Competition Tribunal ruling on meter costs: AER erred in fact and in law, breached rules of natural justice

First 7 of 7 paragraphs shown The Competition Tribunal accepted the bulk of claims against the Australian Energy Regulator by two related Victorian electricity distributors; United Energy Distribution Pty Ltd and JEN with shared ownership, and the same self-owned meter contract.
What the Tribunal upheld: UED’s notice of appeal essentially asserted the AER erred in:
- holding that the management fee was outside scope, mischaracterising the activities to which the management fee relates;
- holding that clause 5D.6 of the AMI Order, in combination with Guideline 3, prevented the AER from including management fees and related party margins in the charges for 2010-2011; and
- rejecting the management fee on the basis that the costs claimed as the fee are not reasonably required for the provision of activities within scope (the real issue being whether the activities were reasonably required for the AIMRO).
- In the case of JEN, the notice of appeal raises substantially the same grounds as those raised by UED. JEN also contends that the AER breached rules of natural justice and did not observe the AMI Order’s procedures by rejecting JEN’s budget in its final determination, having accepted JEN’s budget in its draft.
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