Under the Electricity Industry Act 2004 , any retailer who supplies electricity to small use customers (i.e. residential customers and small business customers who consume less than 160 MWh of electricity per year) must develop a standard form contract.

The standard form contract must be approved by the Economic Regulation Authority (ERA). The ERA will only approve a standard form contract if it considers that the contract meets all relevant legal and regulatory requirements.

A retailer and customer may also negotiate terms and conditions different from the retailer’s standard form contract. This is referred to as a non-standard contract. Although a non-standard contract does not require ERA approval, it must still comply with the relevant Acts and Regulations.