Compliance
All relevant participants of the Mandatory Renewable Energy Target (MRET) 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.
Enforcement under the Act
To ensure the integrity of the MRET, the Office of the Renewable Energy Regulator (ORER) has compliance and enforcement powers. These include, but are not limited to, the power to:
- approve or refuse an application to be a registered person;
- approve or refuse provisional application to accredit a renewable energy power station;
- approve or refuse to accredit an application to accredit a renewable energy power station;
- approve or refuse to register RECs;
- accept or refuse to accept RECs for the purposes of acquitting a REC liability under the legislation;
- suspend the accreditation of a renewable energy power station for a period of time or indefinitely;
- suspend a registered person for a period of time or indefinitely;
- assess Electricity Generation Returns (EGR) lodged by companies with accredited renewable energy power stations;
- amend EGR assessments;
- assess Solar Water Heater and Small Generation Unit Returns lodged by agents who create RECs from eligible solar water heaters and small generation unit installations;
- assess Annual Energy Acquisitions Statements (AEAS) or Renewable Energy Shortfall Statements (RESS) lodged by companies who acquire liable electricity under the legislation;
- amend AEAS and RESS assessments;
- conduct default AEAS or RESS assessments. This would apply if a company who acquired liable electricity under the legislation did not lodge a AEAS or RESS for a given compliance year;
- conduct audits with consent from companies who acquire electricity under the legislation, own a accredited renewable energy power station or are an agent;
- conduct audits by serving monitoring warrants for companies who acquire electricity under the legislation, own a accredited renewable energy power station or are an agent; and
- obtain any information relevant to the compliance and enforcement of the mandatory renewable energy target.
Auditing
Part 11 of the Act provides rules, as they relate to participants of the MRET, for:
- appointing authorised officers;
- outlining the power/obligation of authorised officers;
- outlining the occupier's right and responsibilities; and
- exercising monitoring warrants.
Selecting candidates for audit
Audit candidates are selected according to an internal risk assessment process that is based on, but not limited to the following:
- issues identified during assessment of Annual Energy Acquisition Statements, Renewable Energy Shortfall Statements, Annual Electricity Generation Returns or Solar Water Heater and Small Generation Unit Returns;
- the ORER's risk assessment process;
- REC creation history;
- overall compliance with the legislation;
- any number of issues associated with an accredited renewable energy power station; and/or
- REC assignment forms.
Conducting audits and recommendations
ORER conducts audits annually depending on the time available between the end of the assessment period and the start of the new compliance period. The most important audit objective is to educate the candidate and confirm compliance with the legislation. Most audits involve:
- pre audit activities, such as a pre audit conference call outlining the direction of the audit, agreeing to a audit agenda and agreeing to the audit visiting dates. Providing a list of potential audit questions;
- a site visit(s);
- while conducting the audit the audit team of two or more people may request to look at various records, line diagrams, and internal information technology systems to cross check data and internal processes;
- after the site visit(s) emails and conference calls may be required to finalise outstanding audit issues; and
- the audit team prepares an audit report for the Renewable Energy Regulator for approval. This report is used for the ORER's internal use and does not require signature from the candidate. The Regulator then writes to the auditee to inform them of the audit outcome. This finalises the audit process.
It is important to note that all recommendations made as part of the audit process are taken into account when assessing future Annual Energy Acquisition Statements, Renewable Energy Shortfall Statements, Electricity Generation Returns or Solar Water Heater and Small Generation Unit Returns and REC creation activities.
Compliance and enforcement contacts
If you would like to discuss compliance issues under the Act, or have reason to believe that the Act has been, or is likely to be, breached please contact the Data, Audit and Compliance Section of ORER. Contacting the section directly will ensure that any queries you have are answered promptly. When reporting information on a possible breach of the legislation you can remain anonymous.
The ORER takes compliance with the Act seriously and investigates alleged breaches.
Data, Audit and Compliance Section
Office of the Renewable Energy Regulator
GPO Box 621
Canberra ACT 2601
Email: orer@orer.gov.au
Phone: (02) 6159 7700
Fax: (02) 6159 7780
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