2015 Water and Sewerage Price Determination Investigation

​​Approved Price and Service Plan

The Regulator's Price Determination for the second regulatory period (1 July 2015 to 30 June 2018) required TasWater to revise its Price and Service Plan to ensure it was consistent with the Final Report and Price Determination.

The revised Price and Service Plan was resubmitted to the Regulator for review and approval on 29 May 2015.

The Regulator approved the revised Price and Service Plan on 18 June 2015. TasWater was required to publish its approved Price and Service Plan on its website.

The approved version of the Plan is available here:

  TasWater Price and Service Plan 2015-18   (2Mb)

  TasWater Price and Service Plan 2015-18 - Customer Contract 2015   (1Mb)

  TasWater Price and Service Plan 2015-18 - Customer Connection Policy   (699Kb)

  TasWater Price and Service Plan 2015-18 - Service Charges Policy   (458Kb)

  TasWater Price and Service Plan 2015-18 - Water Sub-Metering Policy   (937Kb)

  TasWater Price and Service Plan 2015-18 - Service Extension and Expansion Policy   (460Kb)

  TasWater Price and Service Plan 2015-18 - Service Introduction Charges Policy   (471Kb)

  TasWater Price and Service Plan 2015-18 - Developer Charges Pricing Policy   (563Kb)

  TasWater Price and Service Plan 2015-18 - Trade Waste Charges Pollicy   (587Kb)

  TasWater Price and Service Plan 2015-18 - Customer complaints, enquiries and disputes mangement   (655Kb)

  TasWater Price and Service Plan 2015-18 - Financial Hardship Policy   (601Kb)

  TasWater Price and Service Plan 2015-18 - Schedule of Fees and Charges   (336Kb)
  TasWater Price and Service Plan 2015-18 - Equivalent Tenement Rates   (380Kb)

  TasWater Price and Service Plan 2015-18 - Serviced Land Index Map (Water)   (44Mb)

  TasWater Price and Service Plan 2015-18 - Serviced Land (Water)   (207Mb)

  TasWater Price and Service Plan 2015-18 - Serviced Land Index Map (Sewer)   (64Mb)

  TasWater Price and Service Plan 2015-18 - Serviced Land (Sewer)   (103Mb)​

pdf

  TasWater Price and Service Plan 2015-18 - Example Service Replacement Contract   (471Kb) (provided for information only as the Regulator was not required to approve this contract as part of its approval of TasWater's Price and Service Plan)

 

Final Report and Price Determination

The Regulator completed its second Price Determination investigation on 30 April 2015.

On completing its investigation, the Regulator released its Price Determination and its Final Report:

  Cover Page, Table of Contents, Acronyms and Glossary 2015   (396Kb)

  Executive Summary   (55Kb)

  Summary of Regulators Decisions   (70Kb)

  Chapter 1 - Introduction   (83Kb)

  Chapter 2 - Approach to Second Price Determination Investigation   (65Kb)

  Chapter 3 - Regulatory Compliance Improvement   (49Kb)

  Chapter 4 - Estimating Revenue Requirements   (263Kb)

  Chapter 5 - Setting Prices and Revenue Transition Paths   (433Kb)

  Chapter 6 - Service Provision   (434Kb)

  Chapter 7 - Setting Customer Service Standards   (113Kb)

  Appendix 1 - Revenue Limits Data   (49Kb)

The Final Report and Price Determination were accompanied by a Media Release. Notice of the making of the Price Determination was also published in the regional Tasmanian newspapers and in the Tasmanian Government Gazette.

The decisions contained in the Final Report take into consideration comments received in response to the Draft Report. The Regulator's response to each of the issues outlined in the submissions can be found in its Statement of Reasons on 2015 Price Determination Investigation.

Draft Report and Draft Price Determination

On 9 January 2015, the Regulator released a Draft Report including the Draft Price Determination for the Tasmanian water and sewerage industry for the three-year regulatory period from 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2018. The Regulator also issued a media release in relation to its Draft Report and Draft Price Determination.

Copies of the individual components of the Draft Report together with the Draft Price Determination are available here:

  Cover Page, Table of Contents, Acronyms and Glossary 2015   (391Kb)

  Executive Summary   (29Kb)

  Summary of Regulators Decisions   (42Kb)

  Chapter 1 - Introduction   (112Kb)

  Chapter 2 - Approach to Second Price Determination Investigation   (35Kb)

  Chapter 3 - Regulatory Compliance Improvement   (28Kb)

  Chapter 4 - Estimating Revenue Requirements   (212Kb)

  Chapter 5 - Setting Prices and Revenue Transition Paths   (296Kb)

  Chapter 6 - Service Provision   (260Kb)

  Chapter 7 - Setting Customer Service Standards   (40Kb)

  Appendix 1 - Draft Price Determination   (241Kb)

  Appendix 2 - Revenue Limits Data   (22Kb)

The Draft Report and Draft Price Determination were based on the Regulator's assessment of TasWater's proposed Price and Service Plan for the second regulatory period.

Central to the Regulator's approach was to ensure that TasWater's annual regulated revenue allowances were based on efficient costs and asset values. To assist in this task, the Regulator engaged a third party consultant, Jacobs Group (Australia), to undertake an independent review of TasWater's proposed operating and maintenance expenditure and capital expenditure (including asset values). Jacobs' Final Report was submitted to the Regulator in December 2014.

Submissions on the Draft Report and Draft Price Determination closed on 27 February 2015.

The Regulator received the following submissions: 

  Peter Rooke Submission PSP2   (5Kb)

  Geoff Kennedy Submission PSP2   (179Kb)

  Southern Cross Care (Tas) Submission PSP2   (117Kb)

  Mark Loveridge Submission PSP2   (80Kb)

  John Mills Submission PSP2   (616Kb)

  Nicholas Grieve Submission PSP2   (64Kb)

  Damien Bardenhagen Submission PSP2   (519Kb)

  G Hurd Submission PSP2   (88Kb)

  Edgewater Hotel Submission PSP2   (182Kb)

  Jill Carington-Smith Submission 1 PSP2   (85Kb)

  Jill Carington-Smith Submission 2 PSP2   (87Kb)​

  Jill Carington-Smith Submission 3 PSP2   (144Kb)

  Jill Carington-Smith Submission 4 PSP2   (138Kb)

  Jill Carington-Smith Submission 5 PSP2   (136Kb)

  S Cooper Submission PSP2   (87Kb)

  K J Direen Submission PSP2   (86Kb)

  Oysters Tasmania Submission PSP2   (537Kb)

  TasCOSS Submission PSP2   (274Kb)

  Frank Kershaw Submission PSP2   (129Kb)

  D W Williams Submission PSP2   (88Kb)

  Anonymous Submission PSP2   (80Kb)

  B Powell Submission PSP2   (126Kb)

  Aged and Community Services Tasmania Submission PSP2   (335Kb)

  Caravanning Tasmania Submission PSP2   (604Kb)

  Nekon Pty Ltd Submission PSP2   (185Kb)

  Tasmanian Government Submission PSP2   (187Kb)

  TasWater Submission 1 PSP2   (1Mb)

  TasWater Submission Attachment Serviced Land Maps (Water) PSP2   (182Mb)

  TasWater Submission Attachment Serviced Land Maps (Sewer) PSP2   (114Mb)

  TasWater Submission 2 PSP2   (350Kb)

  Property Council of Australia Submission PSP2   (443Kb)

  Anglicare Submission PSP2   (677Kb)

  Redline Coaches Submission PSP2   (580Kb)

​To support stakeholders' participation in the public consultation process, the Regulator also developed a series of fact sheets in relation to topics that have arisen during the course of the price determination investigation. The fact sheets are available here: 

  Fact sheet - Uniform pricing PSP2   (123Kb)

  Fact sheet - Sub-metering PSP2   (118Kb)

  Fact sheet - Service charges on unconnected properties PSP2   (116Kb)

  Fact sheet - Service replacement PSP2   (125Kb)

  Fact sheet - Trade waste and Equivalent tenements PSP2   (118Kb)

  Fact sheet - Developer charges PSP2   (123Kb)

  Fact sheet - Price determination process PSP2   (120Kb)

  Fact sheet - Fixed variable charge split PSP2   (123Kb)


Proposed Price and Service Plan

As required under the Price and Service Plan Guideline for the second regulatory period, TasWater submitted its proposed Price and Service Plan on 29 August 2014.

However, TasWater did not provide copies of the required draft policies with respect to Service Extension and Expansion, Water Metering, Service Introduction Charges and Developer Charges.

Copies of the proposed Price and Service Plan are available here:

  TasWater Draft Price and Service Plan 2015-18   (3Mb)

  TasWater Draft Price and Service Plan 2015-18 - Customer Contract 2015   (493Kb)

  TasWater Draft Price and Service Plan 2015-18 -Description of Serviced Land   (14Mb)

  TasWater Draft Price and Service Plan 2015-18 -Customer Connection Policy   (198Kb)

  TasWater Draft Price and Service Plan 2015-18 - Service Charges Policy   (212Kb)

  TasWater Draft Price and Service Plan 2015-18 - Liquid Trade Waste   (1Mb)

  TasWater Draft Price and Service Plan 2015-18 - Other Customer Policies   (1Mb)

  TasWater Draft Price and Service Plan 2015-18 - Small Towns Water Supply Strategy   (716Kb)

  TasWater Draft Price and Service Plan 2015-18 - Schedule of Fees and Charges   (428Kb)

  TasWater Draft Price and Service Plan 2015-18 - Equivalent Tenement Methodology   (190Kb)

  TasWater Draft Price and Service Plan 2015-18 - Equivalent Tenement Rates   (301Kb)

  TasWater Draft Price and Service Plan 2015-18 - Data collection template   (995Kb)

On 3 October 2014, TasWater provided copies of the remaining draft policies, as approved by the TasWater Board at its meeting on 1 October 2014, which are available here:

  TasWater Draft Price and Service Plan 2015-18 -Service Extension Policy   (89Kb)

  TasWater Draft Price and Service Plan 2015-18 - Water Metering Policy   (154Kb)

  TasWater Draft Price and Service Plan 2015-18 - Service Introduction Charges Policy   (133Kb)

  TasWater Draft Price and Service Plan 2015-18 - Developer Charges Pricing Policy   (119Kb)

TasWater also submitted an updated version of its draft Complaints Management Policy (which the entity had previously provided under Attachment F of its Price and Service Plan). This was in response to the Regulator identifying that the Policy did not comply with various provisions of the Water and Sewerage Industry (Customer Service Standards) Regulations 2009 and the Customer Service Code. A copy of the revised Attachment F, enclosing the retitled Customer Complaints, Enquiries and Disputes Management Policy, is available here:

  TasWater Draft Price and Service Plan 2015-18 - Other Customer Policies   (41Kb)

On 19 November 2014, TasWater provided draft service land area information to accompany its 2015-18 proposed PSP. Each map is draft only and not for planning or decision making purposes. They are available below:

  TasWater Draft Price and Service Plan 2015-18 - Serviced Land Index Map (Water)   (46Mb)

  TasWater Draft Price and Service Plan 2015-18 - Serviced Land Water   (236Mb)

  TasWater Draft Price and Service Plan 2015-18 - Serviced Land Index Map (Sewer)   (102Mb)

  TasWater Draft Price and Service Plan 2015-18 - Serviced Land Sewer   (127Mb)​

Notice of intention to conduct a water and sewerage price determination investigation and make a price determination

On 3 May 2014 the Regulator notified stakeholders that it intended to conduct a water and sewerage price determination investigation and make a price determination.

Duration of the second regulatory period

On 5 June 2013 the Regulator declared that the duration of the second regulatory period would be three years from 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2018.

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