A draft report has been released by the Queensland Competition Authority on SunWater’s new five-year irrigation price path to commence 1 July next year.


This is the first review of SunWater’s irrigation pricing by Queensland’s independent economic regulator.


In the majority of bulk schemes the QCA’s draft recommendations imply that prices will not be increasing over and above inflation. In the eight channel schemes where costs have increased, QCA is recommending price increases above inflation at the historically accepted rate of $2 per ML per annum.


The Queensland Government directed the QCA in March 2010 to recommend prices for SunWater schemes servicing irrigators across Queensland.


In December 2010, the Government issued the QCA with an amended direction incorporating significant changes to the policy framework under which new prices were being developed.


The QCA was required to recommend irrigation prices based on prudent and efficient costs and to consider the requirement for SunWater to operate as a commercial entity.


The draft report includes the QCA’s recommendations on methodology such as the allocation of SunWater’s costs to irrigation customers and tariff structures, as well as the prices for each tariff grouping.


The QCA is seeking written submissions from all stakeholders by 23 December 2011 and will consider this feedback before completing its final report due for release on 30 April 2012.


More information can be found on the QCA website at www.qca.org.au