The Retailer Reliability Obligation (RRO) is designed to support reliability in the National Electricity Market (NEM). The RRO is supported by a suite of AER guidelines, which provide detail on how the various stages of the RRO operate and impose obligations on entities involved in the RRO.
In addition to the AER’s specific roles in the administration of the RRO, the AER must monitor, investigate and enforce compliance with the RRO provisions.
Interim Contracts and Firmness Guideline
As set out in transitional Rule 11.116.6 of the National Electricity Rules, the AER must create interim Contracts and Firmness Guidelines. The Guidelines set out the AER’s approach to qualifying contracts, contract firmness methodology, the treatment of non-qualifying contracts, the approval process for non-standard qualifying contracts, the establishment and maintenance of an Auditors Panel, the submission of Net Contract Position (NCP) reports and certain information requirements of liable entities.
On 30 August 2019 we published the Interim Contracts and Firmness Guideline, Auditor panel handbook and final determination document. We published an updated Auditor panel handbook in April 2021 to clarify arrangements for future applications to join the Panel, and for our monitoring and oversight of the Panel more generally.
NCP report templates
Under the RRO, liable entities must submit an NCP report to the AER by the reporting day for each forecast reliability gap period. The NCP report demonstrates a liable entity’s NCP for the forecast reliability gap period, as it was on the contract position day. Section 9 of the Guidelines outlines the information and documents liable entities must include in the NCP report.
On 9 June 2023, the AER published the written report template and NCP excel report template which liable entities are required to complete and submit as part of their NCP report. These templates reflect the content of appendices A-E of the interim Contracts and Firmness Guidelines.
While they must contain the information set out in the interim Contracts and Firmness Guidelines, there are no specific templates for the other documents that liable entities must submit as part of the NCP report. These reports are:
- an Independent Auditors report/s (if any bespoke firmness methodologies have been applied to calculate firmness factors for non-standard qualifying contracts); and
- a document outlining any adjustments made for non-qualifying contracts that increase exposure to spot price volatility (if any adjustments have been made for non-qualifying contracts).
Prior to the reporting day for a forecast reliability gap period, the AER will contact relevant liable entities to provide them with directions on how to submit their NCP report, utilising a secure file sharing platform.
We invite liable entities to provide questions or feedback on the templates or other RRO matters electronically to RRO
aer [dot] gov [dot] au (RRO[at]aer[dot]gov[dot]au).
Auditor panel expression of interest
The AER is required to establish and maintain a panel of auditors. The AER is currently accepting applications from suitably qualified persons to join the independent auditors panel.
Information on how to apply is contained in the Auditors panel handbook. Applications and any queries about the application process should be emailed to RROaer [dot] gov [dot] au (RRO[at]aer[dot]gov[dot]au).