Government electricity corporations
The Western Australian Government owns and operates four statutory electricity corporations: Verve Energy, Western Power, Synergy and Horizon Power.
The Government established these corporations on 1 April 2006 after the split-up of Western Power Corporation (a government-owned electricity utility that controlled both the production, transmission, distribution and retailing of electricity in Western Australia).
Governance
Each corporation is governed by a board. The boards are accountable to the Minister for Energy under the various parts of the Electricity Corporations Act 2005. The Minister supported by the Coordinator of Energy has various responsibilities under the Act including approving Strategic Development Plans, Statements of Corporate Intend and large contracts.
Copies of the corporations’ Statements of Corporate Intent and quarterly and annual reports are available from their websites.
Regulation and licensing
The Government owned electricity corporations, together with private electricity industry participants, are regulated by the Economic Regulation Authority (ERA).
The ERA is an independent body reporting directly to the Parliament of Western Australia. Among other things, it is responsible for:
regulating third party access to Western Power’s electricity network
issuing, designing and assessing electricity licenses (generation, transmission, distribution, retail and integrated regional licences).
For further details on the corporations’ regulatory and licensing obligations, visit the ERA website.
Market participation
Verve Energy, Western Power and Synergy are all participants in the Wholesale Electricity Market (WEM). They must comply with the Independent Market Operator's WEM rules.