The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) today released a draft decision on the proposed charges and terms and conditions for advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) remote services in Victoria.
AMI remote services are metering services that were previously provided through a field officer visit, but can now be offered remotely to customers using AMI or smart meter technology. These services include remote special meter reads, remote meter reconfiguration, and remote re-energisation and de-energisations (remote connections and disconnections). These services are provided on a fee for service basis where requested by a customer who has a smart meter installed.
The AER’s draft decision sets out the AER's assessment of the statements of proposed charges and terms and conditions submitted by Powercor, CitiPower, JEN and United Energy. This assessment was carried out in accordance with the Essential Services Commission of Victoria’s (ESCV) ‘Electricity Industry Guideline 14: Provision of Services by Electricity Distributors’. The approved charges in this draft decision are similar to the current charges imposed by Victorian distribution network service providers for AMI remote services.
Invitation for submissions
Interested parties are invited to make written submissions to the AER on the draft decision by close of business Wednesday 14 November 2012. Once the AER has considered submissions it will then make a final decision on the proposed charges and terms and conditions.
Submissions can be sent electronically to AERInquiry
aer [dot] gov [dot] au (AERInquiry[at]aer[dot]gov[dot]au) or mailed to:
General Manager
Australian Energy Regulator
GPO Box 520
Melbourne Victoria 3001
Please direct enquiries about the AER’s draft decision, or about lodging submissions, to Mr John Skinner on (02) 9230 3855.
The AER prefers that all submissions be sent in an electronic format in Microsoft Word or other text readable document form and publicly available, to facilitate an informed, transparent and robust consultation process. Accordingly, submissions will be treated as public documents and posted on the AER's website, except and unless prior arrangements are made with the AER to treat the submission, or portions of it, as confidential. Parties wishing to submit confidential information are requested to:
- clearly identify the information that is the subject of the confidentiality claim; and
- provide a non-confidential version of the submission