Abstract—In this paper, we propose to maximize the Energy Efficiency (EE) of a two-tier network by jointly optimizing the number of active small cell base stations (SBSs) and the user-cell association. We apply the concept of signaling and data separation where a macro cell base station (MBS) provides full coverage while the SBSs provide high data transmission. First, we model the spatial distributions of the SBSs and mobile users following two independent Poisson Point Processes (PPP) and derive the expressions for the Signal-to-Interference Ratio (SIR), user cell associations, power consumption and energy efficiency of the Heterogeneous Network (HetNet). Then, we formulate the EE maximization problem and solve it by proposing the Switching off Decision and User Association (SODUA) algorithm. The algorithm associates a mobile user to an SBS that offers the highest SIR and calculates the load of each SBS. The algorithm, then, decides to switch off the SBSs that have fewer mobile users than a threshold value, where the mobile users will be offloaded to a nearby SBS that offers the highest SIR. Finally, we calculate the EE of the HetNet. We compare the EE achieved by the proposed algorithm (i.e. after offloading) and that "without offloading". The results show that the proposed algorithm improves the EE of the HetNet and that the EE cannot be further improved by switching off more SBSs than a certain number.