To support innovation, the NER allow for tariff trials (NER cl. 6.18.1C). Below is our guidance to distributors on how these trials could be approached.
AER - Distributors should explore tariff trials ( PDF 193.85 KB )
As of August 2021, the individual and cumulative thresholds for tariff trials have been increased to one and five per cent respectively. This increase is temporary and applies for the current and next regulatory periods. We encourage distributors to take advantage of these provisions to trial more innovative and cost reflective tariffs.
Any trials that distributors wish to run in the first year of the five-year regulatory period must be detailed in their TSS. For trials in the second to fifth years of the regulatory period, the AER has to be notified four months before the start of a regulatory year. The AER has created a notification template for distributors to submit potential tariff trials as part of their annual pricing proposals, available below:
AER - Tariff trial notification template ( DOCX 31.44 KB )
Current proposed tariff trials
The following distributors proposed new tariffs during the 2021-22 annual pricing process:
- Evoenergy
- Essential Energy
- SA Power Networks