Dr. Phil Hemmingway:

I will answer the questions in the order they were asked. In terms of emissions mandate, in other words mandating on the basis of emissions, we outlined in our proposed decision a number of months back that we see challenges there. We are, however, deliberating on considerations for renewable energy, for example, because we have statutory obligations in terms of renewable energy. This is part of our ongoing deliberation between the proposed decision and the final decision.

In terms of peak demand and whether we could require data centres or other customers to perform this type of role, it is something we are actively considering. There are a number of products that system operators are bringing to the market to achieve similar things. We are also acutely conscious of the potential addition of large point loads and what they might do in terms of large demand being added to the system. The proposed decision we published in terms of data centres had a proposal for data centres to bring generation along with their demand. For example, if they brought 100 MW of demand they would bring an equivalent amount of generation, which would operate in the market as well.

On the last question on reporting on emissions, the answer is "yes". In the proposed decision we included a requirement for data centres to report on their emissions performance and their renewable energy performance, such as whether they are sourcing renewable energy.