ACT GREENHOUSE GAS ABATEMENT SCHEME

Welcome to the website of the Regulator of the Greenhouse Gas Abatement Scheme (GGAS) in the ACT.

The GGAS, which was originally developed by the NSW Government, is an innovative and world-leading initiative established to reduce or offset greenhouse gas emissions associated with the production and use of electricity. It is one of the first mandatory greenhouse gas emissions trading schemes in the world. The ACT and NSW are the only two jurisdictions in Australia that currently have a GGAS in operation.

The ACT Government introduced GGAS in the ACT to assist in addressing the climate change  challenge. The operation of the GGAS in the ACT commenced on 1 January 2005 and it mirrors the NSW GGAS. At this stage, the scheme in the ACT is legislated to run until 2020 (extended from 2012, in November 2007).

GGAS in the ACT establishes annual Territory greenhouse gas reduction targets, and then requires individual electricity retailers and any other parties who buy or sell electricity in the ACT to meet mandatory benchmarks based on the size of their share of the electricity market. If such parties, known as benchmark participants, fail to meet their benchmarks, then a penalty is assigned.

Responsibility for the operation of the GGAS in the ACT rests with ACT’s Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission (Scheme Regulator) , and NSW’s Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (Scheme Administrator) .

This website focuses on the functions of the Scheme Regulator for the ACT and provides references to ACT-specific legislative instruments, documents and news. Detailed information on how the scheme works can be accessed from the primary GGAS website at http://www.greenhousegas.nsw.gov.au/ 

To find out more about the operation of the GGAS in the ACT, please navigate through this website using the menu bar on the left of the screen.