Watt’s up: Regulatory round-up – June 2025

• New resilience expenditure factors that Distribution Network Service Providers (DNSPs) and the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) must have regard to when proposing and assessing capital and operating expenditure for resilience;
• Formal Network Resilience Guidelines that the AER must develop, publish and maintain in accordance with a set of requirements. These guidelines may be new stand-alone guidelines or included as part of another guideline.
• New distribution annual planning and reporting requirements for resilience.

The new resilience expenditure factors are a driver or input, among others, into satisfying the expenditure objectives in the NER, including:

• Maintaining the reliability, safety, security and quality of supply of standard control services.
• Maintaining the reliability, security and safety of the distribution system through the supply of standard control services.

Transitional rules will require that:

• The AER develops and publishes guidelines by 1 December 2026.
• DNSPs must comply with the new annual planning and reporting requirements starting with their 2028 Distribution Annual Planning Reports.

• Amends the NEM access standards to apply them by plant type7

• Amends the access standards for generators, integrated resource systems and synchronous condensers.
• Amends the access standards for high voltage direct current links.
• Makes other consequential NER amendments.
• Includes transitional provisions to allow.
• Choosing a mix of old and new standards and to minimise disruption to ongoing connections.

There is also a second package of reforms under development which seeks to address the projected growth of large-scale electricity users, particularly data centres driven by AI development.

The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) invites stakeholder feedback on Package 2 by 19 June 2025.

The AER has published its proposed amendments to the Capital Expenditure Incentive Guidelines. These Guidelines outline their ex-ante and ex-post measures to incentivise efficient capital expenditure for networks.

The amendments aim to address:

• The AEMC's amending rule on managing integrated system plan (ISP) project uncertainty through targeted ex-post reviews
• Exclusions from the application of the Capital Expenditure Sharing Scheme (CESS) in certain circumstances
• Adjustments to the CESS to accommodate abandoned ISP projects.

Retailers that re-use plan names will now be required to add the following information below any better offer message alerting customers to a cheaper plan:

If this plan has the same name as your current plan, you are on an older version of the plan which has different rates. You can still save money by switching to a newer version.

• Broadens the matters the consumer trustee must consider when assessing a tender bid for a long-term energy service agreement for firming infrastructure or long-duration storage infrastructure to include the following-

• How the proposed infrastructure to be supported under the agreement will support the reliability of electricity supply in the NSW region.

• If the tender bid includes a claim that the construction of the infrastructure proposed to be supported under the agreement will avoid or defer costs of projected regulated investment in the network-the potential of the construction to avoid or defer the costs.

• Provides that if the Energy Corporation is appointed as the infrastructure planner for a renewable energy zone to which an access scheme applies, the Energy Corporation has, in addition to its other functions as the infrastructure planner for the renewable energy zone, the function of coordinating the construction of generation, storage and network infrastructure in the renewable energy zone.

• Significantly increased penalties for certain breaches of the Electricity Safety Act and Gas Safety Act;
  the power to immediately suspend the registration of an electrical contractor or licence of an electrical worker if public safety is at risk.
• The authority to issue prohibition notices and an expanded scope for issuing improvement notices for contraventions of the Electricity Safety Act.
• Expanded authorised officer powers, including entering a premises with a warrant if there is a safety risk or non-compliance; and the authority to request assistance when exercising powers, with penalties for refusal or obstruction.
• Streamlined regulatory processes, including when specified operators must submit bushfire mitigation plans, which is now at least every five years, instead of annually.

• Extending the Victorian Energy Upgrades program from 2030 to 2045.
• Providing expanded and new compliance and enforcement powers for the Essential Services Commission (ESC) to oversee the program, including:

• The issuing or improvement notices and prohibition notices.
• Making further provisions in relation to civil penalty requirements.

• Removal of certain certificate restrictions in relation to the surrender of Victorian energy efficiency certificates.
• Allowing activities to be prescribed for activities required to be undertaken by other laws or to be undertaken only in respect of vulnerable and low-income consumers.
• Enabling related bodies corporate to hold Victorian Energy Efficiency Target scheme registry accounts.

• Retailers would be required to move customers:
  receiving assistance under the Payment Difficulty Framework onto their cheapest plan.
• In arrears for at least three months and with arrears above $1,000 onto their cheapest plan.
• On contracts over four years old onto a reasonable price, considering their circumstances.

The Commission has proposed a range of other rule changes designed to help customers access affordable energy plans and stay connected, including:

• Requiring retailers to make it easier for customers to move to their cheapest plan.
• Prohibiting retailers from making a payment method like direct debit or a communication channel like e-billing a prerequisite for accessing a particular energy plan.
• Increasing the minimum debt a customer can be disconnected for from $300 to $500.