Energy Consumers Australia recommends that the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) reject Jemena’s Proposed 2025-30 Access Arrangement Plan.
Jemena – Australia’s largest gas distribution network – knows that its long-term business is at significant risk due to declining consumption of gas as households and businesses electrify. Unfortunately, their 2025-30 access arrangement plan demonstrates that Jemena is yet to address and meaningfully mitigate this risk in a way that meets long-term consumer interests.
Accordingly, our submission recommends that the AER reject Jemena’s 2025-30 Access Arrangement Plan, particularly by:
- Reducing metering replacement expenditure to a minimum;
- Requiring connecting customers to pay full connection costs;
- Rejecting the costs associated with connecting biomethane;
- Aligning abolishment costs to Victorian prices; and
- Disallowing Jemena’s request for accelerated depreciation.
We have also commissioned a separate, supporting report by Dynamic Analysis, to provide insight into the direction of network prices for Jemena’s gas customers in NSW. Read it here.