AEMC Network Regulation Review: What Buyers Should Know

The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) commenced its Electricity Network Regulation Review on 25 June 2026. The review reopens the rules that decide what network businesses can charge you to move electricity across poles, wires, and substations. Those network charges make up roughly 40 to 50% of a commercial electricity bill, so the biggest cost driver most buyers never look at is now being re-examined in public.

The first stage, Package 1, is open for submissions until 23 July 2026, with a public forum in Sydney in August. If you buy energy across multiple sites, the network line on your bill is about to be re-litigated. This guide covers what the review changes, the dates that matter, and what to have on record before the outcome lands.

What Is the AEMC Electricity Network Regulation Review?

The AEMC is the rule-maker for Australia's National Electricity Market (NEM). Its Electricity Network Regulation Review, launched on 25 June 2026, examines how network businesses should be regulated as the grid shifts toward renewables, storage, and electrified transport. The Commission is running it in two packages and expects to publish a final report on 17 December 2026.

Package 1 looks at what services networks should provide and which of those should be opened to competition. Package 2, which follows, examines how efficiently networks deliver those services and how the costs and risks are shared between network businesses and the consumers who pay for them.

Why Do Network Charges Matter This Much?

Network charges, billed as Network Use of System (NUOS) charges, cover the physical infrastructure that delivers electricity to your site. On a typical commercial bill they account for 40 to 50% of the total, a larger share than the wholesale energy you actually consume. The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) approves these charges annually, so they are regulated rather than negotiable.

That regulated status is exactly why the review matters. You cannot haggle network charges down the way you tender wholesale supply, but the rules that set them, how services are classified, what networks are allowed to charge for, and where competition is permitted, decide the structure of what you pay for years. Change the rules and you change every network line on every bill in the NEM.

What Does Package 1 Cover?

Package 1 concentrates on the boundary between regulated network services and competitive markets. Four questions sit at its centre.

Service classification. The review reconsiders which services a network business should provide under regulation and which should sit outside the regulated boundary. Where that line falls determines what can appear as a regulated charge on your bill.

Ring-fencing. Ring-fencing rules keep a regulated network from using its monopoly position to compete unfairly in contestable markets. A rule change request from Nexa Advisory (ERC0437) to strengthen this framework is being considered alongside the review.

Contestable services. The Commission is examining where competition can safely replace regulation, and what safeguards are needed so that market power is not carried across from the regulated side into services you could otherwise buy competitively.

Networks and EV charging. A request from Energy Networks Australia (ERC0435) asks whether regulated distribution networks should be allowed to own and operate EV charging infrastructure. It is a live test of where the regulated boundary should sit as transport electrifies.

What Happens Next, and When?

The review runs to a public timetable. The dates worth marking:

23 July 2026: Package 1 consultation submissions close.
August 2026: first public forum, held in person in Sydney.
October 2026: second public forum.
17 December 2026: final report published.

Package 2, covering efficient service delivery and how costs and risks are shared between networks and consumers, follows on a later timetable. Between the milestones the AEMC runs working groups and bilateral meetings, so engagement is not limited to a single submission window.

What Should Commercial Energy Buyers Do Now?

You do not need to become a regulatory specialist to benefit from this review. You do need to know your own numbers well enough to act on the outcome. Four steps put you in that position.

Quantify your network-charge exposure. Break down what share of each site's bill is network charges, and which tariff class each connection sits on. Buyers who cannot see this at a portfolio level cannot tell whether a reform helps or hurts them.

Get your consumption data on record. Interval consumption data is the evidence base for any tariff decision or submission. Clean, validated data across every NMI is what lets you model the effect of a change rather than guess at it.

Decide whether to make a submission. Submissions close 23 July 2026. Large buyers, and the consultants who advise them, have a direct interest in how the regulated boundary is drawn. A short, data-backed submission carries more weight than a general objection later.

Model the reform scenarios. Once you know your exposure, you can test what different tariff structures would do to your total cost. That turns a distant regulatory process into a set of concrete numbers you can plan around.

How Utilified Turns Network Charges Into Decisions

Most buyers cannot answer a basic question quickly: how much of our energy cost is network charges, and where. The data lives in retailer PDFs, spreadsheets, and a separate portal for each site. Utilified brings every connection into one unified system, with network tariffs, loss factors, and AEMO data built in rather than bolted on.

That gives you network-charge visibility across the whole portfolio. You can see NUOS charges NMI by NMI, benchmark tariff classes across sites, and validate every charge against the contract and the applicable tariff. Ask Joule, our AI utility assistant, which sites carry the most network-charge exposure, and you get an answer backed by your own data. When the review changes the rules, you already hold the evidence base to respond.

See your network-charge exposure across every site before the rules change. Book a demo of the Utilified platform →

Frequently Asked Questions

When do submissions for the AEMC Network Regulation Review close?

Submissions on the Package 1 consultation paper close on 23 July 2026. A first public forum follows in Sydney in August 2026, and the AEMC expects to publish its final report on 17 December 2026. Package 2 runs on a later timetable.

How much of my electricity bill is network charges?

For most commercial and industrial sites in the NEM, network charges make up roughly 40 to 50% of the total electricity bill. The exact share depends on your distributor, tariff class, and load profile, which is why portfolio-level visibility matters.

What is ring-fencing in electricity networks?

Ring-fencing rules stop a regulated network business from using its monopoly position, and the revenue it earns from regulated charges, to compete unfairly in markets that are open to competition. Strengthening this framework is one of the questions in Package 1 of the review.

Will the review lower my network charges?

The review sets the rules for how network charges are structured and classified, not a specific price cut. Whether your charges fall depends on how the rules land and on your own consumption profile. The buyers best placed to benefit are those who can already see their network-charge exposure clearly and act on it.