Customers and retailers have accused Synergy and Western Power of deliberately hindering the process of installing rooftop solar panels in a bid to slow the uptake.
After Energy Minister Mike Nahan predicted last week that every WA home would eventually have solar panels, industry representatives claimed they were being frustrated by red tape.
Al Henrisson, owner of a Perth solar company, said Western Power told operators that installation times could increase because it had changed its application process.
Mr Henrisson said the changes were likely to mean the time it took a customer to have a solar system installed would rise from as little as 15 days to 40 days or more.
He said it was rubbing salt into the wounds of consumers already having to run a gauntlet to have their applications approved.
Under current arrangements, householders must pay up to $360 to have a smart meter fitted to their home to ensure solar panels can export energy into the grid.
But Mr Henrisson said the utilities retained the right to refuse the application or reduce the size of the system if there were too many other solar panels in the area.
He said the changes suggested the utilities were trying to make it harder for households to install photovoltaic cells because they were a threat to their business model.
Synergy said 120,000 households had signed up to the renewable energy buyback scheme - under which customers were paid 8.8¢ for surplus units of power - and it received about 100 applications a day.
A spokeswoman said most of these were processed within the specified five days and insisted the application changes were aimed at making it easier for customers wanting solar panels.
Mundaring resident Irene Clarke, who bought solar panels last month and had them installed within days, said it was only bureaucratic stymieing that was preventing her from connecting to the grid.
She highlighted Synergy’s unwillingness to accept applications by email and that the utility made her resubmit her form because it received it after the start of the new financial year.
