This report summarises and responds to stakeholder submissions to the issues paper released in May 2018. It highlights the lack of publicly available information to inform the review and lays the case for the AER to use its information gathering powers to request this information from the network service providers.

Wholesale electricity prices in Victoria and South Australia have risen since the closure of the Hazelwood power station, according to the Australian Energy Regulator (AER), with other states in the National Electricity Market (NEM) also affected.

The National Electricity Law (NEL) requires the AER to monitor the wholesale market and report on its performance at least every two years. We are required to identify and analyse whether: there is ‘effective competition’ within the relevant wholesale market, as defined in the NEL there are features of the market that may be detrimental...

The Network Exemption Guideline relates to a privately-owned embedded or exempt network. An exempt network is any network supplying electrical energy to a third party, but not a transmission or distribution network registered with AEMO.

This report found that short-term fuel issues and longer-term market challenges have combined to cause sustained high prices for wholesale electricity in New South Wales.