physics

National Energy Guarantee

National Energy Guarantee is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand National Energy Guarantee rather than just read about it. In short: National Energy Guarantee (NEG) was an energy policy proposed by the Turnbull government in late 2017 to deal with rising energy prices in Australia and lack of clarity for energy companies to invest in energy infrastructure. The policy specifically targets energy companies in the National Electricity Market and large energy users to have a reliability obligation as well as emissions reduction obligations.

Key takeaways

National Energy Guarantee belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect National Energy Guarantee to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of National Energy Guarantee from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

National Energy Guarantee (NEG) was an energy policy proposed by the Turnbull government in late 2017 to deal with rising energy prices in Australia and lack of clarity for energy companies to invest in energy infrastructure. The policy specifically targets energy companies in the National Electricity Market and large energy users to have a reliability obligation as well as emissions reduction obligations. Turnbull's successor Scott Morrison announced in September 2018 that the government would focus on cheap electricity prices; Australia would (also without NEG) make efforts to lower carbon dioxide emissions. The Labor Party has since announced that it will adopt the NEG as its energy policy.

History

In the years leading up to the proposed NEG, energy policy in Australia included the Rudd government's proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, the introduction and repeal of the Gillard government's Clean Energy Act 2011, the Abbott government's Emissions Reduction Fund, and proposals for an Emissions Intensity Scheme (EIS) and a Clean Energy Target (CET) among others. Throughout this time, energy prices in energy resource rich Australia continued to rise. In October 2017 the Turnbull government announced a new proposal, the National Energy Guarantee, intended to "lower electricity prices, make the system more reliable, encourage the right investment and reduce emissions". Subsidies and incentives for renewable energy will be scrapped under the plan. The Labor opposition argues the plan will destroy the renewables sector, but the government argues renewables can be competitive without subsidies, and expects Australia will still meet its Paris Agreement obligations under the plan. The Climate Council called the NEG "a woefully inadequate response" to climate change.

Politics The government via the COAG Energy Council meeting on 14 July 2017 established the Energy Security Board to coordinate the implementation of the Finkel Review authored by Australian's Chief Scientist Alan Finkel. The government decided not to adopt the Clean Energy Target as recommended by the Finkel Review after coming pressure from the conservative elements of the Liberal Party as well as vocal climate deniers. The NEG will need the support of the Australian states signed up to it to activate the scheme. The reason is the states need to pass legislation to change the functioning of the national electricity market. Government critics of emission reduction targets are advocating for a "hockey-stick" target, where the most reduction occurs in the years just before 2030.

Reliability obligation The reliability obligation means that energy companies need to provide a mix of energy generation sources that can be fired up on demand to meet peak loads or emergency demand.

Low Emissions obligation This dictates energy companies need to have in their mix of energy production from low emission sources like gas fired power stations, wind, solar, batteries or hydropower or even coal fired stations.

Compliance The government indicated if these regulatory obligations are not met after a period of time, the government can take action such as deregistering non complying energy providers. The reliability guarantee is going to be set up by the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) and Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO). The emissions guarantee will be established by the Commonwealth and overseen by the Australian Energy Regulator (AER).

Modelling In 2017, Federal Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg asked the Energy Security Board to undertake further modelling to determine the NEG's impact on the national electricity market. The minister also forecast in the best scenario, the NEG can deliver price reduction of 6 percent of power bills. It is equivalent to an average $115 annual savings from 2020 to 2030. As of July 2018, the Energy Security Board's model has not been made public.

References

External links Official website

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with National Energy Guarantee

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what National Energy Guarantee claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to National Energy Guarantee before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about National Energy Guarantee ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of National Energy Guarantee

In research: National Energy Guarantee appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses National Energy Guarantee in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: National Energy Guarantee is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2017 in Australian politics, 2018 in Australian politics, Climate change in Australia, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for National Energy Guarantee outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study National Energy Guarantee in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what National Energy Guarantee means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain National Energy Guarantee out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is National Energy Guarantee in simple terms?

Why does National Energy Guarantee matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study National Energy Guarantee?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on National Energy Guarantee.