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

On 12 December 2025, the AER published the final revenue determination guideline for NSW non-contestable projects (Non-contestable Guideline) and accompanying explanatory statement. This Non-contestable Guideline is a revision to the version published in July 2024.

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 can be delivered. The changes allow the AER to make revenue determinations for network infrastructure projects that combine both contestable and non-contestable components. These are referred to as hybrid revenue determinations. 

The major change under the amended Non-contestable Guideline is the introduction of a new Chapter 7 that outlines how we intend to approach hybrid revenue determinations. We have also made minor and administrative amendments which incorporate changes to reflect up to date references to the regulatory framework. 

The accompanying explanatory statement sets out our response to the four stakeholder submissions we received, including how our consideration of these submissions led to further changes between the draft and final versions of the Non-contestable Guideline.