{"id":"electricity-corporations-areas-of-operation-regulations-2015","name":"Electricity Corporations (Areas of Operation) Regulations 2015","slug":"electricity-corporations-areas-of-operation-regulations-2015","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"wa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":174646,"registerId":"wa-electricity-corporations-areas-of-operation-regulations-2015-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-05","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Electricity Corporations (Areas of Operation) Regulations 2015","content":"![Crest]()Western Australia\n\nElectricity Corporations Act 2005\n\nElectricity Corporations (Areas of Operation) Regulations 2015\n\nWestern Australia\n\nElectricity Corporations (Areas of Operation) Regulations 2015\n\nContents\n\n1. Citation 1\n\n2. Commencement 1\n\n3. Supply of gas to parts of the State not served by South West interconnected system 1\n\n4. Providing stand‑alone power systems within distribution licence area 1\n\n5. Transmission and distribution outside area of operations in relation to relevant Aboriginal communities (Act s. 52(4)) 2\n\nNotes\n\nCompilation table 4\n\nOther notes 4\n\nDefined terms\n\n  \n\nElectricity Corporations Act 2005\n\nElectricity Corporations (Areas of Operation)  Regulations 2015\n\n##### 1. Citation\n\n\t\tThese regulations are the *Electricity Corporations (Areas of Operation) Regulations 2015*.\n\n[Regulation 1 amended: SL 2021/1 r. 4.]\n\n##### 2. Commencement\n\nThese regulations come into operation as follows —\n\n(a) regulations 1 and 2 — on the day on which these regulations are published in the *Gazette*;\n\n(b) the rest of the regulations — on the day after that day.\n\n##### 3. Supply of gas to parts of the State not served by South West interconnected system\n\nThe Electricity Generation and Retail Corporation is authorised under section 37(5) of the Act to perform its function of supplying gas under section 35(b)(i) of the Act in all parts of the State not served by the South West interconnected system.\n\n##### 4. Providing stand‑alone power systems within distribution licence area\n\n(1) In this regulation —\n\ndistribution licence has the meaning given in the *Electricity Industry Act 2004* section 3(1);\n\ndistribution licence area means the area specified, as at regulation commencement day, under the *Electricity Industry Act 2004* section 5 in the distribution licence held by the Electricity Networks Corporation;\n\nregulation commencement day means the day on which the *Electricity Corporations (Electricity Generation and Retail Corporation Area of Operation) Amendment Regulations 2021* regulation 5 comes into operation;\n\nstand‑alone power system has the meaning given in the *Electricity Industry Act 2004* section 3(1).\n\n(2) The Electricity Networks Corporation is authorised under section 43(3) of the Act to perform its function of providing stand‑alone power systems under section 41(ba) of the Act in the part of the State that is its distribution licence area.\n\n[Regulation 4 inserted: SL 2021/1 r. 5.]\n\n##### 5. Transmission and distribution outside area of operations in relation to relevant Aboriginal communities (Act s. 52(4))\n\n(1) In this regulation —\n\nrelevant Aboriginal community means any of the following Aboriginal communities as defined in the *Aboriginal Communities Act 1979* section 3 —\n\n(a) Barrel Well;\n\n(b) Kardaloo (Wandanooka);\n\n(c) Kurrawang;\n\ntransmission and distribution functions means the functions set out in section 50(b), (g) and (j) of the Act.\n\n(2) The Regional Power Corporation is authorised under section 52(4) of the Act to perform transmission and distribution functions in respect of electricity systems in the part of the State served by the South West interconnected system in relation to the transportation of electricity for consumption on premises that are —\n\n(a) owned, occupied or leased by, or by the members of, a relevant Aboriginal community; or\n\n(b) used solely or principally for the purposes of a relevant Aboriginal community.\n\n[Regulation 5 inserted: SL 2023/79 r. 4.]\n\n![]()\n\nNotes\n\nThis is a compilation of the *Electricity Corporations (Areas of Operation) Regulations 2015* and includes amendments made by other written laws. For provisions that have come into operation see the compilation table.\n\nCompilation table\n\n| **Citation** | **Published** | **Commencement** |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| *Electricity Corporations (Electricity Generation and Retail Corporation Area of Operation) Regulations 2015* 1 | 20 Oct 2015 p. 4293 | r. 1 and 2: 20 Oct 2015 (see r. 2(a));   Regulations other than r. 1 and 2: 21 Oct 2015 (see r. 2(b)) |\n| *Electricity Corporations (Electricity Generation and Retail Corporation Area of Operation) Amendment Regulations 2021* | SL 2021/1 15 Jan 2021 | r. 1 and 2: 15 Jan 2021 (see r. 2(a));   Regulations other than r. 1 and 2: 16 Jan 2021 (see r. 2(b)) |\n| *Electricity Corporations (Areas of Operation) Amendment Regulations 2023* | SL 2023/79 20 Jun 2023 | r. 1 and 2: 20 Jun 2023 (see r. 2(a));   Regulations other than r. 1 and 2: 21 Jun 2023 (see r. 2(b)) |\n\n\nOther notes\n\n1 Now known as the *Electricity Corporations (Areas of Operation) Regulations 2015;* citation changed (see note under r. 1).\n\nDefined terms\n\n*[This is a list of terms defined and the provisions where they are defined. The list is not part of the law.]*\n\n**Defined term Provision(s)**\n\ndistribution licence 4(1)\n\ndistribution licence area 4(1)\n\nregulation commencement day 4(1)\n\nrelevant Aboriginal community 5(1)\n\nstand-alone power system 4(1)\n\ntransmission and distribution functions 5(1)\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"summary":{"complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Unable to assess whether the scope changed from original intent — no legislative text was retrievable. The title suggests a focused, administrative regulation defining geographic operating zones for electricity corporations, which would typically have a narrow and stable scope, but this cannot be confirmed without the actual content."},"complexity_factors":["No legislative text was available for analysis — the source page returned a 'no longer available' error","Complexity cannot be meaningfully assessed without substantive content","Score of 1 reflects absence of data, not simplicity of the underlying law"],"plain_english_summary":"## Electricity Corporations (Areas of Operation) Regulations 2015 (WA)\n\n**The content of this legislation is not available for analysis.**\n\nThe page hosting this Western Australian regulation has been taken offline due to system and security upgrades on the Parliamentary Counsel's Office website. No substantive legislative text could be retrieved.\n\n**What we can infer from the title alone:**\n- This is a Western Australian regulation (subordinate legislation made under a parent Act)\n- It likely defines the **geographic boundaries** within which specific electricity corporations (such as Western Power or Horizon Power) are permitted or required to operate\n- It would affect electricity providers, businesses, and households in WA — particularly in determining **which company supplies power to which area**\n\n**What you should do:**\n- Visit the Western Australian legislation website (legislation.wa.gov.au) directly and search for the regulation by name\n- Contact the Parliamentary Counsel's Office Helpdesk if you cannot locate it"},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The instrument expanded the authorised activities of state electricity corporations compared with the original 2015 text by adding new, targeted authorisations. In 2021 it authorised the Electricity Networks Corporation to provide stand‑alone power systems within its distribution licence area (reg 4, inserted SL 2021/1). In 2023 it authorised the Regional Power Corporation to perform transmission and distribution functions for three named Aboriginal communities within the South West interconnected system (reg 5, inserted SL 2023/79). Reg 3 authorises the Electricity Generation and Retail Corporation to supply gas outside the SWIS. Practically: the corporations (not individual customers) are authorised to act (regs 3–5); who ultimately pays depends on commercial arrangements between corporations, licence conditions and consumers; compliance and coordination burdens fall on the authorised corporations and licensing regulators because the instrument changes operational scope and interfaces with existing licences and statutory functions (see regs 3–5 and relevant sections of the Electricity Corporations Act 2005 and Electricity Industry Act 2004)."},"complexity_factors":["Short, tightly focused instrument with only three substantive authorisations (regs 3–5).","Cross-references to multiple Acts for definitions and powers (Electricity Corporations Act 2005; Electricity Industry Act 2004; Aboriginal Communities Act 1979).","Reliance on defined terms whose meanings come from other statutes (e.g. distribution licence, stand‑alone power system, relevant Aboriginal community) (reg 4(1), reg 5(1)).","Amendment and commencement timing matter for application (insertions in 2021 and 2023) (compilation table; regs 4, 5).","Narrow, named beneficiaries (three listed Aboriginal communities) create targeted rather than general authorisation (reg 5(1)(a)–(c)).","Operational and contractual implications for corporations and consumers (who supplies, who pays, interface with licences) may require coordination across agencies despite simple drafting (regs 3–5)."],"plain_english_summary":"This regulation authorises particular state electricity corporations to operate beyond their default geographic limits in specific, narrowly defined situations: supplying gas outside the South West interconnected system, providing stand‑alone power systems within a distribution licence area, and performing transmission/distribution for certain named Aboriginal communities. It changes who may build and run energy infrastructure in those places and therefore affects the corporations, local consumers and licence holders because it alters who can supply, charge for and maintain services."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The original 2015 regulations appear to have been limited to gas supply authorisations (Regulation 3). The 2021 amendment inserted Regulation 4 regarding stand-alone power systems, and the 2023 amendment inserted Regulation 5 regarding Aboriginal communities. The instrument has grown from a single-purpose regulation to a multi-purpose 'miscellaneous exceptions' instrument covering gas, stand-alone power, and specific Aboriginal community carve-outs."},"complexity_factors":["Very short instrument: only 5 regulations total, with 2 being standard citation/commencement provisions","Minimal cross-referencing: only references to specific sections of the parent Electricity Corporations Act 2005 and the Electricity Industry Act 2004","Limited defined terms: only 5 defined terms, all contained within the regulations themselves or pointing to standard definitions in other Acts","Simple conditional logic: authorisations are straightforward ('is authorised to...') with minimal qualifiers","Narrow scope: each regulation addresses a single, specific operational exception rather than creating broad regulatory frameworks"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this legislation does:**\n\nThese regulations set out specific geographic and functional exceptions to the usual operating areas of Western Australia's three main government-owned electricity corporations:\n\n*   **The Electricity Generation and Retail Corporation** (trading as Synergy) — normally restricted to the South West Interconnected System (SWIS) — is allowed to **supply gas** to remote parts of WA *outside* that main grid.\n\n*   **The Electricity Networks Corporation** (Western Power) — which runs the main grid — is authorised to install and operate **stand-alone power systems** (off-grid solutions like solar-battery setups) within its usual distribution area. This lets them provide power to isolated properties without extending the main grid.\n\n*   **The Regional Power Corporation** (Horizon Power) — which normally operates outside the SWIS — is given limited authority to perform **transmission and distribution** work *inside* the SWIS, but only for three specific Aboriginal communities: Barrel Well, Kardaloo (Wandanooka), and Kurrawang.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n\n*   Residents and businesses in remote WA needing gas supply.\n*   Property owners in Western Power's area who want off-grid power solutions.\n*   The three specific Aboriginal communities listed, allowing Horizon Power to service them even though they fall technically within the main grid's territory.\n\n**Why it matters:**\n\nThese rules fix boundary problems. Without them, the corporations couldn't legally operate in these specific areas or provide these specific services. The regulations ensure remote communities get energy services even when they fall into jurisdictional gaps between the three corporations."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/electricity-corporations-areas-of-operation-regulations-2015","history":"/api/acts/electricity-corporations-areas-of-operation-regulations-2015/history","analysis":"/api/acts/electricity-corporations-areas-of-operation-regulations-2015/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/electricity-corporations-areas-of-operation-regulations-2015/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/electricity-corporations-areas-of-operation-regulations-2015/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/electricity-corporations-areas-of-operation-regulations-2015/documents"}}