| The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) releases 2025-26 Compliance and Enforcement Priorities |
N/A
|
National Electricity Market – electricity and gas
|
In 2025-26, the AER’s compliance and enforcement efforts will focus on:
- Improving outcomes for consumers experiencing vulnerability, including by ensuring access to hardship protections and affordable payment plans that reflect capacity to pay, and improving retailer hardship policies.
- Protecting consumers during the universal transition to smart meters by focusing on compliance with smart meter rollout requirements, resultant tariff changes and ongoing metering practices.
- Supporting power system security and an efficient wholesale electricity market by focusing on compliance with network outage obligations, generator performance standards and availability obligations.
- Promoting competition and ensuring safe and reliable network infrastructure by improving compliance with network connection and ring-fencing obligations.
|
Priorities for the 2025-26 Financial Year.
|
| Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) makes a more preferable draft retail rule |
National Energy Retail Law
|
National Electricity Market - retail
|
The draft determination seeks to increase the number of consumers accessing concessions they are eligible for. It would do this by requiring retailers to, at the point of sign-up:
- Inform consumers about the concessions and rebates specifically available in their jurisdiction.
- Ask consumers if they are eligible for any of those concessions and rebates.
The AEMC also recommends actions by other parties to address barriers consumers face when accessing concessions, including:
- The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) - to facilitate next steps on the AER’s Game Changer recommendation to remove the onus on customers to provide their concessions information, by developing a system that automates the application of concessions.
- State and Territory jurisdictions - to harmonise concessions application requirements and processes.
- The AER - to develop guidance and update guidelines to improve and increase information provision to consumers about concessions.
- Services Australia - to provide more detailed information to consumers when they receive concession cards.
- DCCEEW - to facilitate the establishment of a cross-agency forum with jurisdictions, Services Australia and retailers to address process and administrative barriers.
|
Feedback on the draft determination closes on 14 August 2025. |
| AER publishes final transmission pricing methodology guidelines for interconnector costs |
Electricity transmission network service providers Pricing Methodology Guidelines
|
National Electricity Market – electricity – transmission
|
The AER has published the final transmission pricing methodology guidelines and information templates following a rule change in October 2024 for 'Providing flexibility in the allocation of interconnector costs'. These amendments will assist electricity transmission networks to facilitate the allocation of interconnector costs, as specified in agreements between Ministers, through their pricing methodologies.
|
The final decision came into effect on 3 July 2025.
This will enable any agreements on allocating interconnector costs made between Ministers to be incorporated into electricity transmission prices from 1 July 2026.
|
| AER decides amendments are not required to the CBA and FBP guidelines following recent rule changes |
Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) guidelines and Forecasting Best Practice (FBP) guidelines |
National Electricity Market – electricity – transmission |
The AER has published a statement of reasons on why they have decided not to undertake a review of the CBA and FBP guidelines in response to recent AEMC final rules.
The AER did not consider that the final rules have resulted in any incompatibility with their guidelines, nor did they identify any changes that are necessary or desirable to include at this time.
|
Interested stakeholders may provide feedback, by emailing the AER.
|
| Electricity Infrastructure Investment Amendment (Revenue Determinations) Regulation 2025 |
Electricity Infrastructure Investment Regulation 2021 (NSW) |
NSW – electricity – transmission
|
The instrument amends the Electricity Infrastructure Investment Regulation 2021 (NSW), relating to the publication of revenue determinations and related information by the AER.
|
This regulation commenced on 4 July 2025.
|
| AEMC releases draft report on wholesale demand response mechanism (WDRM) |
TBC
|
National Electricity Market – electricity – wholesale
|
The AEMC has released a draft report recommending that the WDRM should continue operating in the national electricity market.
The WDRM allows large electricity users to be paid for reducing their consumption when the grid is under stress – for example, a factory temporarily switching off equipment during peak demand periods.
|
Submissions to the draft report close on 14 August 2025.
|
| Essential Services Commission is reviewing the Victorian energy rules to better protect life support customers |
TBC
|
Victoria – electricity – retail and customer
|
The proposed changes aim to improve the accuracy of life support registers. Accurate life support registers help emergency services focus their efforts on those needing critical help during major power outages. The review proposes:
- New definitions to distinguish between critical and assistive life-support equipment, helping direct support to those who need it most during emergencies.
- Improving the accuracy of energy businesses’ life-support registers by introducing four-yearly medical confirmation and mandatory deregistration.
- Improving how life-support customers are contacted during planned and unplanned electricity outages.
- A standard medical confirmation form for energy retailers and distributors, for consistent collection of life-support customers’ information.
|
The consultation will be open until 4 September 2025.
|
|
|
|
|
|
