For some time the Water Directorate has been concerned about arrangements for retailer and operator of last resort provided for in the Water Industry Competition Act 2006 (WIC Act). In November 2009 Peter Pennycuick, Water and Sewerage Systems Engineer, Tweed Shire Council, attended an Executive Committee meeting and provided a presentation on the application of the WIC Act to Nightcap Village, a proposed 1,000 person development away from the main centres of the Tweed Shire and adjacent to Nightcap National Park. The development application raised a number of complications for Tweed Shire Council regarding the delivery and ongoing maintenance of the water and sewerage services. Development consent was granted in February 2009. A copy of Peter’s presentation is available to view.
Earlier this year the Department of Finance and Services announced a review of the adequacy of the retailer of last resort (RoLR) arrangements under the WIC Act. While there are broad provisions for a retail supplier licensee failure, the WIC Act does not have any arrangements in place that would respond to a licensed network operator failure – operator of last resort (OoLR) arrangements. Therefore the review also considered arrangements that should be in place to address a licensed network operator failure.
At our recent Executive Committee meeting, the Water Directorate resolved to endorse the submission prepared by Tweed Shire Council. A copy of Tweed’s submissions as well as the other 18 submissions received by the Department of Finance and Services is available on the Metropolitan Water Directorate website for review.
