The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has extended the assessment period for the draft decisions on the three Victorian gas transmission access arrangements.
The draft decisions, issued on 28 May, propose to approve the arrangements subject to certain amendments being made. Originally the final decisions were expected to be issued by 2 July 1998. In response to the level of public interest and debate on the issues arising from the decisions, the ACCC has now decided to hold public forums in early July.
This will include a forum, jointly chaired by the ACCC and the Office of the Regulator-General, which will focus on discussion of the weighted average cost of capital (WACC). Details of the conferences will be released in public notices to be published next week.
In addition, the Energy Projects Division of the Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance, on behalf of the service providers, has advised that it is unable to effect the required amendments, where necessary, within the proposed timetable.
Accordingly, the ACCC has decided, pursuant to section 2.22 of the Victorian Gas Access Code, to extend the period to issue the final decisions by two months, to 2 September 1998.