On 19 September 2019 the AER released its position paper on the default market offer (DMO) price for 2020–21 and sought stakeholders' views on possible methodologies for determining the DMO price and other issues relevant to our determination. These include:

• the overarching methodology approach for determining the DMO price for 2020–21
• proposals for forecasting changes costs for 2020–21
• the annual usage assumptions from which DMO prices are calculated, including the timing and pattern of the usage
• determining DMO prices for customers on time of use (TOU) and solar tariffs (which are not covered under the current Regulations). The Commonwealth Government has flagged its intention to amend the Regulations to apply to these tariffs for the 2020–21 determination.

We instructed ACIL Allen Consulting to support us in the design of a forecasting approach for wholesale and environmental costs. The report Default Market Offer: Estimating wholesale and environmental costs for 2020–21 by ACIL Allen Consulting was published alongside the position paper.

We invited written submissions on our position paper. Submissions closed on 18 October 2019.

As part of the consultation process for our DMO 2020–21 determination, we held a stakeholder forum to discuss the key issues raised by stakeholders in response to the position paper, in order to inform the development of our draft determination.

The forum was held on Tuesday 26 November 2019 in Sydney. Around 35 stakeholders attended.

There were presentations by the AER, our consultants ACIL Allen, Origin Energy and Energy Consumers Australia.