Cost recovery applications
Origin Energy was appointed a Retailer of Last Resort (RoLR) for seven retailer failures between 24 May 2022 and 1 September 2022.
Under the National Energy Retail Law, Origin is claiming compensation for costs incurred for six of those events, through which it took on a combined 12,749 electricity customers as a designated RoLR.
Origin’s RoLR obligations under the law ensured the continued supply of energy to these affected customers.
Consultation paper
On 25 March 2024, we published a Consultation Paper which outlined the details of Origin’s application, the methodology they used, and the issues we need to consider in making a determination, including how any approved costs are passed through to consumers.
Two submissions were received. The consultation period ended on 26 April 2024.
Determination
The AER approved Origin Energy’s cost recovery applications for being the designated Retailer of Last Resort for six retailer failures between 24 May 2022 and 1 September 2022.
Under the National Energy Retail Law, Origin applied for $4,333,337.96 ($ nominal) in compensation for costs incurred for those events.
With the approval of these applications, Origin is now allowed to pass through this amount evenly across the customer bases in the electricity distribution areas of Endeavour Energy, Energex, Ergon Energy, Essential Energy and SA Power Networks.
The bill impact will be a one-off 94 cents ($ nominal) added to the average household electricity bill for all customers in these distribution areas in 2025-26.
The determination was published on 20 September 2024.