On 26 June 2025, the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) published a draft determination and draft rule to require the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) to report, through the planning reports, on the closure of gas infrastructure.

The draft rule would amend the Gas Statement of Opportunities (GSOO) provisions in part 15D and the Victorian Gas Planning Report (VGPR) provisions in part 19 of the National Gas Rules (NGR).

The draft rule would ensure there is a formal obligation for closure information to be reported transparently and in advance.

The obligation would:

• Apply to seven infrastructure types that are GSOO reporting entities that meet the Bulletin Board reporting threshold, i.e. with a nameplate rating of 10 TJs/day or more, due to the impact they could have on the reliability of the East Coast Gas System (ECGS). These include:

1. Production facilities
2. Pipelines
3. Compression facilities
4. Storage facilities 
5. LNG import facilities
6. Blend processing facilities
7. Blended gas distribution systems 

• Apply to a reportable closure decision of the cessation of supply of gas
• Require AEMO to report any closures through the GSOO and VGPR, with this information collected from participants through the GSOO survey process. The survey is also used for the purposes of the VGPR
• Require a GSOO reporting entity to report any identified new information, if it came forth outside a GSOO publication cycle, to AEMO as soon as practicable. AEMO would then be required to publish a notice, and would then consider whether a supplement to the GSOO or VGPR is required. 
• Require a GSOO reporting entity to inform AEMO about a reportable closure decision, where practical, at least 36 months prior to the intended date for cessation of supply.

The Commission is seeking stakeholders’ feedback on the draft rule.

Next steps

The AEMC requests submissions to the draft determination by 7 August 2025. We expect to publish a final determination for the rule change in September 2025.

Rule change request

On 20 March 2024, the AEMC received a rule change request from Energy Senior Officials on behalf of the Energy Ministers’ Sub-Group seeking to establish an advanced notice of closure reporting obligation under the NGR. We published a consultation paper on 20 March 2025.

This is one of four rule changes proposed as part of Stage 2 of the reliability and supply adequacy (RSA) reforms for the ECGS.