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Phase 5 - 2020-25 Revised Regulatory Proposal submitted

We submitted our 2020-25 Revised Proposal for managing the South Australian electricity distribution network with the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) on 10 December 2019.

The Revised Proposal follows an extensive engagement program with customers and stakeholders over the past three years. The Proposal will deliver an average reduction of $62 for residential customers and $276 for small-to-medium sized businesses in 2020-21. In fact our distribution network charges in 2020/21 will become the lowest they have been for a decade.

Figure 1: Key outcomes for customers

Throughout conversations with customers and stakeholders there has been a growing recognition that equity for customers is not just a matter of price. Equity also means not passing on today’s costs to future generations and doing something for customers who get a substantially worse service than others in South Australia. Our stakeholders have also made it clear that it is not equitable for us to “kick the can down the road” by deferring expenditure on an ageing network today, in order to push additional costs onto future years and generations of customers.

As a result, our Revised Proposal includes some important targeted enhancements to reliability for some of our worst-performing feeders, as well as plans to reduce the risks posed by our ageing assets.

Figure 2: Customers' key priorities and our Revised Proposal

In response to the AER’s Draft Decision on our Original Proposal, lodged back in January 2019, we have provided additional evidence to support programs in areas such as replacement of ageing assets, investment in information technology and some much needed property improvements at various sites across the business.

You can read more about our Revised Proposal in our Overview .

We submitted our 2020-25 Revised Proposal for managing the South Australian electricity distribution network with the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) on 10 December 2019.

The Revised Proposal follows an extensive engagement program with customers and stakeholders over the past three years. The Proposal will deliver an average reduction of $62 for residential customers and $276 for small-to-medium sized businesses in 2020-21. In fact our distribution network charges in 2020/21 will become the lowest they have been for a decade.

Figure 1: Key outcomes for customers

Throughout conversations with customers and stakeholders there has been a growing recognition that equity for customers is not just a matter of price. Equity also means not passing on today’s costs to future generations and doing something for customers who get a substantially worse service than others in South Australia. Our stakeholders have also made it clear that it is not equitable for us to “kick the can down the road” by deferring expenditure on an ageing network today, in order to push additional costs onto future years and generations of customers.

As a result, our Revised Proposal includes some important targeted enhancements to reliability for some of our worst-performing feeders, as well as plans to reduce the risks posed by our ageing assets.

Figure 2: Customers' key priorities and our Revised Proposal

In response to the AER’s Draft Decision on our Original Proposal, lodged back in January 2019, we have provided additional evidence to support programs in areas such as replacement of ageing assets, investment in information technology and some much needed property improvements at various sites across the business.

You can read more about our Revised Proposal in our Overview .

Category Hardening the network   Show all

  • Hardening the network

    3 months ago
    Hardeningpic
    Extreme weather in 2016/17 resulted in significant network outages and loss of supply to customers for extended periods of time. Customers, particularly in regional areas, are often supplied via overhead bare-wire conductor making them more likely to be affected by storm activity. Customers located in heavily vegetated areas are also more likely to be affected by strong winds and storms.

    In our 2020-25 Revised Regulatory Proposal, we are proposing targeted programs to reduce power outages and improve reliability caused by severe weather events. One way of doing this is to finalise our ‘Hardening the Network’ program - which we developed...

    Extreme weather in 2016/17 resulted in significant network outages and loss of supply to customers for extended periods of time. Customers, particularly in regional areas, are often supplied via overhead bare-wire conductor making them more likely to be affected by storm activity. Customers located in heavily vegetated areas are also more likely to be affected by strong winds and storms.

    In our 2020-25 Revised Regulatory Proposal, we are proposing targeted programs to reduce power outages and improve reliability caused by severe weather events. One way of doing this is to finalise our ‘Hardening the Network’ program - which we developed in response to customer feedback. This program has been ongoing since 2015. Once (if) completed, this program will reduce the length of outages by two hours each year for around 50,000 customers in targeted regional areas across SA.

    In its Draft Decision, the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) did not support our proposed ‘hardening’ program. Following the AER’s Draft Decision, SA Power Networks consulted further with our Customer Consultative Panel (SAPN CCP) and key stakeholders, and received strong feedback from several stakeholders that the Hardening the Network program should be re-submitted to address the ongoing reliability concerns of pockets of customers (especially business customers), who are impacted by weather events.

    We'd like to hear from you - comment below to show your support of this program.
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  • Improving reliability for our worst-served customers - map your experience!

    3 months ago
    Tpreliability
    Our 178,000km network of poles and wires is one of the most reliable in Australia, but for 16,000 customers mainly on the edge of the grid, they go days without power each year! By making small, targeted improvements to our network we could keep the power on more often for these customers.

    In its Draft Decision, the AER did not allow our proposed program to significantly improve reliability in targeted regional areas – a program we developed in response to customer feedback. We are now re-submitting this program as part of our Revised Proposal, but we need your support to...
    Our 178,000km network of poles and wires is one of the most reliable in Australia, but for 16,000 customers mainly on the edge of the grid, they go days without power each year! By making small, targeted improvements to our network we could keep the power on more often for these customers.

    In its Draft Decision, the AER did not allow our proposed program to significantly improve reliability in targeted regional areas – a program we developed in response to customer feedback. We are now re-submitting this program as part of our Revised Proposal, but we need your support to encourage the AER to reconsider its position on these works.

    We recently brought Adnyamathanha elder, Terry Coulthard from the Iga Warta community in the northern Flinders Ranges, to speak to a group of stakeholders about why improved reliability is so important to him and others like him. Check out the short video then find your home or business on the interactive map, select a pin and rate your reliability experience.