On 1 July 2005 the AER assumed the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's (ACCC) responsibilities for the economic regulation of electricity and gas transmission networks.
The introductory explanation to chapter 6 of the National Electricity Code (the predecessor to the National Electricity Rules) envisaged that the ACCC would publish a statement of regulatory intent to establish guidelines explaining how the ACCC would perform its regulatory functions. The Statement of principles for the regulation of electricity transmission revenues (SRP), which was released in December 2004, is the final product of a process which began with the draft Statement of principles for the regulation of transmission revenues (DRP) in May 1999.
The ACCC specifically developed the SRP and DRP with reference to electricity network regulation and these principles have been applied in the ACCC's electricity transmission revenue cap decisions. While not specifically developed for the regulation of gas networks, the principles have also been applied in the ACCC's decisions in relation to gas network regulation, where it was appropriate to do so.