Energy (Infrastructure Facilitation) Regulation 2024

This section applies if Powerlink applies to the AER under a direction given under section 34(2) in relation to a regulatory control period (the primary period) for which Powerlink—

is, under a primary PTI allowance direction given under section 18(1), required to apply for an amendment of a revenue determination; or

is, under a primary PTI allowance direction, required to state forecast capital expenditure in an application to the AER under section 18(4)(c), 18(4)(d), 28(1)(a) or 29(1)(a).

The AER—

must either—

if subsection (1)(a) applies—adjust the value of Powerlink’s regulatory asset base by accepting the amounts applied for, and ensure the amounts are adjusted, under the post-tax revenue model for the regulatory control period during which the adjustment is made and, if necessary, under other economic regulatory models, to ensure the AER’s treatment of the amounts is, to the extent practicable, consistent with the AER’s treatment of other amounts of forecast capital expenditure for the revenue proposal for that period; or

otherwise—adjust the value of Powerlink’s regulatory asset base at the beginning of each regulatory year of the primary period, other than the first regulatory year, to include the forecast capital expenditure or part of that expenditure identified in the application to be included in Powerlink’s regulatory asset base for the regulatory year; and

must adjust the value of Powerlink’s regulatory asset base at the beginning of the first regulatory year in the regulatory control period immediately following the primary period (the secondary period) to include the lesser of the following amounts—

the total of the directed forecast capital expenditure mentioned in section 34(2)(a) or part of that expenditure for the priority investment stated in the application to be included in Powerlink’s regulatory asset base for the primary period;

the total of—

the total amount of actual capital expenditure for the priority transmission investment for any of the regulatory years as at the end of the primary period; and

the total of the amounts by which an adjustment was made under section 19(2)(a) or accepted and included under section 20(3)(a), 21(3)(a), 30(3)(a) or 31(3)(a) for any of the regulatory years in the primary period for which the actual capital expenditure is not known; and

must adjust the value of Powerlink’s regulatory asset base at the beginning of the first regulatory year in the regulatory control period immediately following the secondary period to include the lesser of the following amounts—

the total of the directed forecast capital expenditure mentioned in section 34(2)(a) or part of that expenditure for the priority investment stated in the application to be included in Powerlink’s regulatory asset base for the primary period;

the total of the amounts of actual capital expenditure for the priority transmission investment as at the end of the primary period; and

must not include in the value of Powerlink’s regulatory asset base any other amount in relation to the priority transmission investment that may otherwise be allowed to be included in the value of Powerlink’s regulatory asset base under the National Electricity Rules.

Each adjustment of the value of Powerlink’s regulatory asset base under subsection (2)(a)(i) or (ii) must have regard to the requirements of any regulatory information instrument for a regulatory control period applying to Powerlink.

Each adjustment of the value of Powerlink’s regulatory asset base for a regulatory year under subsection (2)(b) and (c)—

must be calculated under the roll forward model in the same way as the value of other assets used to provide prescribed transmission services are rolled forward for the regulatory year; and

must have regard to the requirements of any regulatory information instrument for a regulatory control period applying to Powerlink; and

must have regard to the value or values applied for under section 34(2)(c) in calculating depreciation of the value of the assets included in the regulatory asset base under the National Electricity Rules, clause 6A.6.3(a)(2)(i).