The AER is reviewing the Network Exemptions Guideline and the Retail Exempt Selling Guideline to make targeted updates to:
- reflect new energy rules relating to secondary settlement points and flexible metering flexible trading reforms and ensure our exemptions guidance remains clear and consistent.
- reduce unnecessary regulatory burden for commercial embedded network retrofits while maintaining appropriate consumer protections for embedded network customers.
Key areas we are seeking stakeholder feedback on include our proposals to:
- Amend the guidelines to clarify how the new flexible trading framework interacts with the AER’s exemption frameworks
- Remove the requirement for exempt sellers to obtain an individual exemption if they plan to on-sell energy to a retrofitted commercial embedded network
- Remove the requirement for prospective exempt network service providers to obtain AER approval to register a network exemption if they plan to operate or control a retrofitted commercial embedded network.
Our review is limited to the confined scope proposed in our consultation paper and does not propose to revisit the policy intent of the flexible trading rule change or the broader objectives of the exemptions framework.
We have provided a number of consultation questions to assist stakeholders in their submissions to the consultation paper. Interested parties are invited to make submissions on the proposals in this consultation paper by close of business on Monday, 15 June 2026. Submissions should be emailed to: AERexemptions
aer [dot] gov [dot] au (AERexemptions[at]aer[dot]gov[dot]au)