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Treasury has been responsible for the facilitation of major energy initiatives such as Tasmania’s entry to the National Electricity Market (NEM) – which occurred on 29 May 2005; and Basslink – which commenced commercial operation on 29 April 2006.
Ongoing responsibilities of the Shareholder Policy and Markets Branch in this area include:
- develop advice on electricity market arrangements in the State, particularly in relation to regulatory issues and the facilitation of competition at the wholesale and retail levels;
- coordinate the State's ongoing participation in the NEM; and
- progress the arrangements necessary to facilitate the phased introduction of electricity retail contestability which commenced on 1 July 2006.
A reform framework has been developed to ensure that the State’s energy objectives can be achieved in the long-term in a financially and economically sustainable manner.
The reform framework is aimed at delivering public benefits to Tasmania, including:
- the introduction of sustainable competition and customer choice in the Tasmanian electricity market;
- further development of the State’s renewable energy resources, particularly wind; and
- improved security of electricity supply, especially during drought.
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