China
China’s National Development and Reform Commission published a joint response with the National Energy Administration on 28 October, giving in-principle approval for the Southern Regional Electricity Market to enter formal operation. The response is dated 14 October; the National Energy Administration held a meeting in Guangzhou on 24 October confirming the transition from continuous settlement trials to formal operation. The market covers Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou and Hainan. Coal, hydro, nuclear, wind and solar generation compete and clear under common rules, with electricity traded across provincial boundaries and time periods.
The market began continuous settlement trials in June 2025. Xinhua, citing figures released at the meeting, reported that trading volume approached 900 billion kilowatt-hours from January to September 2026, representing more than 70 per cent of electricity sales across the China Southern Power Grid, while registered market participants exceeded 290,000. The joint response directs authorities to broaden the scope and volume of trading, refine mechanisms for variable renewable generation, move all users other than protected customers into direct market participation, and strengthen links with routine trading across grid operating areas.
The response also allocates operating and regulatory duties. China Southern Power Grid and the Southern Energy Regulatory Bureau are responsible for integrated market operation, trading rules, technical platforms, information disclosure, market monitoring, security checks and risk controls. The bureau must also work with other regional offices to supervise wholesale trading and with provincial authorities to regulate retail markets. Major issues must be reported to the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration.
Australia
The Australian Government announced on 27 October that the Triple Zero Custodian is testing whether people could contact Triple Zero directly by SMS when a voice call is not possible or practical. Accenture Australia has been engaged to test the concept in an environment designed to simulate real operating requirements. The test will not be open to the public and will not affect the live Triple Zero service. The government and the Custodian both state that voice calls remain the primary means of contact. Findings will inform whether direct SMS is feasible, the circumstances in which it could be used and how it could be introduced safely.
The test is proceeding alongside a review of the laws and regulations governing Triple Zero. An interim report released on the same day summarises feedback from an earlier public consultation and identifies eight themes for possible reform. The next phase involves further work with telecommunications companies, emergency service organisations, and state and territory governments. The government says about 85 per cent of Triple Zero calls now come from mobile devices, while much of the regulatory framework was designed for fixed-line services. The Custodian is due to provide final recommendations to the Communications Minister by March 2027.
United States
The United States Supreme Court on 27 October denied an emergency stay application in City of Baltimore, Maryland, et al. v. Texas, et al., docket number 26A500. The Court’s docket records that Justice Alito referred the application to the full Court, which denied it in a one-sentence order. No reasons were provided and no public dissent was recorded.
The applicants were the cities of Baltimore, Columbus and New Haven, together with the legal services organisation Centro Legal de la Raza. They sought to restore temporarily, while an appeal proceeds, the “administrative closure” mechanism in a 2024 regulation. That mechanism allowed immigration judges and the Board of Immigration Appeals to move some removal cases off active dockets while related visa petitions or other proceedings remained unresolved, without dismissing the cases. Texas and the federal Department of Justice had earlier agreed to a federal district court judgment vacating the regulation and barring similar rules without an express statutory basis.
The Supreme Court dealt only with the request for interim relief. It did not decide the legality of the regulation or the merits of the applicants’ effort to intervene. The immediate effect is that the district court judgment vacating the 2024 regulation remains in force while related proceedings continue in the Fifth Circuit.
Editorial framework: This briefing uses Sustenesis as an editorial framework for selecting facts, organising relationships and structuring information, with attention to differences and constraints in rules, responsibilities, resources, risks and social relations. Sustenesis functions here as a method of organisation rather than a position or commentary; the body remains limited to verifiable facts.
Sources
National Development and Reform Commission, “Reply approving the Southern Regional Electricity Market’s transition to formal operation (NDRC General Office Reform Letter [2026] No. 715)”
https://www.ndrc.gov.cn/xxgk/zcfb/tz/202610/t20261028_1408423.html
National Energy Administration, “Meeting held in Guangzhou on the Southern Regional Electricity Market’s transition to formal operation and high-quality development”
https://www.nea.gov.cn/20261024/5507e2777ede4b7e97ae56de1d275d46/c.html
Xinhua, “China’s first regional electricity market enters formal operation”
https://www3.xinhuanet.com/politics/20261024/bbb1526730cf422094ec174bc3c2abe1/c.html
Australian Government ministers for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts, “Next step on text to Triple Zero”
https://minister.infrastructure.gov.au/wells/media-release/next-step-text-triple-zero
Australian Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts, “Triple Zero Custodian”
https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/media-communications/phone/triple-zero-custodian
ABC, “Triple Zero text service put to test”
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/pm/triple-zero-text-service-put-to-test-/107316110
Supreme Court of the United States, “Docket for 26A500, City of Baltimore, Maryland, et al. v. Texas, et al.”
https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/26A500.html
Reuters, “US Supreme Court denies immigration judges the power to shelve deportation cases”
https://www.reuters.com/world/us-supreme-court-denies-immigration-judges-power-shelve-deportation-cases-2026-10-27/
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