is appointed for the purposes of expressing an opinion or conclusion on the audit requirements outlined in detail in paragraph 3; has experience in conducting financial, performance, operation or quality assurance audits and conducting data sampling in the electricity industry; possesses relevant knowledge and experience in the electricity industry, engineering, IT systems, asset management or customer service as relevant to the audit or review; understands the procedures and methodologies underlying the data and the AER’s relevant definitions for all information; and if necessary, is available to discuss issues relating to the audits with DNSP and the AER, including where an Audit Report or Review Report is critical of, or highlights deficiencies in, the audited Financial Information and/or Non-financial Information. The review of information referred to in paragraph 1.1(c) and those parts of 1.1(d) that relate to Non-financial Information may be conducted by a person who: does not satisfy all of the requirements in paragraph 2.1(a); is an assurance practitioner as defined in ASAE 3000 Assurance engagements other than audits or reviews of historical financial information; and satisfies the requirements of paragraphs 2.1(b) to (g). AUDIT AND REVIEW REQUIREMENTS Audits and reviews must be conducted in compliance with Australian Auditing and Assurance Standards, as developed by the Auditing and Assurance Standards Board. The audit of Actual Financial Information referred to in paragraph 1.1(a) and those parts of paragraph 1.1(d) that relate to Actual Financial Information must: comply with the Auditing Standard ASA 805 Special Considerations — Audits of Single Financial Statements and Specific Elements, Accounts or Items of a Financial Statement; and the Audit Report must include an opinion as to whether or not the Financial Information provided is presented fairly in accordance with the requirements of this Notice and DNSP’s Basis of Preparation. The review of the Estimated Financial Information referred to in paragraph 1.1(b) those parts of paragraph 1.1(d) that relate to Estimated Financial Information must: comply with the ASRE 2405 Review of Historical Financial Information Other than a Financial Report; and the Review Report must include a conclusion as to whether or not anything has come to the Auditor’s attention that causes it to believe that the estimated historical Financial Information is not, in all material respects, presented fairly in accordance with the requirements of this Notice and DNSP’s Basis of Preparation.
These documents are available on the AER’s website at or http://www.aer.gov.au/node/21843. We have considered the costs to DNSP of providing the information and consider they are outweighed by the social benefits. The explanatory statement for the final Expenditure Forecast Assessment Guideline (referred to above) contains detailed consideration of the costs and benefits. Furthermore, we had regard to the regulatory purposes in preparing and providing the draft of the Notice. Subsequently, the AER has considered written and oral representations made by NSPs in response to the draft Notice, including issues they raised regarding the contents of the Notice and the nature of the obligations to comply with it. In response to those representations, we have made significant amendments to the draft of the Notice. In particular, we have reduced the scope of the information that we require and we have modified some procedural requirements set out in the Notice. In making these changes we again had regard to the matters to be addressed by the service of the Notice and to the likely costs that may be incurred by an efficient network service provider in complying with the Notice. Therefore, the AER considers that the information required by this Notice is reasonably necessary for the AER to perform its functions under chapter 6 of the NER. APPENDIX E: PRINCIPLES AND REQUIREMENTS GENERAL In responding to this Notice DNSP must allocate costs for each Regulatory Year in accordance with the AER approved cost allocation method in effect for that Regulatory Year. In responding to this Notice DNSP must apply the classification of services for each Regulatory Year as per the AER’s final determination on the classification of services for that year. DNSP must provide all information required in the Regulatory Templates, subject to the following exceptions: Weather corrected maximum demand (see paragraphs 8.13(b) and 8.6(b)) Adjustments to demand data for embedded generation (see paragraphs 8.5(b) and 8.12(c)) Connection point ratings (see paragraph 8.11(b)) Detailed reasons for sustained interruptions to supply (see paragraph 18.5) Hazard tree clearance expenditure (see paragraph 12.11)