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ESV moves closer to
becoming a commission
By Jonathan Granger, Head of Communications and Marketing
Continued from page 05.
“ESV will play a very important role
working closely with other regulators
and the government. We now have
the capacity and intellectual and
technical capability to stay in front of
the developments, particularly around
technology and playing an impactful
role in the quality of skills and training.”
Life after ESV
Mr Fearon is looking forward to
spending more time with family,
short-term holidays and a return
to history research at university.
“Another focus will be my work
in a charity I have been involved
with the Ryder-Cheshire Foundation.
The foundation supports the relief
of suffering in countries like India,
Timor-Leste and Australia and has
also set up many homes to
accommodate patients and their
carers while receiving treatment.
“And, of course, I would like to stay
in touch with the energy industry that
gave me such incredible training, which
lead to the opportunity to serve our
community as its safety and technical
regulator.”
Legislation that will change Energy Safe
Victoria from a single Director of Energy
Safety to a three member commission is
now before the Victorian Parliament.
The legislation is currently in the
form of a Bill. Once it is voted on
and accepted by both the Legislative
Assembly and the Legislative Council
it becomes an Act, meaning it
becomes law.
The change will see the governance
structure of ESV move from a single-
member agency to a new three-person
commission, delivering a leadership
team with a greater breadth of skills
and experience.
There will be three commissioners
including a chairperson, a deputy
chairperson and a separate chief
executive officer. The commissioners
will be supported by a Technical
Advisory Committee, which will include
people who represent the gas and
electrical industries, employees in
those industries and the Victorian
community.
Although ESV will officially become the
Victorian Energy Safety Commission,
we will still be known as Energy Safe
Victoria.
The move to a commission is a result
of the independent review of Victoria’s
Electricity and Gas Network Safety
Framework which was completed in
December 2017. It reviewed the design
and adequacy of the safety regulatory
system governing the safety of
Victoria’s electricity and gas networks,
including Energy Safe Victoria as
the regulator.
06
When the Minister for Energy,
Environment and Climate Change
Lily D’Ambrosio announced the review,
she said the current safety framework
had been in place more than a
decade and it was timely to review
the existing arrangements to ensure
they adequately reflected the needs
of the community in an increasingly
complex environment.
The review was conducted by
Dr Paul Grimes former secretary
of the Commonwealth Department
of Agriculture and Head of the
Victorian Public Sector Commission.
It included extensive consultation
with stakeholders to inform its
findings and recommendations.
The Director of Energy Safety for
Victoria, Paul Fearon, welcomed
the report when it was released:
“It provides a further springboard for
ESV to build its capacity and capability
to hold energy network businesses
accountable for designing, operating
and maintaining their infrastructure
safely."
“The in-principle support for
changes to legislation by the
government will also ensure Victoria’s
regulatory frameworks are fit for
purpose to meet emerging energy
safety challenges into the future.”
Mr Fearon said the review had
not made any adverse findings and
although it pointed to a number of
improvements that could be made,
ESV possessed many strengths and
had gained a reputation as being
Australia’s leading network safety
regulator.