The AER has remade its access arrangement decision for APA GasNet’s Victorian Transmission System. The decision has been remade in accordance with orders from the Australian Competition Tribunal (Tribunal).
The AER’s original decision was made on 29 April 2013. APA GasNet applied for review of the AER's decision to the Australian Competition Tribunal (Tribunal). APA GasNet sought review on aspects of the AER's decision.
On 18 September 2013, the Tribunal made its decision on the review. The Tribunal found the AER had not erred in its decisions on regulatory depreciation and the weighted average cost of capital. The Tribunal found the AER had erred in its decisions on the capital base adjustment and the “interval of delay”. The Tribunal found that the NGR did not allow the AER to make these adjustments. The Tribunal made orders remitting the matter to the AER to remake its decision to remove the relevant part of the capital base adjustment and interval of delay.
The AER’s remade decision will increase APA GasNet’s revenue for the 2013–17 access arrangement period by approximately $13.7 million. This accounts for the difference between the AER’s original approach and the Tribunal’s decision.
The AER’s original decision decreased APA GasNet’s tariffs from the previous period. Even after taking account of the remade decision, APA GasNet’s tariffs will still be lower over the next four years than they were during the 2008–12 period. The AER’s remade decision will result in average reference service transmission charges that are 7.6 per cent lower than average reference service charges per GJ for the 2008–12 access arrangement period. Over the entire access arrangement, a typical residential gas bill could be expected to decrease by up to $4.40 on average each year.