Earlier this year the AER published a draft model developed with ACIL Allen to estimate the costs of Widespread and Long Duration Outages (WALDO) for consultation.
The draft model considered severe outages, including long periods without electricity that impact large regions. As part of the consultation, we sought views on a number of matters including the assumptions and settings present in estimating the additional costs of widespread outages and broader costs on society.
During the consultation we received feedback on the assumptions that underpinned estimated social costs and resulting limitations of the draft model. As a result of this feedback we have decided to discontinue the WALDO model and methodology, but are considering avenues for future work, such as AER led research partnerships with universities.
We have published our final conclusions setting out the reasons for our decision, consideration of issues raised, and possible next steps.