Alinta DQP Pty Ltd & Anor v Queensland Alumina Ltd

Alinta DQP Pty Ltd and another party (the applicants) sought judicial review of a decision by the Queensland Competition Authority (QCA) concerning the pricing of electricity supplied by Queensland Alumina Ltd (QAL) to its Gladstone facility. The applicants challenged the QCA's determination that QAL was not a "customer" for the purposes of the *Electricity Act 1994* (Qld) and therefore not entitled to seek a review of the electricity pricing. The matter was heard by the High Court of Australia.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether QAL, as a large industrial user of electricity that generated its own power but also purchased electricity from the grid, qualified as a "customer" under the *Electricity Act 1994* (Qld) for the purposes of seeking a review of electricity pricing. This involved an interpretation of the definition of "customer" within the Act and its application to QAL's unique electricity supply and generation arrangements.

The High Court held that QAL did not fall within the definition of a "customer" as contemplated by the *Electricity Act 1994* (Qld). The Court reasoned that the Act's framework for customer pricing reviews was predicated on a scenario where a party was purchasing electricity from a licensed distributor or retailer. QAL's arrangement, which involved self-generation and a limited purchase of supplementary power, did not align with this fundamental premise. The Court concluded that the QCA had correctly determined that QAL was not a customer entitled to seek a review of its electricity pricing under the relevant provisions of the Act.