Changes to the on-supply (on-selling) of electricity and gas

Written on the 2 October 2017

With effect from 23 December 2016, new rules and responsibilities apply to the on-selling of electricity and gas in Western Australia and small business landlords, property managers and commercial and retail tenants should familiarise themselves with these changes.

The on-supply of electricity and gas (often referred to as 'on-selling') is common practice in multi-tenanted commercial premises such as shopping centres and industrial units.

Within an on-selling arrangement, the tenant does not have a direct billing relationship with the licensed utility provider. In most cases the on-seller, as the owner, landlord or manager of the property, receives an invoice from a licensed utility provider such as Alinta Gas or Synergy for the total supply of electricity or gas to the whole property.  The on-seller then calculates the cost of the electricity or gas consumed by each tenant, and issues individual invoices for that usage. 

Sometimes, these invoices have an additional charge included, payable by the tenant to the on-seller, for the preparation of the individual invoice. This is no longer the case.  New rules also apply to the information an on-seller must provide to the tenant with each invoice.

Click here to download the fact sheet about new rules...