducted that will invite and assess alternate options from interested parties.
4) The proposed line route will then be submitted to the Energy Minister for approval through the Community Infrastructure Designation process, which includes further opportunities for community input.

In order to initiate Ergon’s internal decision-making process, an elementary survey of the line route corridor is planned to begin about the middle of August.
This survey is required to determine the suitability of a line route within the recommended corridor and will be among the information presented to the Network Investment Review Committee for its technical review.
Ergon will continue to keep the community informed as we work through these stages, however a time-line has not yet been finalised for each stage or the overall process.
Community members with any questions during these stages can contact community engagement manager Rubina Smith on 1800 067 929 or email community@ergon.com.au.