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Category: Electricity Energy and Utilities

Energy companies thrown lifeline in battle against NSW regulator

Friday, 26 Feb 2016 09:27:28 | Sarah Gerathy

  (ABC News)

Energy companies have been thrown a lifeline in their battle against an Australian Energy Regulator (AER) ruling that would force them to slash household energy bills.

The AER ruling reduced the amount the three state-owned network businesses, Ausgrid, Endeavour Energy and Essential Energy (Networks NSW) can recover from consumers.

But the Australian Competition Tribunal has today found there were errors in the way the AER arrived at its ruling.

It has handed the matter back to the Australian Energy Regulator, saying it now needs to remake the ruling.

The determination could ultimately affect how much money the Government is able to raise from the long-term lease of Ausgrid, which is expected to be finalised later this year.

"While the tribunal determined that it is in the long-term interests of consumers of electricity and gas to set aside the AER's decisions and have the AER make them again, the impact on the suppliers' revenues, and hence the prices they may charge, will not be known until the AER remakes its decisions," the tribunal's judgment reads.

"The tribunal found in favour of the regulated suppliers on some issues and in favour of the AER on others."

It said the most significant finding was that the AER must use a broader range of modelling and benchmarking against Australian businesses when it considers the suppliers' operating expenses.

"That the tribunal found for the applicants on some issues is not to cast an adverse reflection on the AER," the judgment reads.

AustraliaPlus


 

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