Sunwater Limited - Part 6 exemption review consultation

Overview

The ACCC is reviewing Sunwater Limited’s (Sunwater) exemption from the requirements for the ACCC to determine or approve its infrastructure charges within the Queensland Murray-Darling Basin under Part 6 of the Water Charge Rules 2010.

About the consultation

In December 2021, the ACCC granted Sunwater an exemption from the operation of requirements of divisions 2, 3 and 4 under Part 6 of the water charge rules. That exemption was subject to review in 5 years' time. The ACCC is now reviewing Sunwater’s exemption.

The ACCC is seeking your views on Sunwater’s exemption.

Background on exemptions

The ACCC may only grant an exemption if it is satisfied that the application of those Part 6 requirements would not materially contribute to the achievement of the Basin water charging objectives and principles set out in Schedule 2 of the Water Act 2007.

In reviewing Sunwater’s exemption, the ACCC must consider:

• the total volume of water access rights in relation to which bulk water services are provided by the operator
• the total volume of water subject to water sharing arrangements in relation to which the operator provides infrastructure services
• the infrastructure services provided by the operator
• any preferences expressed by the operator’s customers to the ACCC
• any other views expressed by a State Agency to the ACCC
• whether the relevant law of a State is being transitioned so that the operator’s infrastructure charges will at a future date be determined or approved by a single State Agency in a way that is consistent with paragraph 29(2)(b) of the water charge rules
• the proportion of the infrastructure operator’s revenue to be recovered from infrastructure charges
• any other matters that the ACCC considers relevant.

The full Water Charge Rules 2010 and Water Act 2007 are available at the Federal Register of Legislation:

• Water Charge Rules 2010
• Water Act 2007

Confidentiality

Please note this consultation is being conducted publicly. Submissions will be treated as public documents and published unless a claim for confidentiality is made and accepted, or a submission is withdrawn.

Please mark any information that you believe to be of a confidential nature and provide reasons why this information should be treated confidentially. If the ACCC accepts your confidentiality claim, it will not publish or disclose the confidential information to third parties, other than advisors or consultants engaged directly by the ACCC, without first endeavouring to provide you with notice of its intention to do so, wherever possible, such as where it is compelled to do so by law.

If the ACCC rejects your confidentiality claim, you will be given the opportunity to withdraw your submission before it is published, or any information is disclosed.

The ACCC’s information policy includes information on the collection and disclosure of information.

How to make a submission

The ACCC prefers submissions to be provided online.

Submissions can be addressed to:

Director
Water Regulation
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
GPO Box 3131
CANBERRA ACT 2601