Chair of the Clean Energy Regulator

Notice of the Clean Energy Regulator Emissions Reduction Fund overlap assessment program

The Clean Energy Regulator has signed Memoranda of Understanding with the administrators of two state-based energy efficiency schemes.  These are:

• The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal, as the administrator of the New South Wales Energy Saving Scheme.
• The Essential Services Commission, as the administrator of the Victorian Energy Efficiency Target.

The Clean Energy Regulator has also established disclosures under section 185 of the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Act 2011 (CFI Act) from the Essential Services Commission as the administrator of the South Australian Retailer Energy Efficiency Scheme and the ACT Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate, as administrator of the ACT Energy Efficiency Improvement Scheme.

The Clean Energy Regulator will request and collect the following data sets from the above four state and territory energy efficiency agencies. These four state and territory agencies functions include the crediting of energy efficiency and fuel switching activities equivalent or similar to those under the Emissions Reduction Fund.

The Clean Energy Regulator is seeking to collect details about participants in the schemes administered by the above mentioned partner agencies, as well as details of the energy efficiency and fuel switching activities undertaken by these participants at household or commercial premises.  Both data elements are required to determine whether compliance obligations under the CFI Act and the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Rule 2015 (CFI Rule) are being met. 

The Clean Energy Regulator will institute a program to electronically match data acquired from the partner agencies with activity data obtained by the Clean Energy Regulator under the CFI Act and the CFI Rule.

This program will be called the Emissions Reduction Fund overlap assessment program and it will enable the Clean Energy Regulator to:

• administer the ‘government program requirement’ imposed by the CFI Act and further described by the CFI Rule
• identify ERF scheme participants that may not be meeting their obligations under the CFI Act.

A document describing this program has been prepared and lodged with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. A copy of this document is available on the Clean Energy Regulator’s website or by emailing CER-Privacy@cleanenergyregulator.gov.au

The Clean Energy Regulator complies with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s Guidelines on Data Matching in Australian Government Administration (2014) which includes standards for data matching to protect the privacy of individuals. A full copy of the Clean Energy Regulator’s privacy policy can be accessed at http://www.cleanenergyregulator.gov.au/About/Policies-and-publications/Condensed-privacy-policy.