Agents
Agents are parties that are registered with the Office of the Renewable Energy Regulator (ORER) and have the ability to create RECs in the online REC Registry on behalf of owners of solar water heaters and small generation units. Agents generally purchase the right to create RECs from such owners. The purchasing agreement for RECs may take a number of forms and is arranged by the agent and the original owner. The right to create RECs can only be assigned once. Agents cannot re-assign the right to create assigned RECs to another registered person or agent.
Agents generally sell the RECs to other parties or surrender the RECs to the ORER to offset an existing REC liability. The agreement to transfer RECs to other parties takes place outside the REC Registry. However, the ownership of RECs is transferred in the REC Registry. It is the responsibility of agents to find a party willing to purchase the RECs and to negotiate the terms of purchase. Parties that are generally interested in purchasing RECs include Liable parties and other agents.
The responsibilities of an agent include:
- being fully acquainted with the eligibility rules for solar water heaters and small generation units;
- clearly outlining to clients the implications of assigning the right to create RECs to an agent;
- providing information to the Renewable Energy Regulator as requested. In particular:
- through the online REC Registry
- in an annual return, which must be completed by agents who have created more than 250 RECs in a given year. Please review the form and ensure that your records will allow you to provide the necessary information.
- by performing, or coordinating, site audits to verify installation details where necessary.
- collecting and retaining all the necessary information to support REC claims for a period of 5 years after the RECs were created; and
- ensuring that all information provided to the ORER is true and accurate and the creation of RECs is completed in accordance with the provisions of the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2000.
All agents must also be registered persons as defined under the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2000. The ORER is required to publish a list of Registered Persons including agents, corporations, and individuals on the internet. Published details of the Registered Person may include the Person's name, allocated registration number and State/Territory of residence.
The ORER publishes a list of agents interested in purchasing the right to create RECs from owners of solar water heaters and small generation units. Applicants may elect, in their registration form (see below), to have their contact details included in this list.
Registering as an agent
Every agent must be a registered person as defined under the Act. To become a registered person, the following form must be completed and submitted to the Office of the Renewable Energy Regulator:
To register as an agent the following form needs to be completed and submitted:
Registration fees
The fees to become a registered person and an agent are outlined below:
| Application | Fee |
|---|---|
| to become a registered person | $20 |
| to become an agent where the company or individual is already a registered person | $230 |
| to become an agent ($20 + $230) | $250 |
Applicants should submit their registration forms to the ORER using the postal address or fax number provided on the forms. Once your application is approved you will be notified by email and receive access to the REC Registry. At this time a $230 or $250 fee is payable to complete the registration process.
Registration number
Once your application to become an agent is approved by the ORER, you will be notified of your Registration number in an email generated by the REC Registry. You automatically use this number when creating RECs in the REC Registry.
Changing your details
If the information included in your original application to become an agent changes, you will need to update your details with either the ORER or in the REC Registry. REC Registry users and account administrators can change many of their own details, such as telephone number or e-mail address, directly in the REC Registry (see online help pages at www.rec-registry.gov.au for details). However, to change your REC Registry Account Name or to appoint a new Account Administrator you will need to submit the appropriate form to the ORER, as outlined below.
Change of REC Registry Account Name
The following form needs to be completed for REC Registry Accounts where a change of Account Name is required. This form needs to be signed by the Chief Executive Officer (or equivalent) of the organisation, or by the individual in whose name the REC Registry Account is held.
Note: A REC Registry Account held for an Australian business must be named by the Registered Name or a Registered Trading Name of that business as listed in the Australian Business Register (www.abr.gov.au ).
Appointing a new Account Administrator
Account Administrators can assign the account administrator status to another Account User through the REC Registry. In cases where the current Account Administrator is unavailable and a change of Account Administrator is required, the following form needs to be completed. This form needs to be signed by the Chief Executive Officer (or equivalent) of the organisation, and the proposed new Account Administrator.
Note: A person must have a REC Registry username, and must have logged into the REC Registry before they can be assigned the account administrator status.
How to have RECs assigned to you
Owners of installations of solar water heaters and small generation units are able to assign their right to create Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) to a registered agent by completing a REC Assignment Form.
The party eligible for RECs for an installation of a solar water heater or small generation unit is defined in Sections 23(1) and 23(C)(1) of the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2000. REC rights are generally defined as:
The owner of the solar water heater or small generation unit at the time that it is installed is entitled to create the certificate or certificates that relate to the installation.
In some cases, the owner of an installation may be a property developer, a builder or the eventual owner of a completed building. For further information on ownership, please refer to Advice from the Regulator about eligibility and REC creation issues.
REC Assignment Form
A REC Assignment Form is a legal document that must be completed before an Agent can create RECs on behalf of an owner of a solar water heater or small generation unit installation. Once completed, the form must be retained by the agent for at least five years and must be provided to the ORER if requested. Agents cannot re-assign the right to create assigned RECs to another registered person or agent.
The Office of the Renewable Energy Regulator (ORER) requires that each form contain a minimum set of information and form fields. The minimum requirements for each form are outlined in documents available at the following page:
Agents may customise their own REC Assignment Forms to incorporate additional explanatory text, company logos and other features. The ORER requests that a copy of the REC Assignment Form be provided when forms are created or changed. The ORER will formally request copies of your REC Assignment Forms each year as a part of your Annual Electricity Generation Return.
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