It said one of its key concerns is that it cannot understand how the Regulator calculated its figures. Despite numerous requests, Epic said the Regulator has still not provided Epic Energy with the mathematical models he used in his Final Decision to determine the total revenue the company is allowed to earn during the Access Arrangement period and the "average" tariff he refers to in the Final Decision.

"We are still trying to negotiate the release of the Regulator's Tariff and Total Revenue Models," said Epic in a press release published at midday. "Without this Epic Energy can not verify the results."

Epic said it had issues with a number of key assumptions made by Regulator, Ken Michael.

"We still do not understand how the Regulator calculated his Capital Base of $1.55 billion, the total revenue or the 'average' tariff.

"We also still do not understand how the Regulator derives a tariff for the current T1 service of a $1.08/GJ. He says that this corresponds to an 'average' tariff of $1.01/GJ as at 1 January 2003 for the service described in his Final Decision."

General Manager Commercial and Project Development Ian MacGillivray has ruled out a knee jerk reaction.

"We still have some way to go. The Regulator has given us a 6 week period to respond to his Final Decision. A critical first step in determining how to respond is understanding the tariffs. It will be 3 - 4 weeks before we can make an accurate assessment of how the Final Decision affects our Company's financial viability and future expansions."