Scheme Participant Requirements

To be a successful Scheme Participant under the ESS you must complete and lodge an energy savings statement with us each year. 

The process for lodging an energy savings statements has been revised to bring Scheme Participant processes online in TESSA.  The Compliance guide - Scheme Participants details this process.

A key input to the energy savings statement is the Declaration of Liable Acquisitions. This template replaces the Annual Energy Savings Statement template used in previous compliance years.  You may be required to have your Declaration of Liable Acquisitions audited.

We have aligned the timeline for Scheme Participant reporting under the ESS and Peak Demand Reduction Scheme (PDRS) so Scheme Participants can choose to conduct their ESS and PDRS audits together or separately to suit their business needs. Dates for other processes have also been extended. See our Scheme Participant compliance timeline page for more details.

The process for lodging an energy statement is being reviewed due to new compliance functionality being built in TESSA to bring Scheme Participant processes online.

We expect to update this page and our guidance material mid 2023 when these process improvements are finalised.

TESSA functionality for Scheme Participant reporting processes will be available in the coming months. Additional information is on our TESSA for Scheme Participants webpage.

Preparing your Declaration of Liable Acquisitions

We provide you with market acquisition data which is a key input to your Declaration of Liable Acquisitions. In addition, you will also need to provide data for

• acquisitions from persons other than the market operator

• exemptions

• supply of electricity under Clause 10(2) of the Act

Audit inputs to your Declaration of Liable Acquisitions

If you have liable acquisitions, you must have the inputs to your Declaration of Liable Acquisitions audited unless you meet specific exemption criteria. The Compliance Guide – Scheme Participants lists audit exemption criteria.

If an audit is required, you must engage an auditor from the Audit Services Panel. 

The auditor must submit a completed DSW Submission Form – DLA to IPART for approval prior to commencing the audit.  The DSW submissions form can be used for both ESS and PDRS audits and is available at Auditing Scheme Participants. 

You must upload your audit report when you lodge your energy savings statement in TESSA by 16 November 2023 for the 2022 compliance period.

The Scheme Regulator assesses compliance

The Scheme Regulator will issue a Notice of Assessment (NoA) in March-April (i.e. 15-16 months after the end of the compliance period) assessing your compliance. If you have a liability for an energy savings shortfall penalty an invoice will be issued with the NoA. The shortfall penalty for the 2022 compliance period is payable by 2 May 2024. These dates have been delayed from the previous ESS process to align with PDRS compliance dates.

Relevant Documentation