The AER has today published its determination on AusNet Services' application to pass through costs incurred due to the January 2026 bushfires in the Longwood and Walwa regions of Victoria. The bushfires affected more than 240,000 hectares of land, close to 900 kilometres of power lines and approximately 10,000 customers, requiring a significant emergency response.
The AER has determined that the bushfires met the definition of a natural disaster pass through event, and that AusNet incurred materially higher costs as a result. The AER has approved a cost pass through amount of $4.6 million ($nominal, smoothed) to be recovered over the remaining four years of the 2026–31 regulatory control period. This is $11.5 million lower than the amount initially sought by AusNet Services, primarily due to adopting a different revenue modelling approach to account for incremental costs, and excluding $1.3 million in Guaranteed Service Level costs where a direct causal relationship with the bushfires was not established.
On average, the estimated bill impact of this cost pass through for AusNet customers is an increase of approximately $1 for residential customers and $2 for small business customers per year over the period from 2027–28 to 2030–31.
Background
Cost pass throughs allow network businesses to recover efficient costs, not accounted for in current revenue determinations, associated with certain specified events such as natural disaster events.
Under the National Electricity Rules, the AER is required to assess cost pass through applications from network businesses where such events result in a material change in the cost of providing services. In making our assessments, the AER has regard to relevant factors in the National Electricity Rules and seeks to ensure that consumers pay no more than necessary for safe and reliable energy.