The Minister may, by Order published in the Gazette, grant full or partial exemptions from the Energy Security Safeguard.
Scheme participants can deduct the full or partial amount of electricity purchases from the total of their liable acquisitions under the Energy Savings Scheme (ESS) (clause 23 of Schedule 4A to the Act) and Peak Demand Reduction Scheme (PDRS) (clause 94 of Schedule 4A to the Act).
Ministerial Orders are published for each scheme and compliance period. The table below lists relevant ESS and PDRS Exemption Orders:
You can check if you are entitled to claim an exemption by checking the list of exempt activities and locations on the Ministerial Exemption Order for the relevant scheme and compliance period.
Exemptions Rules
The Minister may authorise the Scheme Regulator to make rules in respect to an exemption.
There are two Exemptions Rules in effect:
- The Energy Savings Scheme - Scheme Regulator Exemptions Rule No 1 of 2016 (ESS Exemptions Rule).
- The Peak Demand Reduction Scheme - Scheme Regulator Exemptions Rule No.1 of 2023 (PDRS Exemptions Rule).
These Exemptions Rules outline:
- how deductions for exemptions are calculated
- how deductions for losses are calculated
- how scheme participants establish their entitlement to the exemption.
Previous Exemptions Orders and versions of the Exemptions Rule are available through our Document Search.