The Electricity Generation and Retail Corporation (EGRC) regulatory scheme was put in place to manage the merger of Verve Energy and Synergy, which became the Electricity Generation and Retail Corporation, trading as Synergy, on 1 January 2014. The regulatory scheme includes requirements for business segregation, non-discriminatory wholesale electricity trading and the provision of standard products. The purpose of the regulatory scheme is to:
- Mitigate EGRC’s potential to exercise market power
- Level the playing field
- Facilitate competition.
The ERA reviews the operation of the EGRC regulatory scheme every two years and prepared a report for the Minister for Energy that assesses the scheme’s effectiveness and recommends improvements.
In August 2024, the Minister for Energy amended the EGRC Regulations to require the ERA to audit Synergy’s compliance with the non-discrimination obligations and approved wholesale arrangements of the EGRC scheme every financial year. The Auditor General continues to audit Synergy’s compliance with other aspects of the EGRC Regulations.
Upon completing the audit, the ERA must form an opinion as to whether Synergy has complied with the relevant regulations, and provide a report on the audit, including the ERA’s opinion and details of any identified non-compliances, to the Minister for Energy. The ERA may also investigate any non-compliances and undertake enforcement action.
2025 Compliance audit
On 18 November 2025, the ERA completed its first audit and provided its findings to the Minister for Energy. The ERA’s first audit of Synergy’s compliance with Part 3 Division 1 and wholesale arrangements covered the financial years 2023/24 and 2024/25. The ERA engaged Assurance Advisory Group to conduct the audit and provide independent assurance.
On 9 June 2026, the Minister published the ERA’s reports in State Parliament.
2023-2025 Review
The seventh review of the EGRC regulatory scheme considers the effectiveness of Synergy’s standard products and prevailing circumstances in the Southwest Interconnected System. The ERA has published a discussion paper for public consultation and sought feedback by 13 October 2025. The ERA received five submission and considered these views in preparing its final report for the Minister of Energy.
2021-2023 Review
Sixth review
The sixth review of the EGRC regulatory scheme covered the period from 2021 to 2023. The ERA made three recommendations: Synergy should no longer be required to offer ‘sell-side’ standard products to entities that have access to sufficient generation assets:
- Remove the disclosure mechanism
- Remove the requirement to ringfence generator restricted information
- The Minister for Energy tabled the report in Parliament on 14 May 2024.
2018-2020 Review
Fifth review
The fifth review of the EGRC regulatory scheme covered years 2018, 2019 and 2020 following changes to the scheme review requirements.
The ERA recommended that the maximum spread be reduced from 20 per cent to 15 per cent in July 2022, and to 10 per cent in July 2023. The phased transition would provide Synergy time to improve its pricing method while still allowing Synergy a reasonable profit on transactions.
The Minister for Energy tabled the report in Parliament on 5 April 2022.