NETCC Council Meeting - August 2023

This is a summary of the NETCC Council meeting held on 31 August 2023. Communiques of each meeting are produced so that stakeholders can be informed about the work of the Council and its implementation of the Code.

NETCC administration update

The Chair welcomed Chris Taylor, Operations Team Lead at the CEC and Pallavi Guha, Director of Regulation Industry Programs and Advisory Services, CEC.

• Pallavi Guha outlined her role which is responsible for overseeing the CEC’s administrative role with the NETCC, as well as the CEC’s Accreditation, Products, Compliance and Education programs.
• Pallavi aims to optimise and increase the uptake of the program. She noted that there is still work to be done in setting up some of the functions of the NETCC including audits, exemptions, and building a Roadmap to expand the scope of the program.

NETCC program update

• The Administrator noted the number of applications received and approved since program launch. The Administrator advised the number of Approved Seller resignations and renewals (at the time of reporting 1,576 current Approved Sellers).
• The majority of Approved Seller resignations were due to the Approved Seller not responding to renewal reminders.
• A number of Sellers who had resigned have reapplied to the program.
• Processing times for new applications have remained prompt since program launch, with applications reviewed within 5 business days of submission.
• Compliance statistics were shared with the Council:
  • number of cases opened since launch
  • number of cases closed
  • cases that have resulted in compliance action vs no breach found
  • out of jurisdiction cases.
• Council requested further detail on the number of cases that are found to be out of jurisdiction, noting that this may better inform where the NETCC can be strengthened/broadened.
• During the first 6 months after program launch, the Administrator has taken a ‘support to comply’ approach. A more assertive compliance approach will be taken as the program develops.
• The Administrator has received the first exemptions requests for specific product trials. An exemptions checklist (risk assessment) is currently under development. The exemption is requested due to there not being quality data available to provide an accurate performance estimate. The Monitoring and Compliance Panel will be consulted on the process before any exemptions are granted.
• It was suggested the Administrator look at current regulatory sandboxing in relation to trial waivers and other regulatory frameworks that exist within the Essential Services Commission and Australian Energy Regulator as a guide.
• CEC is developing a Roadmap to expand the scope of the NETCC to cover more technologies and services.
• The Administrator has received interest from some stakeholders for solar hot water to be covered by the NETCC.

NETCC fees

• Statistics on annual fee payments were shared with the Council which confirm that the number of signatories paying the minimum fee under the NETCC (77%) is in line with the number of signatories under the Approved Solar Retailer (ASR) program that were paying an equivalent fee (73%).
• Some signatories may see a fee increase due to the annual turnover including other technologies such as battery storage or electrical vehicle charging. The Administrator will continue to monitor fee levels and provide updates to the Council as required.