AER – Explanatory Statement to AER – draft Revenue determination guideline for NSW non-contestable projects – September 2025

On 2 September 2025, we published the draft amendments to the Revenue determination guideline for NSW non-contestable projects with an accompanying explanatory statement (draft Non-contestable Guideline).

In 2024 the NSW Government made changes to the Electricity Infrastructure Investment Regulation 2021 (NSW) (EII Regulation) to provide flexibility in the way NSW Roadmap infrastructure projects are able to be delivered. The changes allow the AER to make revenue determinations for network infrastructure projects that combine both contestable and non-contestable components. We refer to these as hybrid revenue determinations. 

The draft amendments to the Non-contestable Guideline reflect the changes to the EII Regulation. Our proposed change is to include a new chapter 7 in the Non-contestable Guideline that outlines how for hybrid revenue determinations we intend to approach:

• contestable and non-contestable components
• the application of certain incentive schemes
• adjustment mechanisms
• the making of a hybrid revenue determination
• modifying the steps of the non-contestable process to accommodate contestable competitive assessment processes. 

The draft amendments also include minor and administrative changes which incorporate changes to reflect up to date references to the regulatory framework.