24 May 2021
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has been asked to investigate potential market gaming in the NSW electricity market over the last week, where prices have repeatedly jumped to the market cap despite no big spikes in demand or supply problems.
Market participants have been stunned by the huge volatility in prices in NSW, and the actions that big utilities have taken in keeping gas generators idle or running down the output of their coal generators.
One retailer and several market analysts have also blamed a last desperate effort by energy incumbents to profit before the introduction of 5-minute settlements in October, or as some sort of “justification” for the government’s “gas-led recovery” strategy.