What Is a Letter of Authority, and Why Do Businesses Sign One?

If you're working with Daydream Energy on anything that involves your electricity data, one of the first things we'll ask you to do is sign a Letter of Authority (LOA).

It's a short document, but if you've never signed one before, it's fair to want to know exactly what it does. This guide explains what an LOA is, what ours allows Daydream to do, what it does not allow, and what to check before you sign.

What is a Letter of Authority?

A Letter of Authority is a signed document that gives a nominated third party permission to deal with your energy retailer on your behalf, within the limits written into the document.

In Daydream's case, the scope is deliberately narrow: the LOA authorises us to request and receive your energy data from your retailer or where relevant your meter data provider or network distributor. It's the paperwork that lets your retailer legally and securely hand us your usage information instead of telling us, correctly, that they can't discuss your account with a stranger.

Why we can't just get your data without one

Australian energy retailers won't release account or metering information to anyone who isn't the account holder or formally authorised by them. That's a good thing. It's the same protection that stops a random caller from pulling your usage history or fiddling with your account.

But it also means that before Daydream can do anything useful with your energy data, we need your written permission to ask for it. The LOA is that permission. Once it's in place, we can go to your retailer directly and request what we need, rather than asking you to chase down bills and meter data yourself.

What the LOA lets Daydream Energy do

With a signed LOA, Daydream can request from your retailer (or meter data provider):

• Historical interval data. Your consumption in 5- or 30-minute intervals, usually 12 to 24 months of it. This is the core dataset for everything we do.
• Meter and connection details. Your NMI, meter type and configuration, so we know what your site can actually measure.
• Tariff and plan details. The rates and structure you're currently on, so any analysis reflects what you actually pay.
• Copies of bills. To validate the data against what you've been charged.

For demand response programs, like our Sundown pilot specifically, this data is what lets us assess your site's demand response potential, establish an accurate baseline, and measure and verify your performance during events so you're credited correctly. Without it, we'd be guessing.

What the LOA does not let Daydream Energy do

This is the part people rightly care about, so let's be explicit:

• It is not a contract for energy supply. Signing the LOA doesn't sign you up to anything, change your plan, or commit you to the trial beyond the trial's own terms.
• It doesn't let us switch your retailer. Our LOA is a data authority. It does not include authority to transfer, churn or renegotiate your supply. If a broader scope were ever needed for something, that would be a separate, explicit authorisation.
• It doesn't give us control of your account. We can't change your billing details, your contacts, or anything else about how your account operates.
• It doesn't cost you anything. There's no fee, and your retailer can't charge you for a data request made under a valid authority.
• It isn't forever. The LOA has a defined term and can be revoked by you at any time with written notice. Revoking it stops our access; it doesn't affect your energy supply in any way.

One honest caveat that applies to every LOA, not just ours: LOAs are not all the same. Some brokers and consultants use broad LOAs that include contract and account authority. Ours doesn't, but you should never take that on trust from any provider. The document you sign is the source of truth, so read the scope. Ours is short precisely so that reading it takes two minutes.

What to check before signing any LOA (including ours)

1. Who is being authorised. Check the legal entity name and ABN match the company you're actually dealing with.
2. Exactly what's authorised. Data access only? Quotes? Account changes? Contract authority? The permitted actions should be listed plainly.
3. The term. How long it lasts, and whether it continues until revoked.
4. How to revoke it. There should be a simple written-notice mechanism. Ours is an email.
5. What happens to your data. Who holds it, how it's stored, and whether it's shared with anyone else. Daydream uses your data for the purposes described in the LOA and the trial terms, and doesn't sell it or pass it to third parties.

If any LOA fails those checks, or arrives unsolicited from someone you've never spoken to, don't sign it.

How it works in practice

For Sundown trial participants the process is simple:

1. You sign the LOA electronically during onboarding. It takes a couple of minutes.
2. We send the authority to your retailer with our data request.
3. The retailer releases your interval data and account details to us, typically within 5 to 10 business days.
4. We come back to you with your site assessment, and your trial baseline is built from real data rather than estimates.

You don't need to contact your retailer, find old bills, or do anything else. That's the point of the LOA: it moves the admin from you to us.

Frequently asked questions

Does signing the LOA change my electricity plan or retailer? No. It's a data authority only. Your supply arrangement is untouched, and nothing about your billing changes.

Will my retailer contact me about it? Some retailers confirm data requests with the account holder before releasing information. If yours does, that's them doing their job. The request will be from Daydream Energy under your signed authority.

How long does the LOA last? For the term stated in the document, or until you revoke it in writing, whichever comes first.

Can I revoke it? Yes, at any time, by written notice (an email is fine). Revocation ends our access to request further data. It has no effect on your energy supply.

What do you actually do with my data? For the Sundown trial: assess demand response suitability, build your baseline, and measure and verify event performance so you're credited accurately. More generally, we use energy data to analyse and operate flexible demand. We don't sell it, and we don't share it beyond what the LOA and trial terms describe.

Is this the same as Consumer Data Right (CDR) energy data sharing? It's a parallel path to a similar outcome. CDR is a regulated digital framework for consented data sharing; an LOA is a direct written authority to your retailer. Depending on your retailer and meter, we use whichever route gets your data fastest and most completely. Both require your explicit consent, and both are revocable.

Ready to see what your site's data says? Join the Sundown demand response trial or get in touch and we'll walk you through the LOA before you sign anything.*