Australian Gas Networks regulatory framework review 2021-2026
- Project Released: 2 Jul 2019
- Project Closes: Apr 2020
- Contact: Tamsyn Hinksman
Overview
The Commission reviews the effectiveness of its regulatory framework for Australia Gas Networks every five years, prior to the commencement of a new revenue regulation period by the Australian Energy Regulator.
The next regulatory period is 1 July 2021 – 30 June 2026.
Status
Current status is Final
- Initiate
- Submissions
- Draft
- Submissions
- Final
Final
The Commission has made a Final Decision on the review of its regulatory framework for Australian Gas Networks (AGN).
The purpose of this review was to determine whether jurisdictional service reliability standards were required to ensure AGN provides gas distribution services at the quality and reliability levels valued by customers. The review also considered the effectiveness of each of the Commission’s AGN regulatory instruments, including: AGN’s Gas Distribution Licence, the Gas Metering Code, the Gas Distribution Code and the Gas Industry Guideline No. 1.
The Final Decision has three broad elements:
- The Commission will not set jurisdictional service reliability standards in the form of performance targets for AGN for the 2021 – 2026 regulatory period. This continues the current arrangement. The safety requirements prescribed by the Technical Regulator continue to deliver appropriate levels of network security and reliability, and customers are satisfied with AGN’s level of service.
- The current monitoring and reporting regime will be retained. The regime requires AGN to monitor and report quarterly on several metrics, against three performance indicators: responsiveness to the leaks and emergencies telephone number, responsiveness to public reports of gas leaks, and trends in unplanned interruptions. This reporting regime provides transparency over key areas of AGN’s service and reliability, and will establish a basis for future performance benchmarking if required.
- The Commission has made minor amendments to each of AGN’s regulatory instruments to improve clarity and alignment with the national framework. This will reduce duplication, enhance clarity, remove redundancy, and harmonise jurisdictional requirements with those of the national gas legislative framework. These amendments do not result in any material changes to AGN’s regulatory obligations.
The amendments to the Gas Distribution Code, Gas Metering Code and Gas Industry Guideline No. 1 will take effect from 1 July 2020. The variation to AGN’s gas distribution licence will come into effect prior to 1 July 2020.
The Commission thanks AGN, the Office of the Technical Regulator, the Energy and Water Ombudsman SA, the South Australian Federation of Residents and Rate-payers Association, and Red and Lumo Energy, for the constructive engagement and feedback provided during this review process.