Queensland Consolidated Acts

ELECTRICITY ACT 1994 - SECT 90

(1) The Minister must, for each tariff year, decide (a price determination) the prices, or the methodology for fixing the prices, that a retail entity may charge its non-market customers for all or any of the following—

(a) customer retail services;

(b) charges or fees relating to customer retail services;

Examples—

charges or fees for late or dishonoured payments

credit card surcharges for payments for the services

(c) other goods and services prescribed under a regulation.

(2) The price determination must be in the form of a tariff schedule.

(3) To remove any doubt, the following is declared for a price determination—

(a) it may be made from time to time and not just once a year;

(b) a tariff from the tariff schedule for the previous tariff year may be added to, removed or changed;

(c) it may include network charges;

(d) it can not be made for distribution non-network charges.

(4) The prices, or prices fixed under the methodology, are, for a retail entity, called the notified prices.

(5) In making a price determination, the pricing entity—

(a) must have regard to all of the following—

(i) the actual costs of making, producing or supplying the goods or services;

(ii) the effect of the price determination on competition in the Queensland retail electricity market;

(iii) if QCA is the pricing entity—any matter the pricing entity is required by delegation to consider; and

(b) may have regard to any other matter the pricing entity considers relevant.

(6) The pricing entity may decide that the notified prices exclude one of the following—

(a) GST;

(b) the amount fixed by the pricing entity, or the amount worked out in a way fixed by the pricing entity, as the net effect on prices of GST and matters related to the imposition of GST (the net GST effect).

(7) In this section—

distribution non-network charges means charges of a distribution entity, approved by the jurisdictional regulator under the National Electricity (Queensland) Law, that—

(a) are referable to a specific customer or retail entity request; and

(b) do not include network charges.

Examples of distribution non-network charges—

a de-energisation or disconnection fee

a reconnection fee

a meter test fee

network charges means charges of a distribution entity for—

(a) distribution use of system charges for the use of a shared supply network of the distribution entity; and

(b) any transmission use of system charges payable by the distribution entity for the use of a transmission grid to which the supply network is connected.