Energy Policy WA has published its summary of stakeholder feedback on proposals to improve how distributed energy resources connect to the South West Interconnected System, together with the submissions themselves. The department notified stakeholders on 14 September 2026.
The department received 23 submissions, from electricity retailers, manufacturers, DER retailers, industry groups, consulting businesses and individuals.
Five proposals advance, two do not
The department opened the consultation on 20 July with seven proposals, covering inverter systems up to 30 kilowatts, simpler connection pathways for business systems up to 1 megawatt, and access to network capacity data.
The outcome is a split. The department has said it intends to develop an exposure draft of changes to the Electricity System and Market Rules for reform proposals 1 to 5. Proposals 6 and 7 require further stakeholder discussion and are not part of that draft.
A consultation that reports back on all seven proposals and carries five into drafting has made a decision about the other two. The department has not published a timetable for them.
What the submissions said
Energy Policy WA grouped the feedback under six themes:
- Simpler commercial and industrial connections through standardised data and technical requirements.
- Clearer statutory obligations for Western Power to collect, validate and share data.
- National alignment and interoperability for technical standards.
- Customer-centric data sharing, allowing authorised access while protecting privacy.
- Network visibility to assist customer and investor decision-making on projects.
- VPP visibility to improve power system planning, forecasting and network management.
Four of the six are about data rather than about the connection process itself.
Nothing changes yet
The department will consult again on the exposure draft before recommending final changes to the Minister for Energy and Decarbonisation. Installers and retailers connecting systems to the SWIS work to the existing requirements until those rule changes are made.
Two other WA processes are open
Western Power has published the presentation pack and a recording from its Solar Battery Industry Forum on its proposed future DER connections process, and has opened a survey for feedback from retailers and installers on how the proposed process would work in practice. The notice was issued on 11 September 2026.
Separately, Energy Policy WA has extended the consultation period on the Power System Security and Reliability Standards Review exposure draft by one week, at the request of stakeholders. Comments on the draft Electricity System and Market Amending Rules are now due by 5:00pm AWST on Tuesday 29 September 2026, at energymarkets@deed.wa.gov.au. Submissions are published on the review webpage unless a submitter requests otherwise, and the department has said late submissions may not be considered.
Three WA processes touching the same connection framework are live at once: one closed and reported, one taking industry feedback on a proposed process, and one with a fixed deadline this month.
