The Biofuels Act requires IPART to:
- monitor the retail market (including prices) for petrol-ethanol blend, and
- make reports to the Minister on the effect of its price determinations for wholesale fuel ethanol.
IPART has been determining the wholesale price of ethanol since 2017. This price does not cap the wholesale price of ethanol, but is part of the exemptions framework for the ethanol mandate (which requires that at least 6% of the total volume of fuel sold in NSW is ethanol). If wholesale prices exceed IPART’s determined price, then the Minister may exempt fuel retailers from meeting the ethanol mandate.