The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) has today released its Social Licence for Electricity Transmission directions paper.
This paper sets out the AER’s current approach to social licence issues in our regulatory remit for transmission businesses including in the context of transmission planning and cost recovery.
Accordingly, the AER is seeking stakeholder input on the following:
What expectations should be held of transmission businesses in undertaking community engagement
What outcomes need to be achieved from engagement
When and how social licence issues can be factored into regulatory tests for the approval of and recovery of cost for new transmission development
What evidence is needed to justify transmission network expansion and associated expenditure.
Feedback from stakeholders will be used to refine the AER’s approach and develop more detailed guidance for industry during 2024.
Invitation for submissions
Interested parties are invited to make a submission on the directions paper by close of business Friday 1 December 2023. We prefer that all submissions are in Microsoft Word or another readable document format. Submissions should be emailed to aerinquiry
aer [dot] gov [dot] au (aerinquiry[at]aer[dot]gov[dot]au), or alternatively can be posted to Australian Energy Regulator, GPO Box 3131, Canberra, ACT, 2601.
We will also accept verbal submissions on the directions paper. We request that stakeholders who wish to do so contact us at aerinquiryaer [dot] gov [dot] au (aerinquiry[at]aer[dot]gov[dot]au) to discuss in the first instance.
We prefer that all submissions be publicly available to facilitate an informed and transparent consultative process. Submissions will be treated as public documents unless otherwise requested. Parties wishing to submit confidential information should:
clearly identify the information that is the subject of the confidentiality claim
provide a non-confidential version of the submission in a form suitable for publication.
All non-confidential submissions will be placed on our website. For further information regarding our use and disclosure of information provided to us, see the ACCC/AER Information Policy.
Background
The reliable and efficient transmission of electricity is critical for Australia's energy sector, with the Australian Energy Market Operator’s Integrated System Plan requiring that 10,000km of transmission lines be built to achieve net-zero. To satisfy the growing energy needs of Australian consumers and support the transition to a cleaner and more resilient energy grid, the construction of transmission networks is essential.