17Requirements relating to making determinations

17 Requirements relating to making determinations

(1) Subject to subsection (4) of this section, before making a determination under section 16, the AER must: (a) publish a draft of the determination on the AER’s website; and (b) invite submissions about the draft determination, within a specified period (which must be at least 21 days after the draft is published); and (c) consider any submissions received within that period. (2) The AER must not make a determination under section 16 for a financial year: (a) before 1 July in the previous financial year; or (b) subject to subsection (4) of this section—earlier than 42 days after the day the AER publishes a draft of the determination under subsection (1); or (c) subject to subsections (4) and (5)—after the first business day after 25 May in the previous financial year. (3) A determination made under section 16 must not commence earlier than 30 days after the day the determination is registered. Exceptions (4) Subsection (1) and paragraphs (2)(b) and (c) do not apply to determining a model annual usage or a reference price (the new determination) for a financial year, in relation to supplying electricity in a distribution region to small customers of a type, if: (a) the AER has previously made such a determination (the previous determination) for the year in relation to the region and the type of small customer; and (b) the only effect of the new determination is to correct minor or technical errors in the previous determination. (5) Paragraph (2)(c) does not apply to determining a model annual usage or a reference price (the new determination) for a financial year, in relation to supplying electricity in a distribution region to small customers of a type, if: (a) the AER has previously made, or purportedly made, such a determination (the previous determination) for the year in relation to the region and the type of small customer; and (b) the previous determination was not validly made.