Energy networks

David is a member of the Australian Energy Regulator’s Consumer Challenge Panel (CCP), where his role is to help ensure that decisions on electricity and gas network regulatory access arrangements and costs across Australia incorporate the interests of consumers.  In this role, David challenges the Australian network businesses regarding their consumer engagement activities, and ensures that their regulatory proposals are in consumers’ interests.  He also challenges the regulator on how its regulatory decision-making processes take into account consumers’ interests and produce positive outcomes for energy consumers.

Our recent work on energy networks has included:

• Submissions to the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) on a Confidentiality Guideline Issues Paper and a subsequent Draft Confidentiality Guideline and Explanatory Statement, in regard to how confidentiality claims in the information that is provided to the AER by energy distribution and transmission network businesses for regulatory determinations will be processed and handled by the AER.
• Advising the Consumer Action Law Centre and Consumer Utilities Advocacy Centre on a masterclass for consumer representatives on electricity distribution network pricing.
• Advising consumer organisations on the protection of customer service quality, reliability standards and liability in the development of the National Energy Customer Framework (NECF) for electricity and gas consumers across Australia.  Our advice related to the distribution aspects of the NECF, and was referenced and relied on by ten consumer advocacy organisations in their submissions to the Ministerial Council on Energy (MCE) consultation on the Second Exposure Draft of the NECF.