Multiple gas retail companies operate across metropolitan and regional Western Australia, supplying gas to residential and commercial customers.
Retailers supplying reticulated gas to residential customers and small businesses that use less than 1 terajoule of gas each year must hold a gas trading licence issued by the Economic Regulation Authority (ERA).
A list of WA gas trading licence holders, identified by the acronym GTL, is available on the ERA website: Licence Holders - Economic Regulation Authority Western Australia.
Retail Market Scheme
To facilitate retail competition, Western Australia has established a Retail Market Scheme for gas distribution systems where multiple retailers operate.
The Scheme provides the processes and systems needed to manage customer transfers and market transactions between retailers in ATCO Gas Australia’s distribution systems (the Mid-West/South West, Kalgoorlie-Boulder and Albany systems).
The Scheme is administered by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) and overseen by the ERA.
Further information about WA’s retail market can be found on AEMO’s website: AEMO | Western Australia.
Gas Market Moratorium
Western Australia’s retail market is also subject to the Gas Market Moratorium, which prevents Synergy from supplying gas to customers who consume less than 0.18 terajoules (180 gigajoules) of gas per year.
The purpose of the Moratorium is to provide competitive neutrality for participants in the small use electricity and gas retail markets. The Moratorium achieves this by preventing Synergy from fully accessing the gas market while other electricity retailers are denied full access to the electricity market.
When a customer’s annual consumption goes above the Moratorium threshold, the Moratorium no longer applies to that customer into the future. This is for practical reasons and is consistent with the existing arrangements for electricity contestability.
