Customer Advocacy Group

Customer Advocacy Group – Thank You

After more than 25 years, the Customer Advocacy Group (CAG) has evolved into a new stakeholder engagement model. This group has played an invaluable role in shaping Essential Energy’s decisions, ensuring the voices of customers across regional, rural and remote communities in New South Wales were heard.

CAG members have provided critical consumer perspectives, helping guide Essential Energy through significant changes in the energy sector. Their insights have influenced strategies, policies and initiatives that benefit customers and strengthen the way we do business.

Some of the group’s contributions include:

Increasing levels of solar exports can affect power quality on certain days in specific network areas. CAG members discussed innovations to benefit customers and the energy system, offering insights on flexible connection agreements, pricing reforms, battery trials, and network investments.
Working together on public safety initiatives and communications in the agricultural industry, targeting key seasons and high-risk safety concerns.
Engaging on Essential Energy’s 2024-29 Regulatory Proposal to the Australian Energy Regulator (AER).
Exploring how Essential Energy can most effectively assist communities in disaster response.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to all past and present members for their commitment, expertise and collaboration. Your contributions have made a lasting impact on our customers and the communities we serve.

Customer Advocacy Group Terms of Reference

Customer Advocacy Group – Thank You

After more than 25 years, the Customer Advocacy Group (CAG) has evolved into a new stakeholder engagement model. This group has played an invaluable role in shaping Essential Energy’s decisions, ensuring the voices of customers across regional, rural and remote communities in New South Wales were heard.

CAG members have provided critical consumer perspectives, helping guide Essential Energy through significant changes in the energy sector. Their insights have influenced strategies, policies and initiatives that benefit customers and strengthen the way we do business.

Some of the group’s contributions include:

Increasing levels of solar exports can affect power quality on certain days in specific network areas. CAG members discussed innovations to benefit customers and the energy system, offering insights on flexible connection agreements, pricing reforms, battery trials, and network investments.
Working together on public safety initiatives and communications in the agricultural industry, targeting key seasons and high-risk safety concerns.
Engaging on Essential Energy’s 2024-29 Regulatory Proposal to the Australian Energy Regulator (AER).
Exploring how Essential Energy can most effectively assist communities in disaster response.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to all past and present members for their commitment, expertise and collaboration. Your contributions have made a lasting impact on our customers and the communities we serve.

Customer Advocacy Group Terms of Reference

Your Questions

Please submit your question for the Customer Advocacy Group to raise at their next meeting with Essential Energy.

Why do you perform network maintenance on a weekend? I understand that there may be a standard response of "taking into consideration the health, safety and environmental procedures and policies, as well as customer impacts". However, for most full-time workers, especially in a rural area in this case, this is extremely inconvenient and detrimental, as this is the only time where work around the property may be completed. Why is the network maintenance not scheduled during normal business hours on a weekday, when the majority of people are away working and everyone's children are in school? Taking into account that there are also usually penalty rates payable over a weekend to employees, affecting the costs involved, especially when the planned maintenance is over an entire day.

N asked over 1 year ago
Wherever possible Essential Energy does plan network maintenance midweek. However, when power outages are necessary on a weekend, we minimise the number of affected households and businesses through careful planning.

Some reasons why outages take place on the weekend:
- To minimise the number of power outages affecting customers, Essential Energy at times schedules power outages on a weekend to enable additional crews to be brought in from other depot locations outside the local area, to assist local crews to complete large maintenance and upgrade works in the shortest time possible;
- Weekend outages may also be scheduled to address urgent electricity maintenance issues / faults that cannot easily be slotted into the work’s program;
- Outages at times are scheduled for the weekend due to back-log of work often resulting from inclement weather, for example, rain, high wind, storms, dust storms, snow storms etc;
- Weekend outages are also considered to avoid impacts where outages will affect retail, commercial and business customers;
- A weekend outage may also be considered due to impacts on traffic. Some works require roads to be fully or partially closed, and vehicles to be moved. Areas are assessed on a case by case basis.
Where possible, dates and times for interruptions are selected as having the least impact on the greatest number of premises. We also strive to provide customers with clear information and adequate notice of planned outages. The notification will have an expected date, time and duration of the planned interruption and will include a 24 hour telephone number for enquiries. Under the National Energy Customer Framework, Essential Energy must provide customers with at least four business days’ prior notice of a planned power outage to enable customers time to make alternative arrangements or employ a contingency plan specific to their own supply requirements.
Why do you perform network maintenance during the day in one of the most hottest of seasons as during the night would be far more user-friendly to existing customers?

Stuart asked about 2 years ago

Thank you for your question.
Essential Energy’s top priority is always the safety of the public, contractors and our employees.
Planned maintenance activities are scheduled on a case-by-case basis, taking into consideration the health, safety and environmental procedures and policies, as well as customer impacts.
In residential areas, planned power outages are generally more practical in the middle of the day when most customers are out of the house. Some of our work is unable to be completed at night due to a number of factors including safety and lighting.
Our operations are funded by our customers, and we must ensure we work as effectively and efficiently as possible. With this in mind, Essential Energy schedules maintenance work to minimise the effects on our customers throughout the entire year, while ensuring the safety of our communities and workforce and making every dollar count.

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Page last updated: 05 Dec 2025, 10:18 AM