We appreciate the opportunity to respond to the Australian Energy Regulator’s (AER) review of 2021-26 revenue proposals from Victorian electricity distributors.

The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) consults publicly on how it will approach working out how the costs networks incur when supplying electricity will be recovered from consumers.

Affordability continues to be energy consumers’ number one priority. Great care needs to be taken to ensuring that an over-emphasis on the reliability of electricity networks is not used to justify overinvestment and inappropriate price rises for consumers.

The cumulative experience over the past decade of repeated power bill shocks and the negative impacts on the cost of living of higher power prices have all contributed to low trust in decision-makers generally in the energy market, whether industry, government or regulators. Navigating the future of the energy market, requires engaging with consumers and responding to their views. This goes beyond simple engagement on specific decisions and proposals, to building trust through a new compact with the community to demonstrate how their values will be incorporated into the design of  a future energy market that delivers the outcomes they want.

The full submission can be read here.

Additional analysis has been conducted as an accompaniment to this submission and can be found with the related resources.