Retail licence exemptions for Solar Power Purchase Agreement Providers

The Minister for Energy has asked Energy Policy WA to undertake a review of the regulatory framework for retail electricity licensing and exemption activities.

The review will determine the most suitable form of regulation to ensure that all electricity consumers have adequate customer protections, regardless of the business model used for the delivery of electricity supplies.

Given the intended scope of the review, the Minister for Energy has determined that retail licence exemption applications for solar power purchase agreements currently under consideration will not be processed further and no additional solar power purchase agreement licence exemption applications will be accepted.

Solar Power Purchase Agreements

Providers can install a solar power system on a customer’s premises without charging any initial capital outlay. Instead, the customer agrees to purchase the electricity generated by the solar power system for an agreed rate over the life of the contract. This is known as a solar power purchase agreement (SPPA).

Industry and Consumer Guidelines have been prepared to give:

• customers of SPPA providers guidance and information on the licence exemption process and solar PPAs more generally; and
• industry (SPPA providers) guidance on complying with their licence exemption conditions, in particular the requirement to provide prospective customers with a Product Disclosure Statement.

2016 Review of licensing arrangements for SPPA providers

In 2016, the Public Utilities Office concluded a review of the licensing arrangements for SPPA providers to examine the options for regulating them under the licence exemption framework and make a recommendation to the Minister for Energy on a preferred approach. The then Minister for Energy endorsed the recommendations.

Documents relating to the review are available below: