The WA Government has today published an issues paper with seven proposals to improve data quality and connection timeframes for DER. The proposals build on improvements we made to household connection rules in December 2025 and will further strengthen the crucial role that DER plays on Western Australia’s main grid – the South West Interconnected System.
The Department of Energy and Economic Diversification invites feedback on the issues paper proposals, which we will then use to develop detailed regulatory proposals for further consultation. You can find the issues paper for consultation via the Public consultation – Making it easier to connect solar, batteries and EV chargers web page.
Please provide feedback before 5:00pm (AWST) Tuesday, 18 August 2026 by emailing: EPWA-Submissions@deed.wa.gov.au
Increasing DER standing data quality
The proposals will improve data quality for DER systems by expanding the rollout of the open-source Common Smart Inverter Profile – Australia (CSIP-AUS) to more systems, and by creating new requirements for Western Power to collect, validate, and share basic system data with other stakeholders like the Australian Energy Market Operator. Further, instead of extra requirements on EV charger installations at a critical stage of Western Australia’s electric vehicle uptake, we propose to look at a simple and indirect mechanism for Western Power to collect data about new Level 2 chargers.
Making it easier for businesses to connect DER
We are proposing to simplify data requirements to make it easier to connect larger DER systems, such as businesses looking to install PV systems on warehouse roofs. We expect this will result in a single connections process for all systems up to 1 MVA, with faster and more straightforward commissioning using CSIP-AUS for systems up to 200 kVA.
Additionally, we propose new requirements for Western Power to share more information about its distribution network capacity. This would make it easier to target projects to parts of the network that can easily absorb extra electricity demand, such as public EV charging sites.
Better understanding how VPPs mitigate grid impacts and maximise consumer opportunities
We are looking at ways VPP operators might be able to provide simple information about enrolled VPP capacity to sector participants like Western Power and the Australian Energy Market Operator. This is to begin quantifying the benefit of VPP dispatches on delayed network and generation upgrades, so that this value can be passed through to end customers.
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