Energy infrastructure safety case guidelines

Overview

Safety case obligations for major electricity companies, gas companies and pipeline licensees (energy infrastructure companies) are changing. Here’s an opportunity to provide feedback on the proposed changes to safety cases.

Energy infrastructure companies have mandatory obligations to submit safety cases to Energy Safe Victoria under Victoria’s energy safety laws.

This includes:

• Electricity safety management schemes (ESMS) under the Electricity Safety Act 1998 (Vic)
• Gas safety cases (GSC) under the Gas Safety Act 1997 (Vic)
• Safety management plans (SMP) under the Pipelines Act 2005 (Vic).

The Energy Legislation Amendment (Energy Safety) Act 2023 (Vic) includes changes to the way safety cases are revised and submitted.

From 16 May 2024, Major Electricity Companies (MECs) and gas companies must submit:

• a revised ESMS, Bushfire Mitigation Plan (BMP) or GSC (as applicable) to Energy Safe every five years, regardless of when the last revision was accepted
• all proposed revisions to an accepted ESMS, BMP or GSC (as applicable) to Energy Safe regardless of whether the revision is ‘significant’ or not.

We are taking this opportunity to review Energy Safe’s published safety case policies and guidelines. Our objective is to enhance the quality of safety cases submitted for acceptance to ensure they meet regulatory objectives.