On 15 March 2023 the AER released its draft determination on the Default market offer (DMO) price for 2023–24.

We have instructed ACIL Allen Consulting to support us in the design of a forecasting approach for wholesale and environmental costs. The report Default market offer: Wholesale energy and environmental costs estimates for DMO 5 draft determination by ACIL Allen Consulting was published alongside the draft determination on 15 March 2023.

On 15 March 2023 the AER released its model for calculating DMO prices for 2023–24.

As set out in the DMO 2023–24 draft determination the AER’s approach is to use a cost build-up approach to calculate the DMO price, taking into account forecast costs for wholesale electricity, network, environment and retail costs. The model calculates the expected changes in these costs for 2023–24 for each area and customer type.

The information contained in the model is set out in the DMO 2023–24 draft determination, and we are publishing the model to provide stakeholders with additional transparency on how we propose to calculate the DMO prices for 2023–24.

As part of its consultation process the AER held an online public forum on Friday, 31 March 2023, to discuss key issues for the DMO 2023–24 draft determination.

The public forum provided an opportunity for stakeholders to hear from AER staff on key points of our draft determination. Speakers from Energy Locals and Energy Consumers Australia also presented their views on key issues. The presentations can be viewed below.

We invited submissions on the draft determination. Submissions closed on 6 April 2023. In addition to those listed below, the Customer Consultative Group provided a verbal joint submission on 29 March 2023.