55Designation of last resort providers of essential service

#### 55 Designation of last resort providers of essential service 55 Designation of last resort providers of essential service > > (1) The Minister may, by order published in the Gazette, designate a public water utility or licensee as a last resort provider to take the place of a provider of an essential service if the provider of the essential service is declared to have failed. > > > > Note. > > > > The declaration of a failure is made under section 56. > > > (2) IPART is to investigate and make a recommendation to the Minister as to the person to be designated as the last resort provider. > > > (3) The person recommended by IPART is to be— > > > > > (a) a public water utility in whose area of operations the essential infrastructure is located, or > > > > > (b) a licensee who has expressed interest and who satisfies the criteria prescribed by the regulations for appointment as a last resort provider, if any. > > > (4) Expressions of interest from licensees to be designated as a last resort provider are to be sought in the cases in which IPART determines it to be appropriate or if the Minister so directs in a particular case. > > > (5) If a recommendation is to be made following an application for a scheme approval, IPART need not commence the necessary investigation until works for the essential infrastructure have substantially commenced under the scheme approval. > > > (6) The Minister— > > > > > (a) must, unless the urgency of the circumstances precludes it, consider IPART’s recommendations, but is not bound to accept them, and > > > > > (b) may seek further advice from IPART on the designation of last resort providers. > > > (7) Without limiting the terms of a designation of a last resort provider, a public water utility may be designated as the last resort provider of all essential services provided within its area of operations if a provider of an essential service is declared to have failed. > > > (8) If the person to be designated as a last resort provider is not a person recommended by IPART following the seeking of expressions of interest from licensees, the Minister must, before designating the person, unless the urgency of the circumstances precludes it— > > > > > (a) give written notice of the proposed designation to— > > > > > > > (i) the provider of the essential service for which the last resort provider is to be designated, and > > > > > > > (ii) the person proposed to be designated as the last resort provider, and > > > > > > > (iii) the other providers, if any, or last resort provider of the essential service, and > > > > > (b) allow them at least 14 days within which to make submissions to the Minister about the proposed designation. > > > (9) If the person designated as a last resort provider is a licensee, IPART— > > > > > (a) must, as part of its review of the licensee’s licence under section 85(2), investigate and make a recommendation to the Minister regarding the continuation of that designation, and > > > > > (b) may investigate and make a recommendation to the Minister regarding the continuation of that designation after a statutory default by the licensee or a related corporation of the licensee. > > > (10) The regulations may provide for additional matters relating to the designation of last resort providers. > > **s 55:** Rep 2021 No 26, Sch 1\[19\]. Ins 2021 No 26, Sch 1\[20\].