The CDR Expands to the Energy Sector

Treasury has released for consultation exposure draft amendments to the Consumer Data Right rules (version 4 of the rules), which will expand the rules to the energy sector by making energy sector specific rules and other minor amendments.

At the same time, the Treasury also released exposure draft regulations, explanatory materials and a paper with proposals for further consultation.

Building on the initial rollout to the banking sector, energy consumers will now be able to share their data and search for the best offers. This will be a real chance to test whether the unique Australian approach, which promotes data portability, can be transposed easily across sectors.

What’s included in the new rules?

Schedule 1 establishes a peer-to-peer (P2P) data access model. This model differs from the previous Rules in which CDR data could only be disclosed form a data holder to an accredited person. The P2P model authorises the disclosure of CDR data directly to a data holder that receives a request from an ADR (the primary data holder) by another data holder (the secondary data holder). In summary, the data flow in the P2P model involves:

• The consumer consenting to an ADR obtaining their data;
• The ADR contacting the primary data holder seeking access to the consumer’s data;
• The primary data holder authenticating the ADR using the CDR Register; the consumer being redirected to the primary data holder’s authentication and authorisation service to authorise the primary data holder to disclose their data to the ADR;
• The ADR requesting the specific set of data that is covered by the authorisation;
• The primary data holder requesting the relevant data, covered by the authorisation, from the secondary data holder;
• The secondary data holder providing the requested data to the primary data holder; and
• The primary data holder sharing the consumer’s data (from both its holdings and the data obtained from the secondary data holder) with the ADR.

Schedule 2 makes rules that relate specifically to the energy sector including the eligibility requirements for energy consumers to be able to share CDR data and defining the energy data sets that may be shared; and a staged implementation of CDR in the energy sector.

Finally, Schedule 3 makes minor amendments to remove anomalies and ensure the CDR Rules operate as intended. This includes, for example, the definition of an eligible consumer.

What energy information will be CDR Data?

1. Customer data or a customer’s associate’s data: any current or previous information supplied by the customer, or customer’s associate (e.g. a spouse or relative), to a Data Holder in connection with an arrangement for the sale or supply of electricity.

2. Information about the sale or supply of electricity: this could be for example:

• Certain metering data;
• Information related to billing (e.g. payment information, payment services, or authorisations for access to a customer’s account);
• Distributed Energy Resource (DER) Register, which is a national database of DER device information including small-scale solar energy, battery storage and other small generators; or
• Information set out National Metering Identifier Standing Data Fields.

3. Information about retail electricity or natural gas arrangements: any new or existing arrangements for the sale or supply of electricity, including information about arrangements for the supply of natural gas (where that is to a prospective new customer). This could be, for example, any features or benefits, like discounts the customer receives, or eligibility criteria that must be met in order to take advantage of a particular feature.

When is this happening?

The Rules commence on the day after they are registered on the Federal Register of Legislation. The CDR Data, however, may be subject to the CDR regime from 1 July 2018 (ie, there is some retrospective application of the regime in the energy sector).