The AER has updated the key milestones and dates for the 2026 Rate of Return Instrument (RORI) review. The RORI specifies how the AER will determine the allowed rate of return on capital invested in regulated electricity and gas networks which commence their regulatory period during the four-year period following its release. We commenced the 2026 RORI review on 4 August 2025 with the release of an AER discussion paper.
Eligible Experts’ report
Before publishing a draft RORI, energy laws require the AER to seek concurrent expert opinions or evidence about the proposed RORI. To this end, we expect to publish a report in late-November that has been prepared by the 2026 RORI review’s appointed Eligible Experts, with a particular focus on the key issues raised in the AER’s discussion paper.
Eligible Experts’ report public forum
To assist stakeholders’ understanding of the Eligible Experts’ report, an online public forum has been added to the 2026 RORI review timeline. The public forum will be held between 930-11am (AEDT) on 4 December 2025. The Eligible Experts will provide an overview of the key findings of their report and respond to any pre-submitted stakeholder questions at the public forum. The AER will be observers. Stakeholders are invited to register their attendance for the public forum, and submit their written questions to the Eligible Experts to RateOfReturn
aer [dot] gov [dot] au (RateOfReturn[at]aer[dot]gov[dot]au) by no later than 5pm (AEDT) on 1 December 2025.
Extension to stakeholder submissions closing date
To enable stakeholders to make a consolidated submission on both the AER’s discussion paper and the Eligible Experts’ report, we have extended the submissions closing date until 5pm (AEDT) on 19 December 2025. Stakeholders’ submissions will inform the AER’s considerations for the draft 2026 RORI which we expect to publish in April 2026.