Guidelines, schemes, models and reviews

The Rate of Return Instrument specifies how the AER will determine the allowed rate of return on capital invested in regulated electricity and gas networks.

On 12 November 2024, the AER published a final determination on the 2024 cost threshold review for regulatory investment tests and annual price reports.

The intent of the annual updates is to provide stakeholders with information on rate of return data changes since the publication of the most recent Instrument.

The Rate of Return Instrument (the Instrument) sets out the approach by which we will estimate the rate of return, and comprises the return on debt and the return on equity, as well as the value of imputation credits. We publish a new Instrument every 4 years that will bind all regulatory determinations in the subsequent 4 years.

On 19 November 2021, the AER published a final determination on the 2021 cost threshold review for the Regulatory Investment Tests

This is the fifth topic in a series of working papers that we will produce as part of our pathway to the 2022 Rate of Return instrument. The outcomes from these working papers will feed in to the active phase of our 2022 Rate of Return instrument review.

The rate of return annual updates provide stakeholders with rate of return data, particularly time series market data showing changes since the 2018 Instrument.

On 20 November 2018 the AER published a final determination for Regulatory Investment Test cost thresholds.