The NECF will be a national regime for the sale and supply of gas and electricity by retailers and distributors to retail customers.

The MCE said that under the NECF retailers will benefit from easier access to a wider range of customers nationally and greater regulatory certainty.

The council said that the NECF is expected to reduce compliance costs for energy businesses and will decrease the current regulatory duplication involved in obtaining retail licences in each separate jurisdiction.

The framework will also introduce:

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• Limitations on disconnection,

• A customer hardship regime,

• Energy marketing rules that build on the requirements set out in the Australian Consumer Law,

• A small claims compensation regime,

• A price comparator service, to be developed and administered by the AER,

• A compliance and performance monitoring regime to enable transparent monitoring of the state of the energy retail market for customers, overseen by the AER and supported by a robust enforcement regime,

• A regime to protect customers in the event of retailer failure.

The MCE will consider the final legal instruments once outstanding issues and implementation arrangements have been resolved.

It is intended that the legislation will be introduced into the South Australian Parliament during the Spring 2010 sitting. Other state and territory governments will apply the NECF progressively to fit their circumstances between July 2011 and July 2013.