The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) has announced its 2024-25 Compliance and Enforcement Priorities.

The AER says the priorities will steer the organisation's enforcement and proactive compliance initiatives over the coming year, and are designed to highlight areas where the AER will closely monitor market participants' behaviour.

The AER conducts an annual review of its compliance and enforcement priorities. For 2024-25, the focus areas extend and update the priorities from 2023-24. The key areas of focus include:

  1. Customer Vulnerability: Efforts will be directed towards improving outcomes for customers experiencing vulnerability. This includes enhancing retailer hardship policies and ensuring better access to hardship and payment plan protections.

  2. Consumer Engagement: Simplifying consumers' understanding of their energy plans and market engagement by ensuring compliance with billing and pricing information obligations. This encompasses adherence to the Better Bills Guideline and timely tariff change notifications.

  3. Power System Security: Supporting the security of the power system and the efficiency of the wholesale electricity market. The focus here will be on generators' compliance with offers, dispatch instructions, bidding behaviour, and the provision of accurate and timely information to the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO).

  4. Performance Standards Compliance: Ensuring market participants adhere to performance standards and standards for critical infrastructure.

  5. Gas Market Transparency: Monitoring and enforcing compliance with the new Gas Market Transparency Measures' reporting requirements.

AER Chair Clare Savage has emphasised the importance of these priorities for protecting energy consumers and maintaining a stable and secure energy system. 

“With consumers facing ongoing cost-of-living challenges as well as the energy system continuing to transition, we received strong feedback from stakeholders that our current priorities remain relevant, and that there is an opportunity to advance work in these areas,” MS Savage says. 

“For these reasons, we have extended our 2023-24 Compliance and Enforcement Priorities for 12 months and updated them to address important fields including the efficacy of retailer hardship policies, price and tariff change notifications, and network compliance with performance standards.”

The AER says it will continue to monitor all aspects of the energy market, focusing particularly on these priority areas. 

The organisation is committed to proactively improving compliance and addressing any harm by taking enforcement action where necessary.

In July, the AER will release its 2023-24 Compliance and Enforcement Annual Report, which will detail the work undertaken in these priority areas over the past 12 months.