Compliance
All relevant participants of the Renewable Energy Target (RET) must comply with the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2000 (the Act), Renewable Energy (Electricity) Charge Act 2000 and Renewable Energy (Electricity) Regulations 2001 (the regulations) for the creation of renewable energy certificates (RECs), reporting and other requirements.
Failure to comply with the Act for any reason can result in penalties and prosecution where warranted.
The below tables summarise the offences and powers under the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2000.
For specific and detailed information on the elements of the listed offences and the complete details of the powers under the Act you should refer to the Act.
Offences under the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2000
| Section | Offence | Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| 24(1) | Improper creation of certificates (Strict Liability) | 1 Penalty unit per REC |
| 24(3) | Improper creation of certificates | 5 Penalty units per REC |
| 76(1) | 3rd party failing to comply with Regulator’s notice | 30 Penalty units |
| 78 | Liquidator failing to comply with Regulator’s notice | 30 Penalty units |
| 82 | Receiver failing to comply with Regulator’s notice | 30 Penalty units |
| 86 | Agent failing to comply with Regulator’s notice | 30 Penalty units |
| 109 | Offences related to Authorised Officer identity cards | 1 Penalty unit |
| 113 | Failure to provide information to authorised officer | 6 months imprisonment |
| 124 | Failure of occupier (of warrant premises) to provide reasonable facilities and assistance | 10 Penalty units |
| 125A(4) | Failure to comply with notice from Regulator re the provision of information. | 20 Penalty units |
| 125E | False or misleading evidence in purported compliance with s125A | 12 months imprisonment |
| 127 | Incorrect divulging of protected information by Regulator or ORER staff member | 2 years imprisonment |
| 154(1) | Failure to provide documents within specified time(Strict Liability) | 30 Penalty units |
| 154(3) | Failure to provide documents within specified time | 6 months imprisonment |
| 160(7) | Failure to comply with requirement under s160 | 30 Penalty units |
Powers under the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2000
| Section | Power | Who | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| 26(6) | Require written statement in relation to information regarding the creation of a certificate. | The Regulator | Response by written statement |
| 30(1) | Suspension of registration (conviction of offence) | The Regulator | Upon conviction of a person for an offence against 24(3) |
| 30(2) | Suspension of registration (subsequent conviction of offence) | The Regulator | If a person’s registration has previously been suspended under subsection (1) and they are convicted of another offence against 24(3) |
| 30A (1) & (2) | Suspension of registration (Regulator’s belief that offence committed) | The Regulator | By written notice |
| 30A (3) & (4) | Suspension of registration (Registration obtained improperly) | The Regulator | By written notice |
| 30(D)(1) & (2) | Suspending the accreditation of a power station (interconnected power stations) | The Regulator | By written notice |
| 30E(1)& (2) | Suspending the accreditation of a power station (Failure to give an Electricity Generation Return) | The Regulator | By written notice |
| 30E (3)&(4) | Suspending the accreditation of a power station (Contravention of Commonwealth, State or Territory Law) | The Regulator | By written notice |
| 30E | Suspending the accreditation of a power station (Other circumstances) | The Regulator | By written notice |
| 30G(1) | Vary the 2008 WCMG limit for an accredited power station | The Regulator | MAY by written notice. (The determination must be made in accordance with the guidelines prescribed in the Regulations) |
| 71(2) | Recovery of renewable energy shortfall charge related liability | The Regulator | MAY sue in a court of competent jurisdiction |
| 72 | Service of documents if a person is absent from Australia or cannot be found | The Regulator | By posting |
| Division 2 Subdivision A | Recovery from third parties | The Regulator | |
| 110 | Entry to premises | Authorised officer | MAY (1)(a) Enter any premises at any reasonable time of day and; (1)(b) exercise the monitoring powers set out in section 111. With the consent of the occupier or entry made under a monitoring warrant |
| 111 | Monitoring powers of authorised officers | Authorised Officer | MAY exercise these powers in relation to premises under section110 |
| 112(1) | Requesting a person to answer questions | Authorised Officer | Request the occupier to answer questions |
| 112(2) | Requiring a person to answer questions | Authorised Officer | Require the occupier to answer questions |
| 125 | Monitoring Warrants | Authorised Officer | Obtained on application to Magistrate |
| 125A | Regulator may obtain information and documents | The Regulator | By written notice (if the Regulator has reason to believe that the person has information or a document that is relevant to the operation of this Act; or is capable of giving evidence which is relevant to the operation of this Act. |
| 125D | Regulator may retain documents | The Regulator | Take and retain for as long as necessary possession of a document produced under this part. |
| 134 | Regulator may publish certain information | The Regulator | MAY Publish a list of each liable entity that has a renewable energy certificate shortfall for a particular year; and Both the amount of each liable entity’s renewable energy certificate shortfall for that year; The proportion of that shortfall relative to the liable entity’s required renewable energy for that year; and the total of the renewable energy certificate shortfalls for that year. |
ORER’s Compliance and Enforcement Policy
The Office of the Renewable Energy Regulator (ORER) has developed a proactive policy for monitoring compliance with the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2000.
Visit - ORER Compliance and Enforcement Policy
When will monitoring occur?
Compliance activities will occur consistently throughout the year. ORER will use intelligence analysis and risk assessment to make strategic decisions about compliance activities undertaken, with the intent to maximise the number of stakeholders who voluntarily comply with their obligations under the Act.
What are the core elements of ORER’s compliance approach?
The core elements of this approach are;
- assisting stakeholders to understand their rights and obligations;
- making it as easy as possible for stakeholders to meet their obligations;
- supporting stakeholders who want to do the right thing; and
- actively pursuing those who opportunistically or deliberately contravene the law.
What form can compliance activities take?
Analysis of information reported by registered persons and corporations; desk top investigations, including data analysis, checks against 3rd party data and other innovative analysis techniques; targeted investigations using authorised officers; and audits of eligible and liable parties.
What are the monitoring powers of Authorised Officers under the Act?
The Act provides for the Regulator to appoint Authorised Officers. The Act provides a number of powers to enable authorised Officers to assess compliance with the Act, these include entry to premises (with consent) at any reasonable time or entry under a monitoring warrant; search; examination; seizure; copying documents; photographing; video recording of anything that may relate to the creation or transfer of certificates or relevant acquisition of electricity.
What if non-compliance is found?
ORER will employ a range of responses that escalate according to the severity of the contravention or if non-compliant activities continue. Generally, education and/or warnings will be used in response to first and less serious contraventions. For serious or continuing contraventions, deterrent sanctions will be used that may include suspension of registration, suspension of accreditation, civil recovery and criminal prosecution.
Compliance activities 2009-2010
The below table shows the compliance activities conducted by ORER on a monthly basis. These activities do not include ongoing investigations and desk top reviews and audits.
Site visits include physical visits to installation sites and power stations, but also include physical checks of sites where installations are viewed from the street to confirm that an installation has occurred.
Outreach visits are visits to stakeholders that are not in response to a specific compliance issue and can be instigated either by ORER or as a request from the stakeholder.
Warrants executed refers to the execution of monitoring warrants under s125 of the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2000
Compliance visits refers to visits to stakeholders in relation to specific compliance issues.
Activity |
July |
Aug |
Sept |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
June |
Site visits |
25 |
11 |
5 |
225 |
22 |
12 |
87 |
51 |
8 |
12 |
42 |
|
Outreach Visits |
1 |
5 |
4 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
Warrants Executed |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
|
Compliance Visits |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
25 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
| Agents Suspended | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | *1 | 0 | *1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* Suspension of an Agent registration
The Renewable Energy Regulator can suspended the registration of an Agent for a specified period up to 12 months under s30A (1 ) & (2) of the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2000.
Compliance contacts
For additional information about the ORER Compliance and Enforcement Policy, auditing or to report suspicions of non-compliant behaviour please contact the ORER Compliance Manager on (02) 6159 7774 or by email to compliance@orer.gov.au
Fact sheet
Policy
