Major legislative dates and milestones
The major legislative processes and deliverables
of each scheme administered by the Clean Energy
Regulator are detailed below. Unlike National
Greenhouse and Energy Reporting, the carbon
pricing mechanism and the Renewable Energy Target,
the Carbon Farming Initiative does not operate to a
legislated annual cycle. Clients may initiate each of
the steps at any time they are ready to do so.
Similarly, clients may apply for an account in the
Australian National Registry of Emissions Units
(ANREU) on any date. However, an ANREU account
is a prerequisite for actions which involve receiving
and surrendering units and in this way, registration
is linked with the annual cycle for the carbon pricing
mechanism.
National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting
| Year | 2012–13 | 2013–14 | 2014–15 |
|---|
Quarter one
(July–September) | 1 July—Start of reporting year |
|---|
31 August—Registration under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) Act 2007 (for entities not subject to provisional surrender) |
Quarter two
(October–December) | 31 October—NGER reports due |
|---|
Quarter three
(January–March) | 28 February—NGER data published |
|---|
Quarter four
(April–June) | 1 May—Register to report under the NGER Act |
|---|
30 June—End of reporting year |
Carbon pricing mechanism
| Year | 2012–13 | 2013–14 | 2014–15 |
|---|
Quarter one
(July –September) | 1 July—Notification of
reporting obligation
transfer to another member
of group | 1 July—Notification of
reporting obligation
transfer to another member
of group 1 July 2013—Opt-in
scheme starts for
Liquid fuel | 1 July—Notification of reporting
obligation transfer to another
member of group |
|---|
1 July—Jobs and Competitiveness Program (JCP) application period opens |
31 August—Nominate operational control if required |
1 September 2012—Buy-back of free units available |
1 August—Energy Security Fund-Coal Fired Generators (ESG-CFG) power system reliability test report submission period closes |
1 September—Issue ESF-CSG units |
Quarter two
(October–December) | 31 October—Report provisional emissions numbers and previous year emissions number |
|---|
31 October—JCP application period closes |
Quarter three
(January–March) | 1 February—Purchase units to meet liability and surrender units to cover emissions number |
|---|
1 February—Free carbon units issued in under the industry assistance program with a vintage
year that is a fixed charge year ending the previous 30 June must be surrendered or sold back
to the Clean Energy Regulator by this date |
1 February + 5 business days—Pay unit shortfall charge if you have not surrendered enough
units to cover your emissions. Late payment penalties start to accrue |
2 February—Cancel unused free units |
15 February—Publish total number of fixed charge units issued |
1 March—Publish total of emission numbers total unit shortfall |
Quarter four
(April–June) | 1 April—15 June—Fixed charge unit issue period |
|---|
1 April—ESF-CFG power
system reliability test
report submission period
commences 1 April—Opt-in scheme
applications are due | 1 April—ESF-CFG power
system reliability test
report submission period
commences | 1 April—ESF-CFG power
system reliability test report
submission period commences |
30 April—Nominate operational control for the first nine months of the financial year, if required |
1 May—Register to report under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007 |
By 15 June—Report interim emissions numbers, purchase carbon units to meet liability and
surrender eligible units covering interim emissions number |
By 15 June +5 business days—Pay unit shortfall charge |
Carbon Farming Initiative
| Step | Activity |
|---|
| Step one | Apply to join the Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI)—Recognised Offsets Entity Open a registry account |
|---|
| Step two | Apply for a project—Eligible Offsets Project |
|---|
| Step three | Undertake approved project |
|---|
| Step four | Submit offsets and audit reports |
|---|
| Step five | Apply for credits |
|---|
| Step six | Credits issued |
|---|
| Step seven | Project closure |
|---|
Note: The steps above demonstrate the CFI project planning steps.
Renewable Energy Target
| Year | 2012–13 | 2013–14 | 2014–15 |
|---|
Quarter one
(July–September)
| 28 July—Small-scale Technology Certificate (STC) 2nd quarter surrender period closes |
|---|
29 July—STC 3rd quarter surrender period starts |
30 September—Applications for the Waste Coal Mine Gas limit close |
Quarter two
(October—December) | 1 October—Publish list of Partial Exemption Certificates (PECs) issued Liable entities can apply to have amount applied instead of previous years reduced
acquisitions for quarters 1-3 for the previous year's generation |
|---|
28 October—STC 3rd quarter surrender period closes |
29 October—STC 4th quarter surrender period start |
31 October—Estimated volume weighted average market price for Large-scale
Generation Certificate (LGC) for following year published on web |
31 December—Last day LGCs can be created |
Quarter three
(January–March) | 14 February—Solar hot water heaters and small generation units returns due RET accredited power stations electricity generation return due STC 4th quarter surrender period closes Liable entities annual energy acquisition statement due |
|---|
15 February—STC 1st quarter surrender period commences |
30 March—PEC applications due |
31 March—Small-scale Technology Percentage & Renewable Power Percentage must be
published by this date |
Quarter four
(April–June)
| 28 April—STC 1st quarter surrender period closes |
|---|
29 April—STC 2nd quarter surrender period starts |
30 June—Lodge PEC applications for second liable entity in current year |