National Electricity (Victoria) Act 2005

The Governor in Council may make regulations for or with respect to any matter required or permitted by this Act to be prescribed or necessary or convenient to be prescribed to give effect to this Act.

Without limiting subsection (1), regulations may be made under that subsection for or with respect to—

the undergrounding, relocation, modification, replacement or removal of distribution systems, including—

proposals for the undergrounding, relocation, modification, replacement or removal of distribution systems; and

requiring a distribution company which receives a proposal for the undergrounding, relocation, modification, replacement or removal of a distribution system to make an offer to underground, relocate, modify, replace or remove a distribution system;

the content of proposals referred to in paragraph (a)(i) or offers referred to in paragraph (a)(ii), including the price of, or an estimate of costs to be incurred for, the undergrounding, relocation, modification, replacement or removal of a distribution system;

the determination, calculation, allocation or breakdown of a price or costs referred to in paragraph (b) or allocation or apportionment of costs referred to in that paragraph;

requiring a distribution company to call for tenders for the performance of—

works to augment or extend a distribution system for the purpose of connecting generating units or customer premises to the system and associated works;

works arising out of an offer to underground, relocate, modify, replace or remove a distribution system and associated works;

the development or adoption of tender policies, or compliance with tender policies, by a distribution company, for the performance of works referred to in paragraph (d);

the content of tender policies referred to in paragraph (e) including—

the price, or the estimated costs, of the works; and

procedures for dealing with and resolving disputes that may arise in relation to the performance of the works;

the public availability of tender policies referred to in paragraph (e);

prescribed maximum amounts referred to in section 55E(2);

prescribing requirements for the purposes of section 57(4)(d);

fees payable by REZ scheme authority holders, including—

the determination of such fees;

the methodology and variables to be applied to determine such fees;

the process for determining such fees;

the publication of such fees;

the reduction, waiver or refund, in whole or in part, of such fees;

the administration of the collection of such fees;

the review of such fees;

applications for eligibility under Part 7;

processes and requirements for making any payments or giving notice under Part 7;

processes and requirements for payments between the transferor and transferee of interests in land that are subject to relevant transmission interests for the purposes of Part 7;

the administration of a fund established under Part 8;

the auditing of a fund established under Part 8;

financial reporting in relation to a fund established under Part 8;

providing that the following form part of the national electricity system (a regulated stand-alone power system)—

a particular stand-alone power system, which consists of a distribution system owned, controlled or operated, or proposed to be owned, controlled or operated, by a regulated distribution system operator;

a stand-alone power system, which consists of a distribution system owned, controlled or operated, or proposed to be owned, controlled or operated, by a regulated distribution system operator, that belongs to a particular class of stand-alone power systems.

Without limiting subsection (2)(h), regulations made under this section may provide that a particular stand-alone power system, or a class of stand-alone power systems, forms part of the national electricity system by reference to—

the particular geographic area in which the stand-alone power system, or class of stand-alone power systems, is or will be located; or

the regulated distribution system operator that owns, controls or operates, or proposes to own, control or operate, the stand-alone power system or class of stand-alone power systems; or

whether the stand-alone power system, or class of stand-alone power systems, complies with any requirements specified by the Rules.

Without limiting subsection (1), regulations may be made under that subsection that—

modify the National Electricity (Victoria) Law, the National Electricity (Victoria) Regulations or the National Electricity Rules for the purposes of or to give effect to—

the amendments made to this Act by the National Electricity (Victoria) Amendment (VicGrid Stage 2 Reform) Act 2025;

the repeal of any provision of this Act by the National Electricity (Victoria) Amendment (VicGrid Stage 2 Reform) Act 2025;

modify the National Electricity Rules for or with respect to—

requirements to be met before a connection to the declared transmission system for a generating system or integrated resource system can be established;

requirements to be met before a change to a facility with a generating system or integrated resource system that is connected to the declared transmission system may be carried out;

augmentations of the declared transmission system, including the procurement of augmentations of the declared transmission system;

preparation and publication of guidelines and procedures relating to augmentations of the declared transmission system, including the procurement of augmentations of the declared transmission system;

the deeming of the performance of specified functions of VicGrid as the provision of prescribed common transmission services by VicGrid;

the imposition, publication and recovery of fees and charges by VicGrid relating to the performance of specified functions of VicGrid;

the assets that must be treated as forming part of the regulatory asset base of the declared transmission system for the purposes of a transmission determination for a Transmission Network Service Provider providing prescribed transmission services by means of the declared transmission system, including whether augmentations of the declared transmission system before the commencement of this subparagraph must be treated as forming part of the regulatory asset base;

the classification, as protected information, of information given to VicGrid in connection with the performance of a function or power under the National Electricity (Victoria) Law or the Rules or the performance of a REZ planning function or landholder payment function;

the authorisation of disclosure of protected information by VicGrid;

Regulations made under this section may—

be of general or limited application;

differ according to differences in time, place or circumstance;

apply, adopt or incorporate any matter contained in any document, code, standard, rule, specification, or method, formulated, issued, prescribed or published by any person or body whether—

wholly or partially or as amended by the regulations; or

as formulated, issued, prescribed or published at the time the regulations are made or at any time before then; or

as formulated, issued, prescribed or published or amended from time to time;

confer a function, power or discretionary authority or impose a duty on any person;

leave any matter or thing to be from time to time determined, applied, dispensed with or regulated by any person;

direct the ESC to make amendments to any instrument made by the ESC to give effect to any matter specified in the regulations;

modify the application of a specified provision of the National Electricity (Victoria) Law or the Rules for and with respect to a regulated stand-alone power system or a class of regulated stand-alone power systems;

provide in a specified case or class of cases for the exemption of persons or things or a class of persons or things from any of the provisions of the regulations—

whether unconditionally or on specified conditions; or

either wholly or to such an extent as is specified.

Regulations made for or in relation to the content of proposals for the undergrounding, relocation, modification, replacement or removal of distribution systems, or the content of tenders for the performance of works referred to in subsection (2)(d), have effect according to their tenor despite anything to the contrary in any agreement or contract.

In this section—