AE is NOT an early game mod. You don't want to touch it until you have a reasonably stable constant power source, and you don't want to do anything major with it until power scarcity is no longer a thing for you.
Not true. AE is one of those mods that has a spectrum of use and is not limited to "early" or "late".
The most basic setup is an ME chest hooked directly into an engine. Even a sterling engine will work. This provides you with a great, large, storage area in a relatively small space. Normally I don't take this step but that is because it is such a short time before the next one that I simply don't bother. Much like most of the "early tier" entries in other mods which have a wide spectrum of usage.
A step up from that would be a basic network (controller, drive, access point/crafting table) which can run off just a few MJ. This is my normal entry point into ME. At this point my "power network" consists of a pair of hobbyist engines and if I'm feeling froggy, actual conduits.
From there we get into cross-mod autocrafting w/buses and level emitters as well as some basic automation. Normally at this point I have a small solid fueled boiler and maybe 4 commercial engines.
The top end is when we get the autocrafter where you need a large power supply. But that is post-quarry with a beefy LP or a mid-range HP driving industrials.
The main limiting factor for AE post-1.5.x is access to the nether. Which in vanilla can be considered mid-game but in modded minecraft is actually fairly early. You can get into the nether before getting diamonds.