The Panel’s draft report made 9 key recommendations under 4 key themes and, in turn, sought responses on almost 50 questions related to the recommendations.

The terms of reference limited the review to the NEM only, with fuel markets, especially the natural gas market, out of scope.

The Panel did highlight concerns with the lack of liquidity in the SA contract electricity market linked to increases in market concentration and the erosion of competition. The concept of increased concentration driving decreased competition was consistent across the draft report; a conclusion which EMX strongly supports.

Our submission highlighted that the integration of gas and electricity in markets is a key contributor to the electricity market concentration in SA, and addressing the anti-competitive impacts of the gas market is a necessary condition to improving competition in the electricity market.

We also highlighted two key recommendations, namely allowing consumers to benefit from being more price responsive by bidding into the market and restricting the ability to contract with the proposed ESEM to small retailers or direct customer participants only. Both of these recommendations would decrease market concentration, improve competition and, in conjunction with reform of the gas market deliver improved competitive outcomes; particularly for industrial customers.

Given SA is a leading indicator of the impacts of the exit of coal and increased renewable penetration on the competitiveness of markets, EMX focused on the key issues related to decreased concentration and improved competitiveness and the importance of coordinated gas market reform to electricity market outcomes.

We will continue to monitor the process and provide an update on key issues that arise in the submission process.

Report Themes and Recommendations:

The 4 key themes identified by the Panel were:

• Theme 1: Ensuring effective operation of the spot market
• Theme 2: Maintaining liquidity in the derivatives market
• Theme 3: Unlocking long-term investment in new energy services
• Theme 4: Ensuring consumers benefit 

The 9 recommendations were:

• Recommendation 1: Maintain the real-time regional energy-only spot market as the core market for efficient dispatch and rewarding the provision of physical energy services

• Recommendation 2:  Energy ministers should require a broader range of price-responsive resources to be visible or dispatchable to participate in price formation 

• Recommendation 3: Governments should focus reforms and support for CER on facilitating market participation to enable consumers to benefit from being price-responsive 

• Recommendation 4: Market bodies should use the rule change process to ensure the efficient and competitive functioning of the real-time energy-only spot market

• Recommendation 5: The Reliability Panel should consider adjusting the form of the market price settings over time

• Recommendation 6: Energy ministers should establish an always-on market making obligation (MMO) in the National Electricity Law/National Electricity Rules (NEL/NER) for a small number of key derivative contracts in each NEM region, with contract types determined through a co-design process with the AER and industry 

• Recommendation 7: Ensure sufficient market information is available to support longer-term derivatives market liquidity and price discovery 

• Recommendation 8: Energy ministers should establish an ESEM within the National Electricity Law (NEL) to facilitate investment in the NEM 

• Recommendation 9: Governments and market bodies in the NEM should pursue a coordinated suite of reforms to ensure regulatory settings, the innovation ecosystem, and existing policies and programs are aligned with the ESEM.

We strongly support this review and provided a submission which highlighted the current domestic industrial gas market failure, its threat to the Future Made in Australia Plan and recommended a range of solutions that we believe can address this failure.

Notwithstanding decades of innovation and structural reform, the East Coast gas market is failing industrial customers. Despite falling domestic demand, real delivered gas prices have steadily increased. This has occurred alongside growing concentration in upstream reserves ownership, limited spare transmission capacity (with surplus capacity often removed from the market) and a contraction in retail-level competition due to increased market concentration.

The consequences of the market failure have been material: the closure of gas-reliant industrial and manufacturing facilities, a decline in Australia’s industrial capacity, and increasing stress on domestic supply chain resilience. This trajectory runs counter to the objectives of the Australian Government’s Future Made in Australia plan, which seeks to rebuild sovereign capability and strengthen the nation’s industrial foundations. Solving the gas market failure is also essential to ensuring an efficient NEM, a linkage EMX Energy has highlighted in its submission to the Nelson NEM review (a future blog post topic).

The key points of our submission were:

The Gas Market is failing, causes of which include:

• Policy Induced Supply Constraints
• LNG Producer Behaviour and Domestic Supply Erosion
• Fixed, Capacity-Based Contracting Structures
• Transmission Access and Long-Term Capacity Locking
• Concentration of Reserves and Processing Access

Policy actions to address this failure should:

• Restrict LNG Producer Access to Domestic Gas
• Mandatory Domestic Supply Obligation for LNG Exporters
• Mandate Transparent Trading at GSHs
• Reform access to Gas Processing Facilities
• Reform Pipeline Regulatory Frameworks
• Expand Capacity Trading Rules
• Implement Centralised Transmission Operation I
• Accelerate Market-Connected Storage Infrastructure A
• Monitor and Enforce Retail Market Competition

We look forward to continuing our engagement on this critical review and strongly advocating for the policy changes necessary to ensure that the gas market failure is addressed such that it recognizes, and actually supports, its key stakeholders – the industrial customer!

The purpose of the website is to provide information about the activities of EMXEnergy, an access portal for suppliers, clients and staff and to provide resources.

EMXEnergy is an energy markets business focused on the future. It was founded in 2025. The team has over 40 years of experience and in this time we have seen it all. We have worked through booms, busts, peaks, troughs, revolutions, fads, visionaries, charlatans and the list goes on. We are able to leverage our experiences, knowledge and skills.

We have a proven track record of success. We are pretty good at understanding what will work and calling out what wont work and we acknowledge we wont always be right. We are quiet achievers who let our results speak for themselves.

We are committed to investing in our people and having the right corporate culture that supports high performing and results orientated teamwork. We strive to promote a workplace with trust and respect for the individual, in which diversity is valued and where everyone is able to reach their full potential.

Do not overthink it

A new business venture is your special project. So there is a natural tendency to over think the whole process as you seek the perfect business name. However the reality is that no one really cares about the business name other than you. The success of the business will not hinge on the name that you select. No customer will pay you a dollar more for your product or services because of the name. You will be better off spending your time and resources on other aspects of your startup rather than wasting too much time overthinking the name.

In one business venture, I had 3 other business partners. All four of us were different and came into the process of selecting the business name with different outlooks. One business partners came up with a solid suggestion for a name right off the bat. However we were all looking for the perfect name. So we went round in circles for weeks trying to find the perfect name. However with 4 business partners, it was clear we were going to have to compromise. In the end we want back to the start by selecting the original suggestion put forward at the start even though one of the business partners didnt really like the name. With the benefit of hindsight, we can now see that the name we selected for the business did not matter. The vast majority of clients dont even know the reasoning for the business name and it is very rare that they ask about the name. What drove the success of the business was the quality of our products and services, our knowledge and skills, the quality of our people and our excellent culture. Once the business has established a proven track record, the name becomes automatically associated with that track record. Being good at what you do is much more important than the name you select.

Domain names are important

We live in an interconnected world where the majority of business communications will occur through the internet. In this environment, the domain name of the business is important. However its easy to overlook the domain name considerations when choosing the name for the business. Here are some factors to take into consideration:

Firstly is the domain name equivalent of the business name available in your country? If your business is based in Australian you will want to check that the com.au extension of the name is available. It is a bonus if you can also obtain the .com extension of the same name. If its not available, you will want to rethink your business name because even if you can find an alternative domain name, the original domain name will create confusion with your business.

Secondly, is the domain name easy to type, easy to remember and not too long. The longer or more complex is the domain name, the more likely it is going to be mistyped by staff, clients and potential customers and the more likely that critical message will go missing. This might seem like a little thing, but in the course of running a business, a mistyped domain name can result in a key message going missing that can have a major impact on the business or a client in the future.

Finally, domain names are inexpensive so get it registered straight away. Further register any associated domain names straight away. These may be variations in the business name reflecting different business activities that you may pursue in the future. For example your may be starting out as XYZKitchens but might expand into bathrooms later so why not also register XYZBathrooms to future proof your business name.

Check the business name is not in use

You think you have settled on your business name and when you go to do a check of business registry records you find that someone already has the business name – bam – you have to start again. It is better to check the business registry records and also search the internet early in the process so you dont waste too much time on business names that are taken. If the name is available, then register the business name straight away. In Australia it is very easy to do online through ASIC and, if all goes smoothly, can be submitted and confirmed in less than an hour.

We had picked the name for a new venture, checked the appropriate domain names were available and the business name check was clear. Whilst we were not planning to activate the venture for 12 months, we registered the domain names. We did not register the business name. Then six months later, a new venture by a third party popped up using the name we had planned. Whats more, the venture was in the same industry and operating in the same city. The business name was still not registered so we could have pushed on with the name, having already locked in the domain names. But having another venture using the same name and operating from the same city would have caused confusion and the last thing we wanted to do was cause any issues for another venture. So we changed the name, registered new domain names and this time we registered the business names straight away.

Check the appropriateness of the name

Its very easy to come up with a great name and think your on a winner only to find out later down the track that there is an issue with the name. What may sound like a great name in English could sound similar to an in-appropriate name in another language. It may not matter if that other language is irrelevant to your target market or your future growth plans. But it would be a terrible outcome to be several years into a venture, having invested a lot of time and effort in your branding, struggling to gain traction in your target market to then be told by a potential customer that your name sounds very similar to an inappropriate word in their native language. The simplest way to check is to test the name with some people in your target market.

In the above mentioned business venture with four business partners, one of the early front runners for the name was different plays on the number four. It seemed obvious to us – four business partners – so lets make use of the number four in the name. When we started to test versions of this name, it was pointed out to us by a Malaysian friend that the number four is considered unlucky in China. The number four is pronounced as si in Cantonese, which sounds like the word for death. So many in Asia consider this to be an unlucky number. So we dropped using the number four in the name and, with the benefit of hindsight, it was the right decision because several of our most important clients were native Cantonese speakers from Asia.

The name becomes the brand

The name does not really matter. What matters is that you are good at what you do. In time, as the venture becomes successful, the name will develop a life of its own and will become the brand of the business. For example in 1949, who would have though that the name Adidas would become one of the most recognised names in the world today? The same can be said for names like Nike and Hyundai. Only a geek would think that the word Facebook was a good name for a new venture but today it is one of the best known names in the world. Dont get me wrong, selecting a great name and brand can help the venture. However it does not replace being good at what your do and working hard to achieve success.

You can rebrand

Whats the worst case scenario if you get things wrong with your choice of name? You rebrand. You would prefer to avoid having to through the process of rebranding as it costs money and is a distraction from running the business venture but its not that bad particularly if you do it early. The plus side of a rebranding is it gives you a new reason to get in front of your clients and talk to them and it can create that new car freshness feel for the venture. So the message here is do not waste too much time worrying about perfecting the name because if you do get it wrong, you can just rebrand.

The purpose of the website is to provide information about the activities of EMXCapital, an access portal for suppliers, clients and staff and to provide resources.

EMXCapital is an investment company focused on the future. It was founded in 1994. The team has over 40 years of experience and in this time we have seen it all. We have worked through booms, busts, peaks, troughs, revolutions, fads, visionaries, charlatans and the list goes on. We are able to leverage our experiences, knowledge and skills.

We have a proven track record of success. We are pretty good at understanding what will work and calling out what wont work and we acknowledge we wont always be right. We are quiet achievers who let our results speak for themselves.

We are committed to investing in our people and having the right corporate culture that supports high performing and results orientated teamwork. We strive to promote a workplace with trust and respect for the individual, in which diversity is valued and where everyone is able to reach their full potential.

Investing in green, ethical and sustainable stocks requires plenty of research, but knowing more might help you to feel more comfortable about your choices.

At its simplest, ‘ethical’ or ‘responsible’ investing can be described as not just seeking positive financial returns, but also ensuring that those returns are generated in a way that is consistent with your personal beliefs and values.

This can take a number of forms. The process known as ‘negative screening’ refers to looking at your options and electing not to invest in certain companies or sectors because you don’t want to support the products or practices involved.

Negative screening can take environmental, social, humanitarian or animal cruelty points of view into account. It will depend mainly on what the investor – either an individual or an institution – cares about and what their ethics are.
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Beyond the decision to avoid certain investment options is ‘positive screening’. This is about actively allocating your money to areas that you want to support and which you believe can provide a positive financial return by doing so, whether that is investing in renewable or sustainable energy, healthcare or some aspect of social enterprise.

There is a third aspect to ethical investing, which large institutions can pursue, that is known as ‘advocacy’.

Advocacy is about engaging with companies that a fund manager already invests in or wants to invest in and encouraging even better behaviour, or changes that would potentially include them in an ‘ethical’ investment bracket.

How do you invest ethically?

There are a number of choices available to investors, from checking if your super fund offers ethical options, to applying ethical principles to your own direct investment portfolio.

You can also find financial advisers who specialise in providing research to help you make an informed decision about what options might be best both in the financial and ethical sense, while some fund managers apply ethical screening to their investment decisions.

If you decide to go it alone, the degree to which you want to embed ethical investing into your portfolio will dictate the ease with which this can be achieved.

There can be a lot of research involved in trying to understand how companies perform in relation to these issues. While it might be easy to identify certain types of companies you might choose to avoid, such as tobacco or coal producers, it could be much more difficult to ascertain whether a company is avoiding questionable labour practices in its supply chain.

There can be some grey areas, such as uranium. Some fund managers might have an exposure to it as a clean energy source, but other investors might not want to be involved in uranium mining.

There are a lot of environmental, social and corporate governance issues that don’t show up on the financial statements, but that are critical to a company’s enduring value.

Returns are one part of the story, but risk is another. Remember that the same rules for ordinary investing apply to ethical and responsible themes.

After you work out what your objective and timeframe is and then think about what you want from your investment in terms of income or growth, you could then identify the type of areas you’d like your money to support and the areas you’d like to avoid. It’s important to then match that up with your risk and return requirements.

Making choices

Revenue and profit figures can be easy to ascertain and are regularly published by listed companies.

The way a company conducts itself, however, is hard to quantify.

Some benchmarks that can be used are environmental, social and governance (ESG), sustainable practices and corporate social responsibility (CSR), which attempt to measure a company’s behaviour against the impacts its business has on communities.

Index providers such as Dow Jones and MSCI build indices containing companies that pass supposedly stringent sustainability assessments based on CSR and ESG practices, and these indices serve as guidance for those adopting a ‘responsible’ approach to investing their money.

Given that different people have different ethics and standards on CSR and ESG practices, the evaluations can be subjective and the inclusion of so-called sustainable companies may be inconsistent from one index to another.

Dow Jones Sustainability Australia Index

The Dow Jones Sustainability Australia (DJSA) Index, introduced in February 2005, represent the top 30% of companies in the S&P/ASX200 based on long-term economic, environmental and social criteria.

Companies that are included are assessed based on their long-term economic, environmental and social record. All industry groups are considered, including mining and gaming and the index is reviewed annually.

Criteria such as climate change strategies, energy consumption, human resources development, knowledge management, stakeholder relations and corporate governance are reviewed, according to the index fact sheet.
MSCI Australia ESG Index

The MSCI Australia ESG Index “provides exposure to companies with high environmental, social and governance [ESG] performance relative to their sector peers”, according to its fact sheet.

The index is made up of large and mid-cap companies in Australian markets.

It aims to offer investors a broad, diversified sustainability benchmark and the selection of companies is based on data from MSCI ESG Research.

Investing in green corporate bonds

Investing in corporate bonds can be a way of diversifying your portfolio, but deciding which companies to choose can be difficult if sustainability is your focus.

Exchange traded bonds, or XTBs, trade on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and some of those available have a ‘green’ label.

This means the bond issuer is committing to using the funds for purposes that meet the requirements of the Climate Bonds International Standards and Certification Scheme.

The standards present investors with information, guidelines and greater transparency regarding what should and should not be considered in assessing the credentials of the bond to help in the decision-making process of choosing where you feel comfortable putting your money.

The challenges

There is no perfect way to measure how responsible, ethical or sustainable a company is.

Not only do companies have different standards in managing their ESG issues, individual investors also hold different beliefs as to what makes an investment ethical or responsible.

Regardless of the different approaches, intangible assets such as CSR and ESG practices may be very important when it comes to assessing a company’s long-term growth prospects.