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 State Government announced two services for regulation under the framework. These 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.

Other services may be considered in the future.

The electricity licensing framework is for generally large entities generating, transmitting, distributing and/or selling electricity in Western Australia. The licence places obligations and conditions on the licence holder to ensure a safe and reliable supply of power. Obligations include minimum requirements for customer contacts, network reliability, customer protection and the types of meters that must be used for measuring the sale and supply of electricity.

A licence exemption may be granted where it is not contrary to the public interest for a person to be exempt from the requirement to hold a licence. A licence exemption is generally granted to entities conducting operations that could fall into a licence category, but where the cost of holding a licence outweighs the benefits of having a licence. A common example of this is self-supply, such as on a remote cattle station or in an isolated mining town. In both examples, the entity has its own power system with no external customers or connection to a third-party transmission line.

The AES registration framework is designed to be lighter handed than the licensing framework to keep regulatory costs low for generally smaller entities, while ensuring customers have a minimal level of customer protections. It is more flexible than the licensing framework to allow application to new and emerging business models as the need arises and be able to apply only those obligations relevant for a particular category of AES. Rather than a one-size-fits-all, it has more flexibility in the range of disciplinary actions for non-compliance.

Table 1 below provides a summary of the main differences between a licence and an AES registration.

Table 1: Characteristics of licensing and AES frameworks

The AES framework is proposed to take effect on 1 January 2027. On that date, AES providers specified in the Electricity Industry (Alternative Electricity Services) Regulations 2025 will be required to be registered.

The registration portal is expected to be open from late-2026 and 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, if you register prior to 1 January 2027, you will not be required to pay annual fees or submit performance reports and non-compliance information during this time.

It is free to register as an AES provider.

Registration holders are required to pay annual fees, as prescribed in the Electricity Industry (Alternative Electricity Services) Regulations 2025. The total amount recovered through these fees recoups the cost for the ERA to undertake its administrative, monitoring and enforcement functions under the AES framework.

The annual charge is calculated by a formula:

xx

Provide some examples...

The annual charge is calculated and billed quarterly. That means if your annual charge is $310, you will get four bills of approximately $75 every three months. The actual amount will vary each quarter, depending on the cost to the ERA of AES activities in the previous quarter. For example, the first quarter bill may be $76, the second quarter $84, the third quarter $78 and the fourth quarter $72.

The State Government has paid for the establishment costs of the scheme, and these will not be passed onto industry. These costs include the capital costs of the registration system, preparatory work on guidelines and education materials, and the first six-months of operation.

Once registered, AES providers are required to:

• Provide customer protections to their customers (outlined in the AES Code).
• Join the Energy and Water Ombudsman scheme.
• Pay annual fees to cover the ERA’s cost of administering and enforcing the scheme.
• Provide customer numbers, performance reporting and non-compliance information to the ERA when requested (usually once per year).

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

• Mandatory up-front information must be given to customers about the service being provided.
• Supply agreements must be in writing and include information such as prices, fees, and charges and how they may be changed over time.
• Customers 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 consumers on bills (or via an app or online platform).
• Support to residential customers experiencing financial hardship or family violence.
• Protections for residential customers who rely on life support equipment.

The Code provisions applicable to each type of AES will vary. Code provisions relevant to an on-site power supply will be different to those relevant to a single property network service. Electricity Industry (AES Prescribed Services) Regulations, which prescribe the AES providers required to register under the AES framework, also specify the Code provisions relevant to that service.

Membership of Western Australia's Energy and Water Ombudsman scheme is compulsory for all AES providers, unless you are ONLY providing services to large customers.

The Energy Ombudsman provides a simple, affordable, and practical dispute resolution process, which is a fundamental component of an effective customer protection regime. The Energy Ombudsman provides an energy-specific and independent dispute resolution at no cost to the customers.

For further information about the Energy Ombudsman, including how to become a member of the scheme, is here.

A single property network (SPN) is a private electricity network servicing multiple lots or tenancies within one property. It is connected to the electricity grid through a ‘master meter’, which measures the electricity supplied to the single property network at that connection point. Single property networks can be used to supply electricity to residential, commercial, or industrial end-use customers (or a mix).

The operator of the single property network, referred to as the single property network seller or SPN, buys electricity from a licensed retailer. The SPN operator then on-sells that electricity to individual customers on the property.

The consumption of each lot or tenancy is usually measured via its own sub-meter (noting that there is not always a sub-meter for each lot). Figure X below illustrates the supply of electricity within a single property network.

Examples of single property networks are apartment buildings, strata developments, residential retirement villages, shopping centres, industrial parks and commercial property developments.

Single property networks are also referred to as embedded networks.

DIAGRAM

A nested network means any part of a private network metered separately from the other parts of the private network and used to supply electricity, whether directly or indirectly, to more than one premises for the purposes of consumption. A nested network is an SPN.

DIAGRAM

Single property networks are located in shopping centres, commercial offices, retirement villages, caravan and long stay park homes, residential strata complexes and retail shops. If you are operating or managing one of these networks and bill customers within the network for their use of electricity, you are likely to be the SPN provider.

Where it is not clear who is the liable entity, the SPN is the entity with the most control over prices charged to end-use customers (within regulatory limits) and holding the contract for purchasing electricity at the master meter (also having control over cost inputs), thereby carrying out the function of on-selling or retailing electricity to the end-use customer.

An SPN could be:

• The property owner ('landlord-managed model').
• The strata company, or a strata manager as an agent of the strata company ('self-managed strata model').
• A third party that owns/manages infrastructure such as meters, solar PV panels, EV chargers and/or hot water systems ('professional services model' – this model is commonly found in strata complexes).

Your arrangement could be a mix of these examples, such as where a third party manages operation of the SPN, including energy procurement, while the property owner (or a property manager on their behalf) retains the on-selling relationship with occupants of the property (‘hybrid model’). In this situation, the two entities (third party and property owner) must agree to nominate one entity to register as the SPN. Each party needs to ensure they have appropriate contracts in place with the other party that enable it to fulfill its obligations. The nominated entity is the entity that must apply for the AES registration.

There must be a registered entity for every SPN in Western Australia.

A person may be exempt from the requirement to register if another person already holds a registration for the SPN. For example, a strata company or property owner will be exempt from the requirement to register if another person is the account holder and holds the registration for the SPN.

The exemption only applies to those providing the SPN AES and not other categories of AES. This is to avoid unintended consequences where there are separate providers of other types of AES within or on the same property as the embedded network, for example OPS AES.

Each property is required to be registered to ensure customers in a SPN can search the public register to find their registered provider. The portal will allow you to enter multiple SPN addresses.

It also ensures that the ERA has a record of all SPN and the number of customers in each. The ERA uses this information to understand the size of the sector and when assessing performance indicators provided by all registered parties.

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.

While a microgrid does not have one defined meaning, in the context of Western Australia's regulatory framework, it refers to a local-level (eg suburb) private network that supplies electricity to individual customers, each on a green-titled property. By contrast, a single property network (SPN) is a private network that supplies electricity to sub-metered customers within a single property boundary.

The supply of electricity in a private network to green titled premises (microgrid) is not considered a single property network (SPN) and is not required to apply for an AES registration. In most situations, the operator of a microgrid is required to apply to the ERA for licenses to distribute and sell electricity.

Historically, the on-supply of electricity within a single property network was authorised by clause 4 of the Electricity Industry Exemption Order 2005.

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

The State Government has listed the following arrangements that are not considered a SPN AES and, therefore, not subject to regulations under the AES framework:

• Self-supply within a SPN. For example, the body corporate providing supply to itself or a related body corporate.
• Where electricity is sold or intended to be sold to customers, but where the supply of 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 other similar accommodation or landlords who charge a gross rent inclusive of electricity.
• Short term accommodation providers (less than 3 months).
• Persons on-selling electricity in a single property network 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.
• Landlords on-selling through a lease at a stand-alone house or single-tenant commercial property (i.e. master meter serving one tenant only, no sub-metering or private network beyond master meter).
• Strata companies that only provide distribution services (i.e. not the on-sale of electricity).
• Any person who would require a registration to provide the AES (or part of the AES), where an AES provider is already registered for the property. This exemption should only be available once someone is the registration holder for the embedded network to avoid a situation where all suppliers are exempt and no one registers.

Yes, you will be required to have one registration for each service you provide.

When you register, different information is required for each category. For example, when you register as a SPN AES you are required to provide site addresses for each SPN you are providing a service at and the number of customers/connection points at each site.

For an OSPA registration, while site addresses are not required, you will need to provide information on how much electricity you are expecting to sell each year (the number of residential and commercial customers per year).

Yes, you will have to register.

Many of the provisions in the AES Code are required to be adhered to when you are supplying commercial customers.

However, there are some differences in the customer protections required to be provided to commercial customers compared to residential customers.

For example, obligations relating to family violence and life support equipment are not applicable for commercial or business customers.

An OPSA is an arrangement where an electricity system, such as a solar photovoltaic system, is installed at a house or business without the customer paying upfront. The OPSA provider installs, owns, operates, and maintains the system. The customer buys the electricity generated by the system from the OPSA provider for an agreed price and period. Under an OPSA, a customer maintains a connection to the grid so that they can access electricity when the on-site electricity system does not generate enough power.

Where a customer owns an OPS system and contracts 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.

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.

An OPS system is not a system owned outright by the customer, or where the customer has 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.

Yes, all OPSA suppliers are required to register.

Before you start registering, make sure you read our overview on the AES framework and use it to: 

• Check if you fall into a category of AES provider.
• Assess whether you need to register with us.

If you are still uncertain about whether you need to register after reading this information, you may need to seek independent legal advice. 

It is important you assess whether you meet the conditions of a registration as specified in the legislation. If you are selling or supplying electricity, and unsure whether you are required to hold a registration, you should seek independent advice. Supplying or selling electricity without the appropriate licence, registration or exemption is an offence under Western Australian law.

If you don't fall into any of our AES categories and you are supplying or selling electricity, you may need to apply to us for an electricity licence or apply to Energy Policy WA for an exemption from the requirement to be licensed.

Before you begin the registration process, please make sure you have the following information ready: 

• The legal name of the organisation supplying or selling electricity (the exempt person).
• Australian Business Number (ABN).
• Trading name, if different than your legal name.
• Telephone number and email address that customers can use to contact your business with queries or complaints.
• For SPN AES, each site address and, where applicable, site name where you are supplying electricity.
• For SPN AES, the number of customers you supply electricity to (based on the number of individual meters).
• For SPN AES, an estimate of the total yearly electricity used at the site in megawatt hours. This can be found by reviewing the last 12 months of bills issued by your licensed electricity retailer.
• For OPSA AES, an estimate of the total yearly electricity provided.

Trustees or companies must register for an electricity licensing exemption, not beneficiaries or shareholders.

Ensure that you know the number of individual meters at your site when you list the number of customers you sell or supply electricity to. 

Standard process

Under the standard application process, we are required to assess your application against public interest criteria and undertake public consultation on the application. When you submit your application, you will be asked to provide information outlining how your proposed activities are consistent with the public interest. The information provided in your application for the public interest test will be included in the summary submitted for public consultation.

Changes to a registration granted under standard application procedures, such as major amendments or transfers, will also prompt a public interest test.

Fast track process

Under the fast-track application process, the State Government undertook a public interest test when deciding that this AES would be regulated and we are not required to carry out public consultation on the grant, renewal, amendment or transfer of a registration. This means faster processing of registration applications for categories of AES, such as SPN AES where most entities are already providing the service.

We must consider the public interest when exercising certain powers under the Alternative Electricity Services framework. For some applicants and registration holders, this is an important step in the application process that requires consideration and preparation.

When deciding on the grant, renewal, amendment, transfer or surrender of a registration, the ERA must be satisfied that doing so is not contrary to the public interest. This also includes decisions relating to the duration of a registration, and any terms and conditions imposed on registration holders or parties exempt from the requirement to register to provide an AES.

The requirement for ERA to consider the public interest when regulating AES is set out in the Electricity Industry Act, and the specific factors under consideration are outlined in section 59F. When assessing the public interest test, we must consider the following matters:

• Environmental considerations.
• Social welfare and equity considerations, including community service obligations.
• Economic and regional development, including employment and investment growth.
• The interests of customers generally or of a class of customers.
• The interests of any registration holder, or applicant for registration, who may be affected by the exercise of the power.
• The importance of competition in electricity industry markets.
• The policy objectives of government in relation to the supply of electricity.

To satisfy these requirements, ERA may ask for additional information in your application to assess how granting a registration, or changes to your registration, may affect the public interest – this is called a public interest test.

Not all applications require a public interest test. Some services have been prescribed under fast-track application provisions, where satisfaction of public interest criteria is assumed. Applications for SPN AES have been specified as fast-track. Applicants will not need to submit to a public interest test for these applications, except for when submitting a surrender application.

Other services, such as OPSA, have been prescribed under standard application provisions.

Note that all surrender applications undergo a public interest test irrespective of AES service. This allows the ERA to ensure that the customers of the registration holder (if there are any), and any relevant assets of the registration holder are suitably dealt with prior to the registration holder ceasing services.

The easiest way to determine if your application will undergo a public interest test is to identify if your service falls under fast-track or standard application provisions. For more information this and on how ERA assesses registration applications, see the AES Registration Guideline.

One of the objectives of the public register is to make it easier for customers to find and contact their electricity provider. We publish your customer contact details so that customers can contact you for queries or complaints about their electricity supply.

We publish certain information about registration holders on our public register. This 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.

View the register to see how we publish the information you give us. Certain information (such as the number of customers) will not be published on the register. Instead, we aggregate this information to be used in our reports on the alternative electricity sector and to inform regulatory development.

A registration holder must apply to the ERA to surrender a registration, which should be done through the online portal.

You will need to demonstrate that all customers will continue to be provided electricity by an alternative provider (which could be another registration holder, a licensee, or an exempt entity), and that the transition between your service and the new service has minimal disruption for customers. This may have already happened, or you may have a plan in place to ensure it will happen.

You will also need to ensure that any distribution assets associated with your registration have been handed over to another registration holder, a licensee, or an exempt entity or disposed of in a manner consistent with Western Australian legislation.

In deciding whether to approve a surrender of a registration, the ERA must be satisfied that it would not be contrary to the public interest to do so. This requirement applies whether the ERA is required to consider the public interest when granting the registration or not.

We generally do not undertake public consultation on a surrender application.

The requirement for the ERA to give its approval before a registration is surrendered provides an opportunity to ensure that:

• Customers of the registration holder (if there are any) have been transferred to a suitable registration holder or licensee.
• Any relevant assets of the registration holder have been suitably dealt with prior to the registration holder ceasing to provide the service.

If you have had an application to surrender your registration refused, you may apply to the State Administrative Tribunal for a review of that decision.

If you do not agree with certain decisions that the ERA has made, you have a right to have the decision looked at by the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT). SAT is an independent body that reviews a wide range of government decisions and determines disputes.

An application for review must be made within 28 days after the day on which notice of the reviewable decision is given.

Reviewable decisions are listed in the Table below.

Table 2: List of reviewable decisions (59U of Electricity Industry Act 2004)

If you are concerned about a decision we have made, please contact us to discuss your concerns.

You can also seek independent legal advice about your own situation. If you do not have a lawyer, you can contact the Australian pro bono centre to find out what pro bono legal service might be available.

A registration holder is obligated to keep their details up to date. Amendments to registration details can be completed through the online portal and must be completed within 7 days of becoming aware of the changes. This includes changes to:

• Name
• Address
• Contact Details (including for the person who handles customer queries and, where applicable website address)
• For SPN AES registration holders, the properties you are the SPN for

Performance reporting requirements are outlined in [guidelines]. As an AES provider, you will be required to report on specified performance indicators, such as the numbers of:

• Customers.
• 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.

Providing performance information gives us and the public a picture of the trends in the sector.

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

The information and data you provide is aggregated with the data provided by all other AES providers. We publish information on the sector to provide information and promote transparency.

Your data is stored in accordance with WA legislation.

A significant difference is more than 10% different. For example, it could be that in the previous reporting year you reported 100 customers from your customer base of 900 customers had been disconnected. In this reporting year, 200 customers had been disconnected while your customer base had not increased. As this is a difference of more than 10%, you are required to provide an explanation of the likely reasons for the difference.