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.

Our Cost Benefit Analysis guidelines help AEMO with ISP planning, and proponents in completing RIT-Ts for actionable ISP projects. This is the current version.

These are the current application guidelines to assist project proponents in undertaking the Regulatory Investment Test for Transmission as per NER cl 5.16.2.

We publish and maintain application guidelines to assist project proponents in undertaking the Regulatory Investment Test for Distribution as per NER cl 5.17.2.

We maintain the Regulatory Investment Test for Transmission as per NER clause 5.15A.1(a).

We maintain the Regulatory Investment Test for Distribution as per NER clause 5.17.1(a).

On 21 November 2024, we completed a review of the Cost Benefit Analysis guidelines and Regulatory Investment Test application guidelines and instruments.

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.

On 6 October 2023, the AER published final amendments to the Cost Benefit Analysis guidelines and the Regulatory Investment Test (RIT) application guidelines.

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.

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.