Dr Kerry Schott AO
Dr Kerry Schott AO, Chair, Energy Security Board Key points: • • •
High consumer prices, uncertain emissions reduction policies and energy reliability are now major issues. Political overreaction in the energy sector is unable to deliver sound policy outcomes. There is no single measure to ‘fix’ the electricity market; it will rely on a suite of responses.
I have recently been appointed as Chair of the Energy Security
Queensland, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory,
Board (ESB). Being someone who enjoys a challenge, I
Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania. It does not include the
accepted the role.
Northern Territory or Western Australia.
The key task of the ESB is to implement the recommendations
The interconnectors across the state boundaries are
in the Final Report of the Independent Review into the Future
quite thin. Recently, the New South Wales Minister for
Security of the National Electricity Market (the Finkel Report),
Energy remarked that the ‘market is hardly national’. This is
which is a blueprint for how to reform the electricity market.
a valid statement, given that the grid is constrained by power
The other members of the ESB are: ►► Clare Savage (Deputy Chair) ►► Paula Conboy ►► John Pierce ►► Audrey Zibelman.
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connections across state borders. Within the NEM, generators provide electricity and bid at five-minute intervals across the day. The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) then ranks the bids from cheapest to most expensive in order to meet the demand required by
The National Electricity Market (NEM) has existed for
the market. The NEM then dispatches energy, and AEMO’s
about 20 years. It is a wholesale market for electricity across
role is to ensure that the system remains stable as energy is
futurebuilding
