The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission today issued its second Electricity Regulatory Report covering the financial and operational performance of transmission network service providers in the National Electricity Market.
The report details the performance of ElectraNet, Powerlink, SPI PowerNet, Transend, TransGrid and VENCorp for the 2003/04 reporting year.
"The networks provide information to the ACCC annually which the ACCC believes should be published for the public benefit as it will increase transparency about their performance", ACCC Commissioner, Mr Ed Willett, said. "The continuation of this reporting through this and future reports will aid this transparency by having a set of data available from which performance trends will be identifiable.
"This report focuses on the revenue and expenditure performance of the networks. For example, information is presented on their profitability and investment outcomes, comparing actual capital and operating and maintenance expenditure with the forecasts contained in the original revenue cap decisions. Ongoing reporting will assist the ACCC in identifying any areas of divergence between forecast and actual figures and determining the reasons for these differences".
It should be noted that the transmission revenues of EnergyAustralia were also regulated by the ACCC in 2003/04. However, as it did not provide consent to disclose its details, they were not included in the report. This is the second year of reporting where EnergyAustralia has not consented to disclosure. In the ACCC’s view, there are significant benefits in publishing this information, including:
- facilitating informed public input into future decisions by the ACCC
- allowing public scrutiny of performance against revenue caps, and
- greater transparency of the regulatory process.
The ACCC considers disclosure to be in the public interest and that EnergyAustralia's stance is unsatisfactory and cause for concern. Accordingly, it will pursue a rules change with the Australian Energy Market Commission in the near future.
In publishing the report, the ACCC took into account confidentiality considerations and comments from the transmission networks.