2011-12 Final Report
On 9 February 2011, the Authority received a Direction Notice (PDF, 220KB) under Chapter 8 of the SEQ Water Market Rules (Market Rules) from the then Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy, and Minister for Trade (the Price Regulator) (now the Minister for Energy and Water Utilities) to investigate and recommend bulk water Grid Service Charges (GSCs) for 2011-12.
The GSCs are to be paid to the three Grid Service Providers (GSPs), Seqwater, WaterSecure and LinkWater, by the Water Grid Manager (WGM).
In investigating and recommending GSCs the Authority is required to take into account the Authority’s “Investigation Plan for SEQ Bulk Water Grid Services for 2011-12” (PDF, 260KB) and the Queensland Water Commission’s (QWC) “Manual for setting the 2011-12 Grid Service Charges” (PDF, 490KB).
To assist the GSPs to provide information to the Authority for the purposes of determining the GSCs for 2011-12, the Authority developed the SEQ Grid Service Charges 2011-12 Information Requirements.
The Authority has released its Final Report on SEQ Grid Service Charges for 2011-12.
The Authority’s final recommendations for the 2011-12 GSCs are included in the table below, compared to the approved 2010-11 GSCs.
| Grid Service Provider | | Approved 2010-11$m | | QCA Recommended 2011-12$m |
| Seqwater | | 370.0 | | 398.8 |
| WaterSecure | | 317.7 | | 306.5 |
| LinkWater | | 192.5 | | 205.7 |
| Total Grid Service Charges | | 880.2 | | 911.0 |
On the basis of the volume forecast provided by the South East Queensland Water Grid Manager (WGM), the total GSCs across all GSPs average $3,299/ML. This compares to an average of $2,642/ML in 2010-11. The 25% increase in $/ML costs is largely due to a decline in expected volume of 17% in 2011-12 in association with a cost base that is largely fixed. While the GSCs have increased on a per ML basis, the bulk water price payable by the Distributor/Retailers has not been affected.
The Price Regulator approved the Authority's recommended 2011-12 GSCs on 20 October 2011.
Reports / Papers
