“allocation agent means the service provider appointed by the industry body under rule 7 of the Gas (Downstream Reconciliation) Rules 2008”.

“consumer—

• “(a) means a person who is supplied with gas (other than a domestic consumer); but

• “(b) does not include a transmission system owner, gas distributor, or retailer, except to the extent that the transmission system owner, gas distributor, or retailer is supplied with gas for its own consumption and not for the purposes of resupply to any other person”.

“critical care designation means a designation described in regulation 46A that is effective in accordance with regulation 46K or 57A(4)

“critical processing has the meaning given in regulation 46C(1)

“critical processing designation means a designation described in regulation 46C that is effective in accordance with regulation 46K”.

“curtailment band means a curtailment band specified in Schedule 3”.

“designated consumer installation means a consumer installation or that part of a consumer installation for which the industry body has approved a designation

“designation means any of the following:

• “(a) a critical care designation:

• “(b) an essential services designation:

• “(c) a critical processing designation:

• “(d) an electricity supply designation

“electricity generating unit means a generating unit within the meaning of the Electricity Industry Participation Code as made and amended from time to time under subpart 3 of Part 2 of the Electricity Industry Act 2010

“electricity supply designation means a designation described in regulation 46D that is effective in accordance with regulation 46K

“emergency designation means a critical care designation or an essential services designation that is effective in accordance with regulation 57A(4)”.

“essential services designation means a designation described in regulation 46B that is effective in accordance with regulation 46K or 57A(4)”.

“go-live date means 21 January 2010”.

“ICP and ICP identifier have the same meanings as in the Gas (Switching Arrangements) Rules 2008”.

“large consumer means a consumer that—

• “(a) is connected directly to the transmission system; and

• “(b) either—

  • “(i) is supplied gas for use at a consumer installation that has the potential to consume gas at rates that in aggregate exceed 15 terajoules a day; or

  • “(ii) is a person who purchases gas directly from a gas producer or gas wholesaler or on any wholesale gas market”.

“load shedding category has the same meaning as in the Gas (Switching Arrangements) Rules 2008”.

“regional critical contingency means any critical contingency that has been determined to be a regional critical contingency by the critical contingency operator in accordance with regulation 52A or 53(1)(h)

“registry means the registry established under the Gas (Switching Arrangements) Rules 2008

“responsible distributor has the same meaning as in the Gas (Switching Arrangements) Rules 2008

“responsible retailer has the same meaning as in the Gas (Switching Arrangements) Rules 2008

“SCADA means supervisory control and data acquisition

“technical expert means a person appointed as a technical expert in accordance with regulation 46H”.

“7 Terms of critical contingency operator service provider agreement

• “(1) There must be a service provider agreement between the industry body and the critical contingency operator.

  “(2) The service provider agreement must provide for—

  • “(a) appropriate provision for liability; and

  • “(b) testing of plans and procedures; and

  • “(c) the publication of a communications plan and an information guide.”

• “(2) The fees payable under regulations 17 to 19 are exclusive of any goods and services tax payable under the Goods and Services Tax Act 1985, and goods and service tax on those fees (if any) will be added to the invoices or credit notes issued under regulations 18(7) and 19(3).

• “(3) The industry body must ensure that all information and returns that are supplied under regulations 17 to 19 are used only for the purposes of collecting the ongoing fees.”

• “(e) available in full at an Internet site, the address of which is sent by electronic transmission or any other similar method of electronic communication to the appropriate nominated electronic address of the addressee.”

• “(ii) at the time the notice was transmitted by computer system to the electronic address provided by the addressee, as proved by the person who gave the notice:”.

• “(e) in the case of notices given in accordance with regulation 21(1)(e), at the time the electronic communication was transmitted by computer system to the electronic address provided by the addressee, as proved by the person who sent the electronic communication.”

• “(1) As soon as practicable after the industry body has approved a critical contingency management plan, the critical contingency operator must publish the plan (subject to subclause (4)).”

• “(1A) If a transmission system owner amends its critical contingency management plan to comply with subclause (1), subclauses (2) to (5) do not apply in respect of that amendment.”

• “(3) Within 10 business days after a completing a review under subclause (2), the transmission system owner must notify the critical contingency operator and the industry body—

  • “(a) that the review has been completed; and

  • “(b) of whether the critical contingency management plan adequately complies with regulation 25 and gives effect to the purpose of these regulations.”

• “(5) When the industry body approves an amended plan under regulation 30,—

  • “(a) the industry body must notify the transmission system owner and the critical contingency operator; and

  • “(b) the critical contingency operator must publish the approved amended plan on the critical contingency Internet site.”

• “(7) Within 10 business days of receiving a report provided under subclause (5), the critical contingency operator must provide a report to the industry body that—

  • “(a) assesses the effectiveness of the critical contingency management plan that is the subject of the report; and

  • “(b) evaluates any amendments to the critical contingency management plan proposed by the transmission system owner to assess whether the amendments would improve the effectiveness of the critical contingency management plan in achieving the purpose of these regulations; and

  • “(c) identifies any amendments to these regulations, the critical contingency management plan, the communications plan, or the information guide that the critical contingency operator considers would improve that instrument's effectiveness in achieving the purpose of these regulations.”

• “(1) The critical contingency operator must maintain a published communications plan prepared in consultation with transmission system owners.”

• “(d) technical pipeline information referred to in Schedule 4; and”.

• “(1A) Each transmission system owner must, on terms and within time frames acceptable to the critical contingency operator,—

  • “(a) establish the following processes:

    • “(i) a process (using SCADA monitoring or other information sources) to alert the critical contingency operator, within 15 minutes, of any event within the transmission system that has the potential to create a critical contingency:

    • “(ii) a process to enable routine and regular communication between the transmission system owner and the critical contingency operator to review transmission system availability status, outage plans, and security of supply risk profiles:

    • “(iii) a process to ensure that the critical contingency operator is notified promptly (within 1 day) of any transmission system reconfiguration details or any new transmission pipeline or station:

    • “(iv) a process to ensure that the critical contingency operator is notified promptly of any planned changes to the transmission system that will affect the long-term performance or capability of the system (including the establishment, isolation, removal, abandonment, or shutdown of any transmission pipeline, station, or key transmission component) and the implementation, commissioning, and decommissioning time frames relating to those changes; and

  • “(b) provide to the critical contingency operator—

    • “(i) historical data files of pressure, volume, flow, and compressor operation at all points measured by the transmission system owner:

    • “(ii) real-time remote access to the following data:

      • “(A) the projected amount of time before the minimum operating pressure, as specified in the transmission system owner's approved critical contingency management plan, will be reached for each of those parts of the transmission system identified in Schedule 1, based on the rate of pressure change:

      • “(B) current operating pressure, system volumes, flows (inflows, outflows, and internal flows), and compressor operations at all points measured by the transmission system owner:

    • “(iii) access to the transmission system owner’s static model of the transmission system or assistance with establishing and calibrating an independent static model of all or any part of the transmission system:

    • “(iv) access to the transmission system owner’s dynamic model of the transmission system or assistance with establishing and calibrating an independent dynamic model of all or any part of the transmission system:

    • “(v) assistance as required with ongoing data updates and calibration checks of the critical contingency operator's static model or dynamic model, or both, of the transmission system.

• “(1B) If the critical contingency operator reasonably considers that it requires access to real-time SCADA data, each transmission system owner must provide to the critical contingency operator remote, real-time, and read-only access to the transmission system owner’s SCADA system.”

• “(3) A reference in this regulation to information, data, or a model, in relation to a transmission system owner, includes information, data, or a model held or controlled by a third party contracted to the transmission system owner.”

“38A Other information to be provided to critical contingency operator

• “(1) The critical contingency operator may ask gas producers, transmission system owners, and large consumers for information relating to the operation of wholesale markets for gas, including arrangements relating to outages and other security of supply contingencies.

  “(2) Each gas producer, transmission system owner, and large consumer must provide, in response to any reasonable request made by the critical contingency operator under subclause (1), information on the actual and expected timing and duration of scheduled maintenance and any other actual or expected plant outages.”

• “(1) Each retailer must, as required by subclause (2), provide a notice to the critical contingency operator setting out, for each gas gate at which the retailer trades and in relation to that retailer,—

  • “(a) the number of consumer installations in each curtailment band and aggregate annual consumption for those consumer installations; and

  • “(b) the number of domestic consumers and aggregate annual consumption for those consumers.

• “(2) A retailer must comply with subclause (1)—

  • “(a) not later than 25 April 2014; and

  • “(b) annually, not later than 6 weeks after being asked by the critical contingency operator to provide the notice.”

“40 Large consumers to provide information

• “(1) Each large consumer must, as required by subclause (2), provide a notice to the critical contingency operator setting out, for the consumer installation, the total annual consumption, maximum daily consumption, curtailment band, and any critical processing designation.

  “(2) A large consumer must comply with subclause (1)—

  • “(a) not later than 25 April 2014; and

  • “(b) annually, not later than 6 weeks after being asked by the critical contingency operator to provide the notice.

  “(3) Where the consumer installation’s daily gas consumption is subject to significant variation throughout a year, the large consumer must notify the critical contingency operator of that fact and the critical contingency operator may ask the large consumer to also supply—

  • “(a) an estimate of the consumer installation's likely range of consumption by intervals specified by the critical contingency operator; and

  • “(b) historical load data for the consumer installation; and

  • “(c) any other data reasonably requested by the critical contingency operator.

  “(4) Whenever a large consumer becomes aware that information it has provided under this regulation is materially incorrect, the large consumer must provide corrected information to the critical contingency operator within 6 weeks.

“40A Allocation agent to provide information

• “(1) The critical contingency operator may, to assist with more detailed load modelling, request from an allocation agent consumption data that the allocation agent holds under the Gas (Downstream Reconciliation) Rules 2008.

  “(2) A request must specify the gas gates and the consumption months for which data is sought.

  “(3) The allocation agent must provide the data—

  • “(a) not later than 20 business days after receiving the request; and

  • “(b) in the format in which retailers supply the data to the allocation agent, unless otherwise agreed with the critical contingency operator.

“41 Critical contingency operator to hold record of information

• “(1) The critical contingency operator must keep a record of information provided to it by retailers, large consumers, and the allocation agent under regulations 39 to 40A.

  “(2) The information must be used by the critical contingency operator only for the purpose of performing its obligations under these regulations.

  “(3) If the critical contingency operator considers that any of the information provided by a retailer, a large consumer, or the allocation agent is materially incorrect, the critical contingency operator must, as soon as is reasonably practicable,—

  • “(a) notify the industry body that the information provided by that person is materially incorrect; and

  • “(b) provide to the industry body all of the information provided by that person.

“42 Audit of information

• “(1) If the critical contingency operator notifies the industry body under regulation 41 that information provided by a retailer, a large consumer, or the allocation agent is materially incorrect, the industry body must notify that person that it has 10 business days to correct its information and provide the updated information to the critical contingency operator.

  “(2) If the critical contingency operator considers that the updated information is materially incorrect, or if the retailer, large consumer, or allocation agent does not provide the updated information within 10 business days, the critical contingency operator must, as soon as is reasonably practicable, give notice of that fact to the industry body.

  “(3) Within 5 business days of being notified under subclause (2), the industry body must notify the retailer, large consumer, or allocation agent that the industry body intends to conduct an audit of that person.

  “(4) The purpose of the audit is to determine whether information provided to the critical contingency operator is materially incorrect.

  “(5) The audit must be conducted in accordance with regulation 83.

“43 Retailer curtailment plans

• “(1) Each retailer must prepare a retailer curtailment plan (the plan) in accordance with subclauses (2) to (4).

  “(2) For every retailer, the plan must contain the following information:

  • “(a) its process for keeping the plan up to date; and

  • “(b) staff training details.

  “(3) If the retailer has consumers, the plan must also contain the following information:

  • “(a) sufficient information to ensure that the person responsible for gas usage at each consumer installation can be contacted at any time, which may comprise—

    • “(i) a list of consumer installations including, for each installation, the applicable curtailment band and contact details of the person responsible for gas usage; or

    • “(ii) information on where the list described in subparagraph (i) can be accessed by the retailer and how that list is kept up to date:

  • “(b) the process for consumer notifications in accordance with regulation 44:

  • “(c) how the retailer will contact consumer installations in each curtailment band in the event of a curtailment direction in respect of that band (including training or script development for call centre staff needing to contact consumer installations in curtailment bands 4 and 6):

  • “(d) how the retailer will monitor its own compliance and the compliance of consumer installations with curtailment directions (including how the retailer will collect feedback from consumer installations and monitor metering data and whether the retailer will conduct site visits):

  • “(e) how the retailer will report compliance to the relevant transmission system owners.

  “(4) If the retailer has domestic consumers, the plan must also contain the following information:

  • “(a) how the retailer will implement any media appeals for those consumers to reduce their gas usage, if the retailer is directed by the critical contingency operator, under regulation 53(1)(db), to commence appeals:

  • “(b) any arrangements for co-ordinating media appeals with other retailers.

  “(5) The retailer must provide the plan to the industry body, together with a certificate in the form set out in Schedule 6 signed by a person who, in relation to the retailer, is a director or occupies a position equivalent to that of a director of a body corporate.

  “(6) A retailer must keep its plan up to date and, if it makes any material change, subclause (5) applies to the updated plan.

“44 Frequency and form of consumer notifications about these regulations

• “(1) A responsible retailer must notify its consumers and the industry body must notify large consumers, as required by subclause (2),—

  • “(a) of the existence of these regulations and the necessity for each consumer and consumer installation to comply with any direction given by the retailer or transmission system owner under these regulations; and

  • “(b) that a consumer may apply for a designation under Part 2A for a purpose referred to in regulation 46; and

  • “(c) of the options available for receiving information regarding critical contingencies, and how to subscribe; and

  • “(d) of any other information that the industry body reasonably requires to be notified to consumers; and

  • “(e) if the notification is given before 1 December 2014, of the transitional arrangements under regulations 86 and 87.

  “(2) A responsible retailer and the industry body must—

  • “(a) notify consumers under subclause (1)—

    • “(i) as soon as practicable after this regulation comes into force; and

    • “(ii) at intervals specified by the industry body, which must be not less than 1 year and not greater than 3 years; and

  • “(b) notify a particular consumer under subclause (1) as soon as practicable after any of the following circumstances arise in relation to that consumer:

    • “(i) a new consumer installation is connected to a distribution system or the transmission system:

    • “(ii) a previously active vacant consumer installation becomes active contracted (within the meaning of the Gas (Switching Arrangements) Rules 2008):

    • “(iii) a previously inactive or decommissioned consumer installation becomes active contracted (within the meaning of the Gas (Switching Arrangements) Rules 2008).

  “(3) The transmission system owner must—

  • “(a) provide the industry body with an up-to-date list of large consumers; and

  • “(b) notify the industry body as soon as practicable after any of the circumstances described in subclause (2)(b) arise in relation to a large consumer.

“45 Regional critical contingencies

• “(1) A regional critical contingency is a critical contingency characterised by—

  • “(a) a substantial reduction to, or total loss of, the supply of gas to a part of the transmission system; and

  • “(b) complete or partial isolation of that part of the transmission system from any significant source of gas supply.

  “(2) The industry body must prepare and publish guidelines to assist the critical contingency operator in determining whether a critical contingency is a regional critical contingency.

  “(3) Prior to publishing those guidelines, the industry body must—

  • “(a) prepare a draft set of guidelines that provides scenarios covering the types of events that could arise and for each scenario identifies whether it would be a regional critical contingency; and

  • “(b) publish the draft guidelines for consultation; and

  • “(c) consider submissions on the draft and make any necessary changes to the guidelines.

  “(4) The industry body may prepare and publish revised guidelines after following the process set out in subclause (3).

“Part 2A
“Designations

“46 Purpose of designations

• The purpose of a designation is to modify the curtailment arrangements as they apply to a consumer installation that needs to continue using gas in a critical contingency in order to—

  • “(a) provide critical care (see regulation 46A); or

  • “(b) provide essential services (see regulation 46B); or

  • “(c) complete critical processing (see regulation 46C); or

  • “(d) secure the supply of electricity (see regulation 46D).

“Designation types

“46A Critical care designations

• “(1) A consumer may apply for a critical care designation for a consumer installation at which 1 or more of the following services (critical care) is provided:

  • “(a) hospital care (within the meaning of the Health and Disability Services (Safety) Act 2001):

  • “(b) residential care or support of people with disabilities or people who are frail (whether because of their age or for some other reason):

  • “(c) primary health care:

  • “(d) dispensing medicine (within the meaning of the Medicines Act 1981):

  • “(e) operating a prison (within the meaning of the Corrections Act 2004):

  • “(f) essential support services for any of the services described in any of paragraphs (a) to (e) (for example, specialist medical services, laundry services, cleaning, or catering).

  “(2) The industry body must approve a critical care designation only if the industry body is satisfied that it would be inhumane or unsafe for the critical care not to be provided at the consumer installation.

“46B Essential services designations

• “(1) A consumer may apply for an essential services designation for a consumer installation at which 1 or more of the following services (essential services) are provided:

  • “(a) mortuary services:

  • “(b) cremation of human remains:

  • “(c) heat treatment of biohazards to make them safe for disposal where there is no other safe means of disposal:

  • “(d) processing and supply of municipal drinking water:

  • “(e) treatment and processing of municipal sewage:

  • “(f) police, fire, and other emergency services.

  “(2) The industry body must approve an essential services designation only if the industry body is satisfied that the annual gas consumption for providing the essential services at the consumer installation—

  • “(a) was greater than 2 terajoules in any 12-month period within the 2 years before the consumer’s application; or

  • “(b) will be greater than 2 terajoules in the 12-month period after the consumer’s application.

“46C Critical processing designations

• “(1) A consumer may apply for a critical processing designation for a consumer installation at which either of the following processes (critical processing) is performed:

  • “(a) a commercial or industrial process that fits all of the following criteria:

    • “(i) the process is underway; and

    • “(ii) the process can be completely shut down in less than 18 hours; and

    • “(iii) an immediate complete shutdown of the process would require—

      • “(A) disposal of dangerous or toxic chemicals from the plant; or

      • “(B) extensive operations before the plant could resume operation following termination of a critical contingency:

  • “(b) a process that requires gas for a defined period in order to—

    • “(i) avoid serious damage to plant; or

    • “(ii) mitigate serious environmental damage; or

    • “(iii) prevent inhumane or cruel treatment of animals already at an abattoir when a curtailment direction is given in respect of the curtailment band that applies to the consumer installation.

  “(2) The industry body must approve a critical processing designation only if all of the following criteria are met:

  • “(a) the consumer installation is or includes a major item of capital plant that undertakes critical processing; and

  • “(b) the industry body is satisfied that the consumer would have no economically feasible alternative arrangements, in the case of a designation not being approved, if gas supply were curtailed in full; and

  • “(c) the industry body is satisfied that the relevant consumer installation's annual gas consumption—

    • “(i) was greater than 2 terajoules in any 12-month period within the 2 years before the consumer’s application; or

    • “(ii) is expected to be greater than 2 terajoules in the 12-month period after the consumer’s application; and

  • “(d) the information provided in the application indicates a shutdown profile that is consistent with—

    • “(i) substantial load reduction (for example, reduced to 60% of average daily gas consumption) within 8 hours of a curtailment direction; and

    • “(ii) in the case of critical processing described in subclause (1)(b), near-full load reduction (for example, reduced to 90% of average daily gas consumption) within 18 hours of a curtailment direction; and

    • “(iii) full shutdown as soon as is reasonably practicable (in the light of the critical processing to be performed) and not later than 18 hours (in the case of critical processing described in subclause (1)(a)) or 24 hours (in the case of critical processing described in subclause (1)(b)) after a curtailment direction; and

  • “(e) the consumer installation has a time-of-use meter that enables gas consumption to be recorded daily, or will have one installed if the designation is approved.

“46D Electricity supply designations

• “(1) A consumer may apply for an electricity supply designation if the consumer requires a specified amount of gas for a specified period of time during a critical contingency in order to—

  • “(a) provide fuel to an electricity generating unit to synchronise that unit with the electricity system so as to meet the owner's obligations under an ancillary service arrangement; or

  • “(b) start up an electricity generating unit that is able to run on a fuel other than gas but where the use of gas as a start-up fuel will shorten the time needed to start that unit and switch to an alternative fuel; or

  • “(c) allow time for an electricity generating unit that is already running on gas to switch to an alternative fuel.

  “(2) The industry body must approve an electricity supply designation only if—

  • “(a) the consumer has an ancillary service arrangement with the electricity system operator to provide voltage support; or

  • “(b) all of the following criteria are satisfied:

    • “(i) the electricity generating unit has an installed capacity of 200 megawatts or greater; and

    • “(ii) the electricity generating unit is capable of running on a fuel other than gas supplied through the transmission system; and

    • “(iii) the consumer has satisfied the industry body that the electricity generating unit will only require a specified amount of gas from the transmission system in order to switch to the alternative fuel.

“Application process and administrative matters

“46E Application process for designations

• “(1) If a consumer wants a designation for a consumer installation, the consumer must apply to the industry body in accordance with regulation 46F, having regard to any guidance provided by the industry body in relation to the application process.

  “(2) A responsible retailer must provide to a consumer all reasonable assistance that the consumer requests for the purpose of preparing its application, including checking the application for completeness.

  “(3) The industry body must, within the time frame specified in subclause (4) or (5) (as applicable),—

  • “(a) decide whether to approve or decline the designation (in accordance with regulation 46A(2), 46B(2), 46C(2), or 46D(2), as applicable, and subject to subclauses (5) and (6)); and

  • “(b) notify the consumer of its decision.

  “(4) If the industry body receives the application on or after 2 December 2014, the industry body must comply with subclause (3) within 10 business days after the later of—

  • “(a) the day on which the industry body receives the application; and

  • “(b) the day on which the industry body receives a technical expert's final report on the application under regulation 46H.

  “(5) If the industry body receives the application before the close of 1 December 2014,—

  • “(a) the industry body must use reasonable endeavours to process the application within the time frame specified in subclause (4); but

  • “(b) if the industry body is unable to comply with subclause (3) within the time frame referred to in paragraph (a), the industry body must notify the applicant of an alternative time frame within which it expects to process the application and use reasonable endeavours to comply with that alternative time frame.

  “(6) If the industry body identifies that an application is incomplete, or that further information is required to process an application, the industry body must—

  • “(a) decline the designation; and

  • “(b) invite the applicant to resubmit its application, including the necessary information.

  “(7) If only part of a consumer installation meets the criteria for a designation,—

  • “(a) the industry body must approve a designation for only that part of the consumer installation; but

  • “(b) despite paragraph (a), if it is not possible to operate that part of the consumer installation in isolation from other parts of the consumer installation (in terms of gas consumption), the industry body may, at its discretion but only in exceptional circumstances, approve a designation for the whole of the consumer installation.

“46F Application requirements

• “(1) Every application for a designation must include the following information:

  • “(a) the ICP identifier:

  • “(b) the consumer’s name and address:

  • “(c) the consumer installation, or the part of the consumer installation, in respect of which the designation is sought:

  • “(d) a complete description of the services provided at the consumer installation:

  • “(e) the purposes for which gas is used at the consumer installation:

  • “(f) the quantity, in gigajoules, of gas used at the consumer installation on an annual and a daily basis—

    • “(i) in total; and

    • “(ii) for each of the services referred to in paragraph (d):

  • “(g) the services referred to in paragraph (d) in relation to which the designation is sought.

  “(2) If the application is for a critical processing designation, the application must also contain the following information (which the industry body will, if it approves the designation, use to determine a shutdown profile for the designated consumer installation under regulation 46J):

  • “(a) the absolute minimum rates (in gigajoules per hour) of gas supply required at the times referred to in regulation 46C(2)(d) and to complete critical processing:

  • “(b) the period of time required for an orderly and complete shutdown of the consumer installation or part of the consumer installation to which the application relates:

  • “(c) the total volume of gas required to complete critical processing and shut down the installation or part of the installation to which the application relates:

  • “(d) the daily volumes of gas used at the consumer installation over the past 2 years.

  “(3) If the application is for an electricity supply designation, the application must also contain the following information:

  • “(a) the rate (in gigajoules per hour) of gas supply required to start up the electricity generating unit; and

  • “(b) the period of time required for the electricity generating unit to—

    • “(i) synchronise with the electricity system and cease using gas, in the case of an electricity generating unit starting up to provide the ancillary service; or

    • “(ii) switch, or start up and switch, to the alternative fuel and cease using gas, in the case of an electricity generating unit able to use alternative fuel.

“46G Confidentiality of application information

• The industry body must use information provided in an application for a designation only for the purposes of, or as required by, these regulations.

“46H Appointment of technical expert to assist industry body

• “(1) The industry body—

  • “(a) must appoint a technical expert to assist the industry body in assessing an application for a critical processing designation; and

  • “(b) may appoint a technical expert to assist the industry body in assessing an application for any other designation.

  “(2) When appointing a technical expert, the industry body must follow the process set out in Schedule 7.

  “(3) The role of the technical expert is to provide the industry body and the applicant with an independent and confidential report on the merits of the application.

  “(4) The technical expert must provide a draft of its report to the applicant and the industry body.

  “(5) The applicant and the industry body have 5 business days from the date on which they receive the draft of the report to—

  • “(a) communicate with the technical expert about the draft (for example, to ask questions or seek clarification); and

  • “(b) provide comments on the draft.

  “(6) Before the technical expert prepares a final report on the merits of the application, the technical expert must take into account any comments received on the draft report.

  “(7) The applicant must pay to the industry body the costs of the technical expert in preparing the report (less the amount of the fee estimate prepaid by the applicant—see Schedule 7, step 7).

  “(8) If the costs of the technical expert in preparing the report are less than the amount of the fee estimate prepaid by the applicant, the industry body must refund the difference to the applicant.

“46I Powers of technical expert

• “(1) The technical expert may—

  • “(a) request any information, papers, recordings, or documents from the applicant, the current responsible retailer and any previous responsible retailer for the consumer installation to which the application relates, the allocation agent, or the critical contingency operator:

  • “(b) ask to examine any process, system, or data of the applicant, including the applicant's contingency plans or options in the event of curtailment:

  • “(c) ask to interview any officer or employee of the applicant for the purpose of clarifying any material provided under paragraph (a) or (b).

  “(2) Any request under subclause (1) must be reasonable and strictly for the purpose of preparing the report required by regulation 46H.

  “(3) An applicant, the current and previous responsible retailer for the consumer installation to which the application relates, the allocation agent, and the critical contingency operator must comply with any request made under subclause (1), but nothing in this regulation limits any claim for legal professional privilege.

  “(4) A technical expert must use any information obtained in performing the technical expert's role only for the purpose of assisting the industry body to assess the merits of the particular application, and must otherwise keep that information confidential.

“46J Critical processing designation: industry body to determine shutdown profile

• “(1) Within 10 business days of the industry body notifying a consumer that it has approved a critical processing designation, the industry body must, after consulting the consumer, determine the shutdown profile for the designated consumer installation.

  “(2) The determination must be in writing.

  “(3) The shutdown profile, which must be consistent with regulation 46C(2)(d)(i) to (iii), must specify—

  • “(a) the amount of gas that may be used at the consumer installation to complete critical processing; and

  • “(b) the period of time for which the consumer installation may use gas to complete an orderly shutdown of plant.

“46K When designation becomes effective

• “(1) If the industry body approves a designation, the designation is effective only after—

  • “(a) the industry body has provided the consumer with a declaration form that complies with regulation 46L; and

  • “(b) the declaration form is signed by a person who, in relation to the consumer, is a director, or occupies a position equivalent to that of a director, of a body corporate; and

  • “(c) the signed declaration form is returned to the industry body; and

  • “(d) the applicant has paid to the industry body, in full, the costs of the technical expert in preparing the report (see regulation 46H(7)); and

  • “(e) the responsible retailer or, in the case of a large consumer, the transmission system owner has confirmed that the consumer installation has a time-of-use meter that enables gas consumption to be recorded daily.

  “(2) On receiving the signed declaration, the industry body must give notice of the approved designation to—

  • “(a) the critical contingency operator; and

  • “(b) the responsible retailer or, in the case of a large consumer, the transmission system owner; and

  • “(c) the responsible distributor, as recorded in the registry, for the designated consumer installation.

  “(3) A responsible distributor must, within 5 business days after being notified under subclause (2), update the load shedding category information in the registry for the designated consumer installation.

“46L Declaration form requirements

• “(1) The declaration form referred to in regulation 46K(1) must contain 1 or more of the following statements:

  • “(a) that the designation applies only to the designated consumer installation:

  • “(b) that gas consumption for a consumer installation must be curtailed in accordance with the curtailment arrangements (as set out in Schedule 2):

  • “(c) that the consumer understands and accepts that—

    • “(i) the consumer may, despite the designation, be required to stop using gas at the designated consumer installation; and

    • “(ii) the consumer must comply as soon as possible with any notice given by its retailer under regulation 56; and

    • “(iii) if the consumer is a large consumer, it must comply as soon as possible with any direction given by a transmission system owner under regulation 55:

  • “(d) in the case of a critical processing designation, that the consumer understands and accepts that the consumer must stop using gas at the designated consumer installation,—

    • “(i) if the consumer installation is in any of curtailment bands 1 to 3, when a curtailment direction is given in respect of curtailment band 4; and

    • “(ii) if the consumer installation is in curtailment band 4, when a curtailment direction is given in respect of curtailment band 6:

  • “(e) in the case of an electricity supply designation, that the consumer is permitted to use, at the designated consumer installation, the amount of gas specified in its designation application only when notified that it can do so by the critical contingency operator under regulation 53(1)(da).

  “(2) The declaration form referred to in regulation 46K(1) must also contain a statement that the information provided by the consumer in its application is materially correct.

“46M Revocation of designations

• “(1) As soon as practicable after a consumer with a designation becomes aware that information provided in the consumer's application for the designation is no longer accurate, the consumer must notify the industry body of that fact.

  “(2) If the industry body reasonably considers that a consumer with a designation no longer meets the criteria for a designation, the industry body must notify the consumer—

  • “(a) that the industry body considers that the consumer no longer meets the criteria for a designation; and

  • “(b) that the designation will be revoked unless the consumer reapplies for the designation under regulation 46E within 20 business days.

  “(3) If the consumer fails to reapply for the designation within 20 business days after being notified under subclause (2), the designation is revoked on the expiry of that period.

  “(4) If the consumer reapplies for the designation within 20 business days after being notified under subclause (2), the designation is revoked if the designation is declined and the revocation is effective when the consumer is notified of that decision.

“46N Expiry of designations and reapplication

• “(1) Each designation approved under this Part expires 2 years after it was approved, but a consumer may reapply for the designation in accordance with this regulation.

  “(2) If any of the information supplied in the consumer's most recent application under regulation 46E has materially changed, or if the initial application was made more than 10 years ago, the consumer must reapply following the process outlined in regulation 46E.

  “(3) If the information referred to in subclause (2) has not materially changed, the consumer may reapply following the process set out in regulation 46E, except that—

  • “(a) the application must include the information specified in regulation 46F(1)(a) to (c) but need not include any other information specified in regulation 46F; and

  • “(b) the application must include a declaration that the information most recently supplied in an application under regulation 46E has not materially changed; and

  • “(c) the industry body need not comply with regulation 46H.

“46O Industry body to publish and maintain list of designations

• “(1) As soon as practicable after 1 December 2014, the industry body must publish a list of designations.

  “(2) The list must include the following information for each designation:

  • “(a) the name and ICP identifier of the designated consumer installation:

  • “(b) the type of designation:

  • “(c) the date on which the designation was approved:

  • “(d) the date on which the designation will expire unless a further approval is given.

  “(3) The industry body must maintain the list published under subclause (1).”

• “(g) gas distributors in the affected region; and

• “(h) the Director-General of Health.”

• “(2) The critical contingency operator must also advise a person, by electronic transmission or any other similar method of electronic communication, of the critical contingency declaration if—

  • “(a) the person has notified the critical contingency operator, prior to the relevant critical contingency declaration, of the person's interest in receiving such advice; and

  • “(b) the person has provided an appropriate electronic address.”

“Declaring regional critical contingency

“52A Declaration of regional critical contingency

• “(1) As soon as possible after determining a critical contingency, the critical contingency operator must determine, having regard to the guidelines published by the industry body under regulation 45, whether the critical contingency is a regional critical contingency as defined in regulation 45(1).

  “(2) On making a determination under subclause (1), the critical contingency operator must publish one of the following:

  • “(a) a notice declaring—

    • “(i) that the critical contingency is a regional critical contingency; and

    • “(ii) which parts of the transmission system are subject to the critical contingency determination:

  • “(b) a notice declaring that the critical contingency is not a regional critical contingency.

  “(3) For the purpose of regulation 75(b)(ii), a declaration made under subclause (2) is not a revision to the status of a critical contingency.”

• “(da) in the event that a curtailment direction is or may be given in respect of curtailment band 1 or 2,—

  • “(i) consult the electricity system operator on any need for a consumer installation with an electricity supply designation to use gas for the purpose set out in regulation 46D(1); and

  • “(ii) determine, having regard to the objectives set out in clause 1 of Schedule 2, whether to allow a consumer installation with an electricity supply designation to use gas for the purpose set out in regulation 46D(1); and

  • “(iii) give notice of the determination under subparagraph (ii) via urgent notice to the electricity system operator and to consumers with an electricity supply designation; and

• “(db) in the event that the critical contingency operator considers that curtailment of curtailment bands 0 to 6 is insufficient to stabilise the pressure in the affected parts of the transmission system, instruct retailers to commence, in accordance with their curtailment plans (see regulation 43(4)), media appeals for domestic consumers to reduce their gas usage; and

• “(dc) if reconfiguration of part of the transmission system is feasible within the time frame of a critical contingency, and if the critical contingency operator considers that reconfiguration may contribute to achieving the purpose of these regulations,—

  • “(i) consult the transmission system owner on the reconfiguration and whether it would contribute to achieving the purpose of these regulations; and

  • “(ii) if, after consulting under subparagraph (i), the critical contingency operator considers that reconfiguration would contribute to achieving the purpose of the regulations, direct the transmission system owner to undertake the reconfiguration; and

• “(dd) if the critical contingency operator becomes aware that a consumer installation is not complying with a curtailment direction, or that a designated consumer installation is not complying with a curtailment direction or the terms of its designation, notify—

  • “(i) the responsible retailer, or the transmission system owner in the case of a large consumer, which must contact the consumer installation and direct it to comply with the curtailment direction; and

  • “(ii) the industry body, which may seek an interim injunction under regulation 39A of the Gas Governance (Compliance) Regulations 2008; and”.

• “(g) publish—

  • “(i) updated information on the status of the critical contingency; and

  • “(ii) all urgent notices given by the critical contingency operator; and

  • “(iii) information as required by clause 1 of Schedule 5; and

• “(h) consider whether any event has occurred that would revise the critical contingency operator's determination under regulation 52A and, if so, publish a notice stating either—

  • “(i) that a regional critical contingency has been determined and which parts of the transmission system are subject to the critical contingency determination; or

  • “(ii) that the critical contingency is no longer a regional critical contingency.”

• “(c) subsets defined by a percentage of maximum consumer load; and

• “(d) subsets defined by 1 or more gas gates; and

• “(e) subsets defined by reference to transmission system pressure levels.”

• “(iii) within 30 minutes of receiving them from the critical contingency operator.”

“54A Asset owners to communicate information about failed assets

• “(1) The purpose of this regulation is to ensure that transmission system owners, retailers, and consumers are informed about the cause of any critical contingency.

  “(2) Subclause (3) applies if a component of the gas supply chain is damaged or fails, and that damage or failure—

  • “(a) has contributed to the critical contingency by reducing gas delivered into or from the transmission system by 5 standard cubic metres per second (a rate equivalent to 720 gigajoules per hour) or more; or

  • “(b) has caused the critical contingency.

  “(3) The owner of the damaged or failed component must publish information as required by clause 2 of Schedule 5.”

• “(3) The transmission system owner must forward to the critical contingency operator, when required to do so by the critical contingency operator, any information provided to the transmission system owner under subclause (2).”

• “(c) that urgent action is required by consumers to curtail demand for gas; and

• “(d) either—

  • “(i) that the consumer must curtail all its demand; or

  • “(ii) if the transmission system owner’s direction is for partial curtailment, that the consumer must curtail its demand in accordance with that direction; and

• “(e) that gas consumption for any designated consumer installation must be curtailed in accordance with the curtailment arrangements.”

• “(3) Retailers must provide a transmission system owner with regular updates, at intervals determined by the transmission system owner and communicated by the transmission system owner to retailers, of—

  • “(a) the retailer’s compliance with the directions of the transmission system owner; and

  • “(b) the consumers’ compliance with the retailer’s directions given in accordance with the directions of the transmission system owner.”

“57A Emergency approval of essential services designation or critical care designation

• “(1) A consumer may apply for an essential services designation or a critical care designation during a critical contingency event only if—

  • “(a) either—

    • “(i) a consumer installation or part of a consumer installation has only recently met the criteria for the designation; or

    • “(ii) a new consumer installation has been established that meets the criteria for the designation; and

  • “(b) there has been inadequate time for the consumer to prepare an application for the designation and have the application considered.

  “(2) Until the consumer receives notification from the industry body that an emergency designation has been approved, the consumer installation must stop using gas in accordance with the retailer’s curtailment instructions.

  “(3) The application process is as set out in regulation 46E with the following modifications:

  • “(a) the consumer must include in its application the grounds for the emergency designation, including evidence supporting the eligibility under subclause (1); and

  • “(b) the industry body must decide whether to approve or decline the designation as soon as is reasonably practicable after receiving the application, but need not process applications made under this regulation in the order in which they are received.

  “(4) A designation approved under this regulation—

  • “(a) is effective from the time that the industry body receives the signed declaration under regulation 46K; and

  • “(b) ceases to apply on the termination of the critical contingency.”

• “(g) gas distributors in the affected region; and

• “(h) the Director-General of Health.”

• “(2) The critical contingency operator must also advise a person, by electronic transmission or any other similar method of electronic communication, of the critical contingency termination if—

  • “(a) the person has notified the critical contingency operator, prior to the relevant critical contingency declaration, of the person's interest in receiving such advice; and

  • “(b) the person has provided an appropriate electronic address.”

• “(2A) The critical contingency operator must—

  • “(a) publish a draft of the performance report, together with the following information:

    • “(i) information on how to make a submission to the critical contingency operator; and

    • “(ii) the deadline for making submissions (which must not be earlier than 5 business days after the date the draft report is published); and

    • “(iii) a statement that all submissions will be forwarded to the industry body for publication on the industry body's Internet site; and

  • “(b) notify the industry body of the draft report and information referred to in paragraph (a); and

  • “(c) as soon as practicable after the deadline for making submissions, send to the industry body a copy of all submissions received.

• “(2B) As soon as practicable after being notified under subclause (2A)(b), the industry body must publish on its Internet site the draft report and information referred to in that paragraph.

• “(2C) As soon as practicable after receiving submissions under subclause (2A)(c), the industry body must publish the submissions on its Internet site.”

• “(5) The performance report must also state whether the assessment in subclause (1) is such that the critical contingency management plans have met the test criteria in regulation 34(1).”

“65A Industry body may audit performance of obligations

• “(1) Within 20 business days of receiving a performance report from the critical contingency operator, the industry body may notify the critical contingency operator and industry participants that it intends to conduct an audit of the performance of the critical contingency operator, any asset owner, or any retailer and notify each person that is to be the subject of the audit.

  “(2) The purpose of an audit under this regulation is to determine—

  • “(a) whether the person that is the subject of the audit has carried out its obligations under these regulations during the relevant critical contingency; and

  • “(b) whether the regulations created any impediments to the person responding efficiently to the critical contingency; and

  • “(c) whether there is any additional information that should have been reported on in the critical contingency operator’s performance report.”

“66A Process for identifying gas usage that is contrary to curtailment directions

• “(1) As soon as practicable after the termination of a critical contingency, the industry body must request,—

  • “(a) from the allocation agent, copies of allocation participants' data submissions for consumer installations in allocation group 1 and allocation group 2 (within the meaning of the Gas (Downstream Reconciliation) Rules 2008) for the consumption period or periods that include the period of the critical contingency; and

  • “(b) from transmission system owners, details of large consumers' daily gas deliveries for the month or months that include the period of the critical contingency.

  “(2) The allocation agent or a transmission system owner must provide the requested data within 5 business days after the later of—

  • “(a) the date on which the allocation agent receives the data from allocation participants or on which the transmission system owner receives the data from large consumers (as applicable); and

  • “(b) the date on which the request is made.

  “(3) The industry body must analyse the data to ascertain whether it indicates that any consumer installation continued to use gas contrary to a curtailment direction.

  “(4) For each consumer installation that is suspected of using gas in contravention of a curtailment direction, the industry body must request the following information from that consumer installation’s retailer (or, in the case of a large consumer, the transmission system owner):

  • “(a) whether the curtailment direction was given in respect of the consumer installation and, if so, when it was given; and

  • “(b) whether a restoration direction was given in respect of the consumer installation and, if so, when it was given; and

  • “(c) other communications, if any, that took place between the person responsible for the consumer installation and the retailer or transmission system owner; and

  • “(d) full contact details for the consumer installation, including physical address, postal address, business name, contact person or persons, telephone number, and electronic address.

  “(5) Retailers and the transmission system owner (as applicable) must provide to the industry body the information specified in subclause (4) within 5 business days of receiving the request.

  “(6) Where the industry body has a reasonable belief that a consumer installation continued to use gas contrary to a curtailment direction, the industry body must contact the consumer to—

  • “(a) advise the consumer that it is suspected of having breached, or committed an offence under, these regulations; and

  • “(b) request an explanation.

  “(7) If the explanation is unsatisfactory or no explanation is provided, the industry body must,—

  • “(a) if the consumer is an industry participant, take any action required under the Gas Governance (Compliance) Regulations 2008; or

  • “(b) if the consumer is not an industry participant, provide to the Ministry the information that indicates gas was used in contravention of a curtailment direction.”

• “(3) The industry body must publish information received under subclause (1) within 5 business days of receiving it.”

“82A Offence to provide false or misleading information

• A consumer commits an offence, and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $20,000, if—

  • “(a) the consumer provides information—

    • “(i) to the industry body in an application for a designation under regulation 46E; or

    • “(ii) to the critical contingency operator under regulation 40; and

  • “(b) the consumer knows that the information it provides is false or misleading in any material particular.

“82B Offence to fail to comply with directions

• “(1) A consumer other than an industry participant commits an offence, and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $20,000, if—

  • “(a) the consumer is given a direction under these regulations during a critical contingency; and

  • “(b) the consumer fails to comply with the direction; and

  • “(c) the failure to comply affects, or may affect, the operation of wholesale markets for gas (including security of supply).

  “(2) It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence under this regulation if the defendant proves that—

  • “(a) the failure to comply was necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the health and safety of any person; and

  • “(b) the threat could not reasonably have been foreseen and mitigated by the defendant so that the conduct that constituted the offence could have been avoided.”

“86 Transitional provision: existing essential service provider designations and minimal load consumer designations expire unless renewed

• “(1) A consumer with an essential service provider designation or a minimal load consumer designation approved under these regulations as in force before 1 March 2014—

  • “(a) ceases to have that designation on the close of 1 December 2014; but

  • “(b) may apply for another designation.

  “(2) If the consumer wishes to have its application under regulation 46E determined before its existing designation expires, the consumer must apply under regulation 46E not later than 1 June 2014.

“87 Transitional provision: updating registry record of designations

• “(1) No later than 1 March 2014, every retailer must provide the industry body, in respect of each of its consumers that has an essential service provider designation or a minimal load consumer designation that was approved under these regulations as in force before 1 March 2014, with the following information:

  • “(a) the ICP identifier:

  • “(b) the consumer's name and address:

  • “(c) the consumer installation, or the part of the consumer installation, that is the subject of the designation:

  • “(d) a complete description of the services provided at the consumer’s site:

  • “(e) the date on which the designation was approved (where that information is held by or available to the retailer):

  • “(f) the quantity, in gigajoules, of gas used by that ICP on an annual basis.

  “(2) The industry body must use the information provided under subclause (1) to identify any inaccuracies in the load shedding fields of the registry and direct the responsible distributor to correct any inaccurate entries.

  “(3) If the industry body identifies any ICP identifier that is recorded in the registry as having a designation but that is not on the list provided by the consumer’s retailer, the industry body must—

  • “(a) ask the responsible retailer to confirm whether it approved a designation for that consumer installation; and

  • “(b) for each ICP that has been incorrectly classified in the registry, direct the responsible distributor to correct the load shedding category field using the information supplied by the responsible retailer.

  “(4) Within 5 business days after receiving a request under subclause (3)(a), the responsible retailer must supply the information required by subclause (1), together with a statement of whether the responsible retailer had approved a designation for that consumer installation.

  “(5) If the industry body gives a direction under subclause (3)(b), the responsible distributor must correct the registry entry within 5 business days after that direction.”