The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) published a consultation paper on 3 October 2024 on a rule change request from the Honourable Lily D’Ambrosio MP, Victorian Minister for Energy and Resources, to include distribution network resilience in the National Electricity Rules (NER).
The rule change request also proposes that the AER develop and publish a network resilience guideline. We understand the proposal is to replace the existing AER guidance note with new AER guidelines, which would be binding on DNSPs. While we appreciate the need for certainty, we consider that a prescriptive binding guideline may not be appropriate in a new and still evolving area like network resilience.
The uncertainty associated with the treatment of network resilience under the NER was a key reason for the AER’s 2022 release of its initial guidance note on network resilience. Despite the AER approving a significant amount of resilience-related expenditure proposed in determinations, we considered there may be value in including network resilience as an explicit factor to consider when assessing expenditure proposals.
The AER made a submission on the consultation paper on 7 November 2024.