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Publication

How Green is the NEM: The Environment and the National Electricity Market

Book Contribution - Chapter

The national energy market reform has been a key feature of the Australian governments’ policy decision making throughout the past few decades. Policy developments have been accompanied by extensive reform and restructuring of the electricity sector across the country, especially in the past few years. The intention of the discussion in this chapter is twofold. First, it seeks to provide an overview of the historical development of the NEM and, secondly, to highlight the various ways in which the environment has, or has not, featured in the reform process to date. Thus, in addition to policy developments, the discussion in this chapter identifies the key environmental obligations and considerations that were initially included in electricity market reforms. The current legislative basis for the NEM is also briefly outlined. Key environmental deficiencies in the current legislative and regulatory framework, namely, the absence of environmental obligations, are also considered.
Book: GreenPower: An Environmental Audit of the Australian Electricity Market
Pages: 21 - 36
ISBN:9780949600509
Publication year:2009