Australian Energy Market Commission
Body that writes Australia's national electricity market rules.
The Australian Energy Market Commission, which writes the National Electricity Rules rather than operating the market, told federal and state ministers on 5 August to make data centres surrender renewable certificates from new capacity and register as market participants.
Last refreshed: 14 August 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
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The Australian Energy Market Commission writes Australia's National Electricity Rules. It is not the market operator: that role belongs to the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), a separate body responsible for running the market day to day.
On 5 August 2026 the AEMC advised federal and state energy ministers that data centres should surrender Renewable Electricity Guarantee of Origin certificates sourced from new wind and solar capacity, prove new demand is backed by new firm generation, register directly as market participants, and accept connection terms that reward shifting load away from peak periods. The advice avoids requiring hour-by-hour matching of consumption to renewable generation, splitting the year into peak and off-peak periods instead; the commission said this deliberately avoids "the complexity of hourly load matching." The AEMC has also stressed that market registration does not require market participation, since large loads already sit inside settlement indirectly as retailer customers.
A final AEMC determination on the technical access standards behind this advice is due in late October 2026.