The National Electricity Consumers Advocacy Panel was established in 2001 to grant funds to representatives of domestic and business electricity consumers for advocacy on the development of the national electricity market and the National Electricity Rules.

In 2008, as a result of an amendment to the AEMC Establishment Act, the Panel was reconstituted as the Consumer Advocacy Panel with responsibility for granting funding for advocacy and research on electricity and natural gas issues. more

Meeting dates for 2012
The Panel meets regularly to consider applications for grant funding - the meeting dates for 2012 are shown below.

To be considered at its next meeting, applications for funding should be submitted to the Executive Director at info@advocacypanel.com.au as soon as possible, and no later than the deadline for the meeting.

2012 Application Deadlines & Meetings Calendar

The Panel is now inviting applications from individuals and organisations with the requisite expertise to submit grant applications to undertake

• research on one of the priorities identified by the panel (see attachment)
• research on another issue of benefit to electricity and/or gas consumers in the National Energy Market

Applicants should submit a grant application form to info@advocacypanel.com.au by close of business 28 January 2012.

The application form and guidelines can be obtained by clicking here. Applicants are advised to read the guidelines carefully and are encouraged to contact Executive Director Kerry Connors via the email address above or telephone should they have any questions.

The Panel is seeking comment from stakeholders on the Draft 2012/13 Budget by close of business 19 September 2011.

Submissions on the Panel should be sent by email to info@advocacypanel.com.au.

Any questions should be directed to the Panel’s Executive Director, Kerry Connors, by email to kerry.connors@advocacypanel.com.auor by phone at 02 8296 7880.

Click here for the August 2011 edition of CAPtions, our quarterly e-newsletter.

Attached is a summary of grants approved by the Panel in the 2010/11 financial year.

The Ministerial Council on Energy has approved amendment to the Panel's Grant Allocation and Application Guidelines to reflect changes to the review procedure.

The new procedure requries grant applicants to inform the Panel whether any grant output will be a report - submissions, media releases, or briefing notes are not considered reports for this purpose.  Where a report will be published, an MCE jurisdiction may indicate its intention to review the report for technical or factual error.  Grant recipients will then be asked to provide the draft final report to the Panel to convey to the MCE 11 business days before publication.

This process will apply to all new grant agreements issued by the Panel after 4 July 2011.  Grant recipients with agreements before that date should comply with their obligations under the existing agreement.

The new Guidelines and Application Form have been uploaded onto the Panel's website, on the "How to Apply" page.

The Panel commissions an independent evaluation of a selection of grants in any financial year, and publishes them on its website. The purpose of the evaluation is to

• improve the effectiveness and efficiency of advocacy by providing specific feedback and guidance to applicants whose work is evaluated, and by providing a general ‘lessons learnt' available to all applicants;
  
• provide information on the effectiveness and efficiency of the Panel's grant allocation program.

The Allen Consulting Group has finalised its evaluation of 2009/10 grants which identified the following thematic findings

•  the importance of effective targeting of advocacy efforts
• sound project management and performance reporting
• the pace of change in the energy sector means consumer advocacy organisations - and the Panel - must have systems in place that enable changes to be made when required
• benefits of topic expertise, when necessary seeking external expertise

The Consumer Advocacy Panel met on 9 March 2011 to review its strategic plan for 2010-2013. The Panel considered its purpose, value and vision and has confirmed the key result areas for 2011-2013, which are outlined in the attached.

Any stakeholder comments on the Strategic Plan are welcomed.

Click here for the most recent edition of CAPtions, the Panel's quarterly newsletter, which outlines the impact of grants provided to St Vincent de Paul Society Victoria, Tasmanian Council of Social Service and the Consumer Action Law Centre, and details forthcoming opportunities for advocacy.

• research on one of the priorities identified by the Panel in its 2010/11 research agenda
• research on another issue of benefit to electricity and/or gas consumers in the National Energy Market.

The Panel commissioned expert independent advice from the Allen Consulting Group (ACG) on the priority consumer energy issues. The detailed report is available for download at the Panel's website here.

Applications are due close of business 28 February 2011.

We are pleased to publish the first edition of  CAPtions - the Panel's quarterly e-newsletter, which amongst other information, contains a list of forthcoming advocacy opportunities and stories from Consumer Advocacy Panel grant recipients.

To subscribe, please send an email to info@advocacypanel.com.au with your name and email address.

The Panel has finalised its 2010-2013 strategic plan.

The Plan articulates the Panel’s purpose, vision, values and strategic priorities.  In its development of the strategic plan, beginning in March 2010, the Panel undertook an assessment of likely demand over the next three years, which it thought may be of interest to stakeholders and can be downloaded here. 

The Panel commissions an independent evaluation of a selection of grants in any financial year, and publishes them on its website. The purpose of the evaluation is to

• improve the effectiveness and efficiency of advocacy by providing specific feedback and guidance to applicants whose work is evaluated, and by providing a general ‘lessons learnt' available to all applicants;
  
• provide information on the effectiveness and efficiency of the Panel's grant allocation program.

The evaluation of 2008/09 grants highlighted the features of successful advocacy projects, such as projects that were well-targeted, leveraged from partnerships, directly addressed the terms of reference for the review, and used external consultants effectively and efficiently.

The evaluation of the 2009/10 funding model endorsed the effectiveness of the model in supporting advocacy for the benefit of national electricity and gas consumers.

The Panel invites consultation from stakeholders on its draft budget for 2011/12.

In accordance with the AEMC Establishment Act Regulations 2005 , the Consumer Advocacy Panel must consult with stakeholders on the preparation of its draft budget, including by publishing it on the website, before the budget is finalised for submission to the Ministerial Council on Energy (MCE).  The Panel is seeking comment from stakeholders on the Draft 2011/12 Budget by close of business 24 September 2010.

Submissions on the Panel should be sent by email to info@advocacypanel.com.au .  Any questions should be directed to the Panel's Executive Director, Kerry Connors , by email to kerry.connors@advocacypanel.com.au or by phone at 02 8296 7880.

This applies to all grants approved from 10 June 2010, as well as the 2010/11 capacity building and advocacy funding grants.

On 30 May 2010, the Ministerial Council on Energy (MCE) requested the Panel implement the following procedure immediately:

1. Any report or submission funded through a Panel grant is sent to the Panel before its public release in any form;
   
   
2. The Panel will then send the document to the MCE Secretariat, for circulation to relevant MCE members for information and any comment in relation to matters of fact, data and related calculations
   
   
•   If no comments are received within 10 business days the report or submission can be released.
  
  
3. Any comments will be emailed to the grant recipient by the Panel
   

•     Where comments are not accepted, the report or submission authors must provide an explanation for rejecting the proposal in the document.

In its advice to the Panel, the MCE stressed that this process is not intended to and will not lead to any form of censorship of Panel-funded reports. It only relates to technical and factual data and does not enable any editorial changes to the reports or submissions.

The Panel's role in this process is solely as a mailbox – it will not provide any comment on the content of any documents being sent to either the MCE Secretariat or to grant recipients.

The Panel is reviewing its systems to implement the new requirement. The Panel has amended the funding agreement, and is revising its grant allocation and application guidelines and application form. Those will be posted on the website on approval by the MCE.

Please see attached for more information about the new procedure.

The Consumer Advocacy Panel is inviting grant applications to undertake research on the two priorities identified in its 2009/10 research agenda:

        1. Identifying rural and regional consumer issues in the National Energy Market (NEM); and

        2. Convening a masterclass for consumer organisations on distribution network pricing.

Applications are sought by close of business 2 May 2010.

More information on the research priorities and process for application is available here.

In July 2009, the Consumer Advocacy Panel provided a Panel-Initiated Research grant to Engineroom Consulting to undertake research on future gas prices. 

The report provides information to consumer advocacy organisations on the  cost drivers for gas prices, and identifies the conditions in which they will push prices upwards.  Engineroom Consulting's report is in two parts:

• Part 1 describes the different functional levels of the gas supply chain and identifies the cost drivers for each level. It then summarises current market costs, and shows the breakdown of these costs by functional level. Finally, it discusses the current supply-demand balance in gas markets around Australia;
  
• Part 2 identifies the likely scenarios affecting gas prices over the medium term (5 to 10 years), and their possible impact on delivered gas prices for various customer classes.

Engineroom Consulting's research report can be downloaded here.

This is the second report funded through the Panel-initiated research grants program. 

The Consumer Advocacy Panel is inviting applications from consumer advocacy organisations for advocacy/capacity-building grants.  

Applicants should read carefully the Panel’s application guidelines, and ensure their application form clearly outlines the outputs and outcomes that relate to the capacity that will be built in your organisation, in addition to any advocacy and/or research outputs.

Applications are due by close of business Friday 19 March 2010.  The Executive Director can be contacted at info@advocacypanel.com.au to answer any queries about the application process.

The Consumer Advocacy Panel has released a discussion paper seeking comments from stakeholders on the Panel's 2009/10 research agenda.

The Consumer Advocacy Panel has identified two research priorities for 2009/10:

• research addressing the needs of rural and regional energy consumers; and
  
• research to enhance the capacity of consumer advocacy organisations to participate effectively in distribution network price reviews.
  

Stakeholders are invited to comment on the identified priorities, including putting forward other preferred projects - and the rationale for that change - where they believe there are other projects of greater assistance to consumer advocacy organisations; and propose specific research projects that would improve advocacy on behalf of rural and regional consumers.

Comments should be provided by email by close of business 27 February 2010.

On 12 October 2009, the Consumer Advocacy Panel convened a stakeholder forum, Mapping consumer energy issues 2009-2014 in Melbourne.   Just over fifty people from all of the Panel's key stakeholder groups participated in the day's discussions: consumer advocacy organisations, environmental agencies, commonwealth and jurisdictional government officials, regulators, industry peak bodies, and ombudsman.

The objectives of the workshop were to

• identify future priority consumer energy issues and opportunities for advocacy in policy and regulatory processes, incorporating perspectives from the range of Panel stakeholders; and
  
• inform Forum participants of the views and priority consumer energy issues of the range of key stakeholders.

The proceedings of the Forum, prepared by Etrog Consulting who facilitated the day's discussions, are available here.

The Panel invites consultation from stakeholders on its draft budget for 2010/11.

In accordance with the AEMC Establishment Act Regulations 2005 , the Consumer Advocacy Panel must consult with stakeholders on the preparation of its draft budget, including by publishing it on the website, before the budget is finalised for submission to the Ministerial Council on Energy (MCE).  The Panel is seeking comment from stakeholders on the Draft 20010/11 Budget by 12 noon 11 November 2009.

Submissions on the Panel should be sent by email to info@advocacypanel.com.au .  Any questions should be directed to the Panel's Executive Director, Kerry Connors , by email to kerry.connors@advocacypanel.com.au or by phone at 02 8296 7880.

1. Gas prices: a grant of up to $35,000 (exc GST) to produce a report outlining the likely scenarios and impact of increased gas prices in the NEM;
2. Rural energy issues in NSW and Queensland : a grant of up to $65,000 (exc GST) to undertake research on rural and regional energy consumer issues in NSW and Queensland.

Grant applications close 19 June 2009.

At its meeting on 8 April 2009, the Consumer Advocacy Panel approved a new funding model for more established consumer organisations with existing experience and expertise. The Panel intends to trial and evaluate the model in 2009/10 with the Major Energy Users Inc (MEU) and the Energy Users Association of Australia (EUAA).

The new approach helps established advocates develop a pipeline of projects relating to decisions of importance to their members or constituency, and reduces the administrative burden for applicants.

The Panel's announcement provides details on the features of the model.

The Ministerial Council on Energy has approved a total budget of $2,767,294 (exclusive of GST) for the Consumer Advocacy Panel for 2009/10. That total budget incorporates $2,195,294 for the electricity component funded by NEMMCO, and $572,000 for the gas component, provided by the Australian Energy Market Operator.

T he Panel has released a discussion paper outlining the Panel-initiated research agenda, detailing the purpose and criteria for determining research projects. The Paper also proposes some priority research projects for consideration by the Panel's key stakeholders.

The Panel invites stakeholders to comment on the identified priorities, including putting forward other preferred projects - and the rationale for that change - where they believe there are other projects of greater assistance to consumer advocacy organisations.

While the Panel will finalise the research agenda at its next meeting on 14 May 2009, it also invites interested organisations to submit a grant application to undertake the research priorities of gas pricing and rural consumer issues.

The Panel requests feedback from stakeholders be received by close of business 1 May 2009.

Submissions should be directed to the Panel's Executive Director, Kerry Connors , at info@advocacypanel.com.au .

The Consumer Advocacy Panel  is seeking grant applications for projects  that build the capacity of consumer advocacy organisations to participate in policy and regulatory decisions, including funding of staff, for consideration at its meeting on 8 April 2009.

While projects have  usually focused on the funding of staff members (full and part time), the Panel  also  invites consumer advocacy organisations to propose other models or mechanisms to build capacity  in their organisation.

Applications for funding should be submitted by close of business  20 March 2009. Grant applications should be submitted electronically to info@advocacypanel.com.au using the application form here.

Please go to the "How to Apply" pages on this website for a copy of the grant guidelines and eligibility criteria.  If you have any questions, or wish to discuss your application, please contact Kerry Connors, Executive Director, at info@advocacypanel.com.au 

In accordance with the AEMC Establishment Act Regulations 2005 , the Consumer Advocacy Panel must consult with stakeholders on the preparation of its draft budget, including by publishing it on the website, at least 4 weeks before the budget is finalised for submission to the Ministerial Council on Energy (MCE).  The Panel is seeking comment from stakeholders on the Draft 2009/10 Budget by close of business 24 October 2008 .

Submissions on the Panel should be sent by email to info@advocacypanel.com.au .  Any questions should be directed to the Panel's Executive Director, Kerry Connors , by email to kerry.connors@advocacypanel.com.au or by phone at 02 8296 7880.

As from 1 September 2008 the Panel's office will operate from new premises in Sydney and the Melbourne office will be closed   Click here for contact details.

As a result of feedback from SCO, the Panel has revised guideline 2.2.3 so the requirements for obtaining quotes from consultants conform with government procurement guidelines.  The revised guidelines await approval from the MCE.

On 14 July the Panel sought comments from stakeholders on a report it commissioned from ACIL Tasman which sought to identify the major consumer classes, their interests and current involvement in market issues, and any gaps or overlaps in advocacy. The objective of the project is to assist the Panel in considering how its funding budget ought to be allocated in order to best promote the interests of consumers. Responses were received from the Consumer Action Law Centre, Consumer Utilities Advocacy Centre, Australian Council of Social Service, Major Energy Users Inc, and Total Environment Centre.
The Panel has deferred further consideration of the project pending comment from ACIL Tasman on the responses.

Ms Kerry Connors has been appointed Executive Director of the Consumer Advocacy Panel and will take up the appointment on 1 September 2008.

Following consultation with stakeholders, the Panel has published a report on the advocacy and research agenda for 2008/2009 that will provide guidance to its grant allocations.

At its meeting on 26 June 2008 the Panel resolved that modified grant allocation criteria and application guidelines resulting from recent consultation with stakeholders be forwarded to the MCE for approval and that a report on the consultation be posted for the information of stakeholders.

On 1 July 2008, the Consumer Advocacy Panel was established by the Australian Energy Market Commission Establishment Act 2004, as amended, to replace the Advocacy Panel. The current members of the Panel continue in office in accordance with the Act.

The content of the website will soon be amended to reflect the provisions of the Act.

The panel seeks comments from stakeholders on proposed grant allocation criteria and application guidelines that it will submit to the Ministerial Council on Energy for approval for use after the Australian Energy Market Commission Establishment (Consumer Advocacy Panel) Amendment Act, 2007 commences.

Stakeholders are invited to make submissions on the proposed guidelines which should be forwarded to info@advocacypanel.com.au by 5 p.m. on 11 June 2008.

In late 2006, the panel undertook consultation with stakeholders on revised funding criteria and application guidelines (guidelines) which resulted in the submission to the AEMC in February 2007 of proposed new guidelines.  The AEMC deferred approval of the guidelines pending inclusion of information on how the effectiveness of funded projects could be evaluated.

In May 2007, the panel commenced consultation with stakeholders on a process for evaluating the effectiveness of projects which resulted in the publishing in October 2007 of a proposed evaluation process.  After considering comments by stakeholders, in January 2008 the panel published the final evaluation process and in February 2008 forwarded to the AEMC for its approval guidelines amended to include the evaluation process. 

On 10 April 2008, the AEMC advised that it had approved the amended guidelines subject to their amendment to include the latest wording of the national electricity objective that commenced on 1 January 2008.  The guidelines are now published for the information of stakeholders.

In October 2007 the panel invited stakeholders to provide comments on a process for evaluating the effectiveness of projects.  The panel appreciated the responses from stakeholders and has now determined the process that will be followed.

The objectives of the evaluation process are:

• To improve the effectiveness and efficiency of advocacy by providing specific feedback and guidance to applicants whose work is evaluated and by providing a general ‘lessons learnt’ that will be available to all applicants;
• Provide information on the effectiveness and efficiency of the panel’s funding program that will guide future funding decisions.