5 Minute Settlement (5MS) and Global Settlement (GS) are a set of regulatory rule changes made by the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC). The changes will take effect across the whole energy industry on 1 October 2021.
The new regulations affect how we manage your unmetered electricity supply. To work within these new rules, we need to make changes to our systems and processes and set you up with a new unmetered electricity account.
What are the actual changes?
5MS — financial settlement in the National Electricity Market will move from 30 minutes to 5 minutes, aligning price signals with the physical operations. Over time, this will likely lead to lower wholesale costs and reduced electricity prices. This rule applies to unmetered devices.
GS — the way settlement is completed for retailers will change from “settlement by difference” to a “global settlement” framework. To enable a more transparent settlement process, AEMC requires all unmetered devices to be published on the market systems.
What do the changes mean for me?
The main difference is a change to the way your unmetered electricity supply is charged.
Main electricity supplies (for example, electricity within households) run through meters that track usage as you go. Each of these meters have what’s called a National Meter Identifier (NMI). A NMI specifies the usage of each supply.
Unmetered devices are separate to the main supply and don’t have individual NMIs. This is changing. Soon your local network provider will allocate a NMI to individual unmetered devices. This means your unmetered site can be billed for usage just like regular metered electricity sites.
It also means that details of all unmetered usage can then be shared to the market freely for settlement purposes.
Your bills will look a little different
Instead of a daily asset usage charge, your charges will be based on an agreed load with the networks and will use meter data read in 5-minute intervals.
New accounts and agreements
We’ll set you up with a new account for your unmetered devices. You’ll receive a new energy agreement during the transition period, between July and September 2021 depending on where you’re located. This will include all the details about your new account(s), including new account numbers, NMIs, tariffs and charges.
New processes for new connections, supply abolishment and de-energisation/re-energisation
As we standardise the processes for unmetered assets, there’ll be some adjustments to our existing processes for new connections, supply abolishment and temporary disconnection/ reconnection. These will vary depending on where you’re located. We’ll explain the changes that affect you and show you how to submit the requests you need.