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Issue 72 – December 2024
Welcome to our December Newsletter
What a year it's been. We’ve got a lot done since our last newsletter in July. In this edition, you’ll find key information on batteries, updates on certificate registration fees and penalty rates, and a recap of recent events.
Battery activity is gathering momentum after PDRS batteries went live on 1 November, with keen interest in BESS1 and BESS2 accreditation. We've approved 25 applications and are working hard to promptly process another 31.
The NSW Government’s commitment and investment in the schemes was reaffirmed in September, when it announced its Consumer Energy Strategy, including home energy ratings, setting targets for solar and battery uptake, virtual power plants and installation safety.
We’re looking forward to working with you next year as the roll out of batteries continues. Keep an eye on our website for updated battery information and guidance.
Wishing you all the very best for the festive season and we look forward to seeing you all
again in the New Year. We’ll be closed from Monday 23 December until Friday
3 January 2025 during the Christmas / New Year period. TESSA will be available but without technical support.
Best Regards,
IPART ESS Team
Batteries - Need to Know
New requirements and activities came into effect on 1 November. Here are some important reminders.
Consumer fact sheets must be given to customers by ACPs, with their quotation. These are available on our website - BESS1 and BESS2.
The PDRS Method Guide has been updated to include new battery activities.
ACPs, please make sure your installers have been properly trained to comply with scheme requirements.
Battery implementations done in any given month need to be reported by the 15th day of the following month, as a condition of an ACP’s BESS1 and BESS2 accreditation notices. To ensure your information is submitted in the correct format, use the PDRS Example Template. You'll also need to provide this information when you register a certificate from eligible implementations, in TESSA.
If your customers want to learn about batteries, comprehensive consumer battery information can be found on the DCCEEW's Climate and Energy Action website, including installation guidance, a consumer checklist, VPP incentives, and a guide to owning a battery. If consumers have questions you can’t answer, please direct them to these pages and DCCEEW’s Contact Us page.
Need More Information?
We're getting a lot of enquiries from installers, ACPs and consumers. It’s important for you to know how we can help you. We publish guidance and updates on the PDRS Rule to help you meet your obligations. If you have a question, consider the following:
- Many answers can be found on our website, including battery information, PDRS legislation, the PDRS Method Guide, scheme updates and FAQs.
- If you’re a solar battery installer new to the PDRS, work with your ACP to understand your requirements. Please note, the PDRS operates differently to the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES) administered by the Clean Energy Regulator.
- Plan your audits to get the most out of the process. Remember, audits do not replace your own QA process.
IPART doesn't design the rules or provide legal advice on interpretation of the rules. Nor do we act as a consultant providing advice on how legislation and rules apply to individual business scenarios. Before you ask us a question, consider whether you should seek your own legal or professional advice, or contact DCCEEW.
We're always interested in understanding your needs and getting your feedback on where there are opportunities to improve our published guidance and how the schemes are regulated.
Recapping ESS Events and Meetings
Last month, DCCEEW and IPART met with representatives from the Energy Savings Industry Association (ESIA). Issues discussed included PDRS battery activities and the upcoming statutory review of the Safeguard.
Our 2024 Safeguard Stakeholder Forum - A big thanks to the 200 attendees of our forum and afternoon battery session held on 26 September. You can watch replays of the sessions and read Q&As on our website.
DCCEEW’s Battery Installation Webinar - Over 300 people tuned in to October’s webinar to hear Michael Hayes, from Work Science, expertly guide us through battery installation and compliance, along with Leigh Burrell from DCCEEW and our own Paul Petersen. Watch the recording here and read additional Q&A material here.
We attended the ESIA Seminar in October at the NSW State Library, themed on saving energy and electrifying sooner. It was great to hear the presenters generously sharing their insights. We heard from ACPs, energy retailers, government, and IPART’s Sean Goodchild, who spoke about current regulatory perspectives.
Our Understanding the PDRS webinar was hosted by Stephen Buckley in July.
You can watch it here.
Recent Updates
The scheme penalty rates for the upcoming ESS and PDRS compliance periods have been increased to account for movement in the Consumer Price Index:
- The ESS scheme penalty rate for the 2025 compliance year will be $34.84 per notional MWh.
- The PDRS scheme penalty rate for the 2024–25 compliance period is $2.61 per certificate.
(These increases are in line with clause 30(d) of the Electricity Supply (General) Regulation 2014 and clause 16 of Schedule 4A to the Electricity Supply Act 1995).
Certificate registration fees have also been updated. These updated fees apply to certificates included in all invoices generated by TESSA on, or after, their start date:
- The Peak Reduction Certificate (PRC) registration fee increased to $0.0309, starting 1 November 2024.
- The Energy Savings Certificate (ESC) registration fee will increase from $1.04 to $1.08 per ESC, starting 1 January 2025.
(Please note, invoices are generated in TESSA once the Certificate Registration case has entered the ‘Payment’ state. Make sure to plan your certificate registrations accordingly).
New PDRS audit scopes have come into effect, including for batteries, and updated Reducing Demand Using Efficiency (RDUE) audit scopes must be used for all audits.
The scheme certificate target for the 2024–25 PDRS compliance period was published in October. Scheme Participants will collectively need to surrender 24,125,386 PRCs to meet the target.
The 2024-25 Compliance Priorities for the Energy Security Safeguard were released in October, setting out where we will focus our compliance resources for the year.
Our Stakeholder Engagement Strategy was refreshed in October to help us work with you to make more informed decisions and create better outcomes.
Looking Towards 2025
We'll continue to focus on our Compliance Priorities, including increasing on-site inspections, especially as battery implementations increase. We’ll be focusing on compliance with scheme requirements, and we’ll be targeting installations we consider to be higher risk. We’ll work closely with the Building Commission on this, who are also increasing their inspection resources focussed on compliance with electrical standards.
We’ve heard from you that you would like more targeted information sessions and resources focused on particular topics, and we’ll be working towards this in 2025. We welcome your suggestions on topics that would be useful – please send these to ESS@ipart.nsw.gov.au. Similarly, suggestions to improve our annual Stakeholder Forum will be gratefully received.
