See also: Change Proposal, Change Issue Group, Raising a REC Issue or Change Proposal

A REC Issue is a problem that affects the rules or principles of the Retail Energy Code (REC). It can be related to the legal, regulatory, or policy aspects of the code. A REC Issue may become a Change Proposal in accordance with the Change Management Schedule.

Issue Progression

Once the Issue form is submitted, it will be reviewed by the Change team. The proposer will usually be told of a decision to accept or reject the Issue within five working days. If longer is needed, they will be advised of the timeline and the reasons for the extension.

When an Issue is accepted, it will be assigned a reference number (starting with an ‘I’), and an Issue page will be created to hold the relevant information. This page will be accessible through the Change Register on the REC Portal.

Once an Issue has been accepted, it may undergo an Assessment stage. During this stage, a Lead Analyst will be assigned to coordinate the Code Manager's initial assessment and identify any technical and/or assurance support required.

The Code Manager will define a problem statement, identify potential impacts on REC Products, Parties, Service Providers, stakeholders, and Consumers, and establish a set of solution requirements necessary for success. Additionally, the Code Manager will suggest a Proposal Plan with key activities and dates and determine which committee will be the Responsible Committee for the approval of the Issue.

If a proposal does not have a developed solution, it will go through the Definition stage of the process. This stage may include activities such as Solution Development, Impact Assessment, Legal Review, and workshops. Once the solution is sufficiently developed to progress to consultation, an Issue will be progressed as a Change Proposal without any further action required from the proposer.