FAQ

The Alternative Electricity Services (AES) regulatory framework extends electricity-specific customer protections to new and emerging electricity services.

The framework can be used to regulate different types of electricity services, as prescribed by the State Government. When a service is regulated, providers will need to register with the Economic Regulation Authority and join the Energy and Water Ombudsman Western Australia, and comply with a code of practice, the AES Code.

Customers of registered providers will receive customer protections like those provided to customers of licensed electricity providers, such as Synergy and Horizon Power, and will be able to access the Energy and Water Ombudsman to help with disputes.

New and emerging electricity services are becoming increasingly complex and supplying increasing numbers of customers. Under the licensing and exemption framework, there is insufficient protection for customers of these providers and limited regulatory oversight. On this basis, the State Government decided that regulation is needed to protect both AES providers and customers.

Some of the problems that had been identified for customers of new and emerging electricity services are lack of information on bills, limited or no option for customers with complaints or disputes, and no protections for customers experiencing financial hardship or family violence.

The two services regulated under the framework are single property networks (SPN) and on-site power supply arrangements (OPSA). Providers of these services are required to be registered by 1 January 2027 and provide customer protections from this date.

The State Government may consider other services in the future.

The AES framework will take effect on 1 January 2027. On that date, AES providers will be required to be registered and provide customer protections.

AES providers are required to register through the AES registration portal, which is expected to be open from late-2026. AES providers will be able to register from this time. The period between late-2026 and 31 December 2026 is a voluntary registration period, and all providers must be registered by 1 January 2027 when the customer protections start.

A small customer is a customer consuming less than 160 MWh per year.

A large customer is a customer consuming more than 160 MWh per year.

Small customers are generally provided with more customer protections than large customers.

The AES Code [provide link] provides similar customer protections to those provided by licensed retailers. These include:

• Certain information must be given to you up-front about the service being provided.
• Your supply agreement must be in writing and include information on prices, fees, and charges and how they may be changed over time.
• Where supply is metered, you must have access to suitable meters and the ability to request a meter test.
• Important information, like the amount of electricity produced or consumed, must be regularly provided to you on bills (or via an app or online platform).
• Support, as outlined in the registration holder’s hardship policy, must be given for residential customers experiencing financial hardship.
• Support, as outlined in the registration holder’s family violence policy, must be given for residential customers experiencing family violence.
• Additional notifications of outages must be provided if you or someone in your household relies on life support equipment.

The Code provisions applicable to each type of AES will vary. For example, if you are in a SPN your provider is required to provide support if you are experiencing financial hardship or family violence. However, a OPSA provider does not have to provide support in this situation, as the OPSA customer is also the customer of a licensed retailer that provides this protection.

More information on the customer protections are here.

There is a subset of customer protections that apply to large customers. These include:

• Alternate supply

No. Electricity selling activities in the mining towns continue to be covered by the licensing exemption.

Single property networks (SPN) are generally located in apartment blocks, residential strata complexes, shopping centres, commercial offices, retirement villages, caravan and long stay park homes, and retail shops.

Customers in SPN are likely to get their electricity bills from an entity that is not a licensed retailer, such as Synergy or Horizon Power. You may, for example, get your electricity bill from a strata manager, strata management company or third-party SPN operator.

If your SPN is not on the register, and you think they should be, you may like to contact them on the details provided on your electricity bill. They should be able to help you identify them on the public register.

If, after discussing it with your SPN provider, you still cannot find your provider on the register, please contact the ERA at aes@erawa.com.au.

Most SPN are required to be registered. However, there are some exemptions from the requirement to be registered, which have been listed [here]. If you are in one of these situations and feel to have been unfairly treated, you may contact [EPWA/Customer Protection].

Within a SPN, some lot owners may rent their properties to residential or commercial tenants. In this scenario, there may be three transactions that take place:

• Transaction 1: between electricity retailer and registered SPN provider
• Transaction 2: between the SPN provider and lot owner
• Transaction 3: between lot owner and tenant

This is referred to as nested on-selling. In this scenario, the lot owner passes on only the electricity consumption charge to the tenant under the terms of a residential tenancy agreement. The Residential Tenancies Act 1987 provides that the lot owner is not permitted to pass on the fixed supply charge from the SPN to the tenant.

This customer relationship is currently outside the scope of the AES regulatory framework, as the lot owner does not hold the account for supply to the master meter and therefore cannot be considered an SPN AES provider. Energy Policy WA is working to identify the best means to ensure customer protection is extended to customers in nested on-selling situations.

Note that if the tenant has an electricity supply contract directly with the SPN AES provider, it is not nested on-selling, rather an AES provider and customer relationship. Nevertheless, if electricity is charged pursuant to a tenancy agreement subject to the Residential Tenancies Act 1987, the lot owner is still not permitted to pass on the fixed supply charge to its tenant.

The following arrangements are not considered a SPN AES and, therefore, not subject to regulations under the AES framework:

• Where electricity is incidental to goods or services sold to the customer and is not separately charged. For example, bundled as part of a room rate that doesn’t vary according to the customer’s electricity consumption, such as hotels or lot owners who charge a gross rent inclusive of electricity.
• Within short term accommodation (less than 3 months).
• Self-supply within a SPN. For example, the body corporate providing supply to itself or a related body corporate.
• Persons on-selling electricity in a SPN for the sole purpose of charging electric vehicles.
• Individuals who reside at the same property as their customer(s), provided there are no more than five customers/households on-supplied with electricity. For example, a share house or farm with multiple dwellings on a property.
• Individuals who on-sell to an occupier of another dwelling on the property, provided there is not more than one customer/household on-supplied with electricity. For example, a granny flat or dual key property.
• Lot owners on-selling through a lease at a stand-alone house or single-tenant commercial property. For example, where there is a master meter serving one tenant only.

An on-site power supply arrangement (OPSA) is where an electricity system, such as a solar photovoltaic system, is installed at a house or business without you paying anything upfront. The OPSA provider installs, owns, operates, and maintains the system. You buy the electricity generated by the system from the OPSA provider for an agreed price and period of time. You also maintain a connection to the grid for electricity supply when the on-site electricity system does not generate enough power.

You will receive two bills – one from your OPSA provider and another from a licensed retailer, such as Synergy.

If you own the OPS system and have contracted its operation to another person so the other person controls, uses or operates the OPS system for a specified period, that is also considered an OPSA. The person operating, controlling or using the OPS system will need to apply for an AES registration and provide you with customer protections.

You may have heard other names for this arrangement. For example, under the Electricity Industry (Solar Power Purchase Agreements) Exemption Order 2016 this type of arrangement was referred to as a Solar Power Purchase Agreement (SPPA). Another phrase that has been used is Behind-The-Meter Service.

The following are not OPSA:

1. Where you own the system outright.
2. Where you have a finance or capital lease arrangement provided by a bank or another person with an Australian Financial Services Licence or Australian Credit Licence where:
   1. The payments under such arrangement are not linked to the consumption or use of electricity from the OPS system; and
   2. The person providing the finance or capital lease, and its related entities, have no right or obligation to procure, install, operate or maintain the equipment.

If your OPSA provider is not on the register, and you think they should be, you may like to contact them on the details provided on your electricity bill. They should be able to help you identify them on the public register.

If, after discussing it with your OPSA provider, you still cannot find your provider on the register, please contact the ERA at aes@erawa.com.au.

We publish certain information about registration holders on our public register. You can search this information to check your AES provider is registered and find the contact details of your provider. 

The information published includes:

• Legal name and, if applicable, trading name.
• ABN
• Business street address.
• Contact details for customer queries and complaints.
• Category of AES being provided.
• For SPN AES, addresses of each SPN.
• Term of registration.
• Information about the grant, renew, transfer or surrender of a registration.

You can search by provider’s name, or you can look at the map to see if your address is registered [LINK to public register].

If you have a complaint about or dispute with an AES registration holder, contact the organisation directly in the first instance.

Each AES registration holder must develop and use a standard complaints and dispute resolution procedure. The internal complaints and dispute resolution procedure must include:

• How complaints and disputes may be lodged.
• How complaints and disputes will be handled, including
• The response time for handling complaints and disputes.
• How you will be notified of the outcome.

If you are unable to reach a resolution with your AES provider, you may contact the Western Australia's Energy and Water Ombudsman (Energy Ombudsman). 

Yes, if you are a small customer.

AES registration holders providing services to small customers must join the Western Australia’s Energy and Water Ombudsman (Energy Ombudsman) scheme. The Energy Ombudsman provides a simple, affordable, and practical dispute resolution process, which is a fundamental component of an effective customer protection regime.

That means you can access the services of the Energy Ombudsman to assist with disputes, if you have not been able to resolve the issue with your AES registration holder. Note, you must contact your AES registration holder first and give them an opportunity to resolve the issue before you contact the Energy Ombudsman.

The Energy Ombudsman deals with energy supply complaints (such as billing, disconnection or debt recovery). The Energy Ombudsman cannot investigate:

• General consumer complaints.
• Complaints about the price of energy.
• Complaints that are being, or should be, dealt with by a court or tribunal.

For further information about the Energy Ombudsman is here.

Your AES registration holder is required to report certain information to us each year. This information is about their performance in delivering the customer protections from, and any non-compliances with, the AES framework. This information gives us and the public a picture of the trends in the sector, and is used to monitor registration holders.

In addition, we are required to provide an annual report on the operation of the AES framework to the Minister for Energy, and the performance and non-compliance information we receive forms the basis of the annual report. We may also make recommendations to the Minister to improve the operation of the framework, if we have identified something that could be done differently.

Your provider will be required to report on specified performance indicators, such as the numbers of:

• Your provider will be required to report on specified performance indicators, such as the numbers of:
• Disconnections.
• Eligible customers who request an alternate provider for their electricity supply.
• Customers who reported being in financial hardship.
• Customers who requested electricity from a renewable energy source.

No individual names or identifying information on customers are provided.

The information and data from each AES registration holder is aggregated with the data provided by all other AES registration holders.

Using the aggregated data, we publish an annual report on the operation of the AES framework that highlights trends and promotes transparency in the sector.