and construction of an LNG facility on Curtis Island. On 26 October 2017, gas producer and exporter APLNG entered into a sales agreement with Origin Energy, to supply 41 petajoules of gas under a 14-month contract starting 1 November. The contract brings the company's total commitment to 186 PJ for 2018, representing almost 30% of Australian east coast domestic gas market demand. Energy retailing Origin has approximately 4.217 million customers, servicing both large energy customers and the residential and small business market. Australia has predominantly two tiers of energy providers, A Tier 1 provider is any energy provider that holds more than 10% of the market share in any network region. Tier 2 energy providers are those that hold less than 10% of the market share within a network region. Origin Energy is a Tier 1 energy retailer. Electricity generation Origin operates is able to generate 6,010 MW of electricity capacity. This represents approximately 13 per cent of power generation capacity in the National Electricity Market. Controversies Whistleblower allegations In January 2017, The Guardian reported allegations of whistleblower Sally McDow, a former compliance manager at Origin. She claimed that the company had ignored various wellfield integrity problems, including failing to maintain hundreds of wells across Australia and New Zealand, failing to seal wells after their active lives and failing to report incidents internally or to the appropriate regulators. She also described a culture of bullying and harassment within the organisation. She said that she had advised the CEO at the time, and Grant King (then President of the Business Council of Australia) but that King did not want the incidents reported. He allegedly stated that the incidents could be used by opponents of the unconventional gas industry to delay or halt current or future projects. Origin denied the allegations. Beetaloo Basin fracking Origin was approved by the Northern Territory government to start fracking in August 2019 and drilling commenced in October 2019. Fracking began in September 2020 following a six-month COVID-19 induced stand down. Origin has postponed production at their Kyalla well site to the second half of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Concerns were expressed by local officials on the fracking operation, fearing that it could affect their ability to get groundwater and stating the local officials did not fully understand the contracts they were signing with petroleum companies. Accusations that Origin did not consult with traditional landowners