Since 1997, the State Government has been gradually deregulating the electricity market in WA to establish a competitive electricity prices.
Part of this process has been the ‘split’ of Western Power so that the generation, distribution and retails arms of the business are independent from each other. Any electricity retailer or generator meeting technical and legal requirements can use the electricity grid to sell electricity.
This means that electricity retailers buy power from the generators and pay Western Power a fee to transport that electricity to their customers. The retailer will then bill their customers and pay the network provider and the generator for their contributions.
Around 15,000 electricity consumers in Western Power’s network area can choose their electricity retailer currently based on price or the services they provide. These customers are called ‘contestable’ customers. They consume over 50MWh of electricity per annum, or more than an $8,000 yearly power bill (depending on their tariff).
The Office of Energy provides a list of retailers who currently sell power to consumers and offers downloadable publications about choosing your retailer.
Page update on 31 January 2007
