What is Happening?

To minimise the disruption to customers during the Christmas / New Year period, no planned interruptions with a customer impact will be scheduled from 19th December 2022 to 2nd January 2023.  

Also, Contestable Works will be closed during the same period with business resuming as normal from 3rd January 2023. 

Minimal processing of emails/documentation or Asset Labels will occur from Contestable Works mailbox during the above-mentioned period.

What do you need to do?

1. Review your planned interruption schedule for the dates above and work with your nominated Local Depot Switching Resource to reschedule where required.
2. Communicate this information to relevant members of your organisation.
3. View this communication via Essential Engagement.

Further Information

If you need further information or support, please email aspinfo@essentialenergy.com.au.

Essential Connections Weekly Update 3rd November 2022

Projects with 2 applications and therefore 2 Essential Connections Numbers (ECNs)

It has come to our attention that some projects in Essential Connections have 2 application cases and 2 ECNs. This only applies to some cases which were raised in the old portal and migrated across to Essential Connections, requiring the creation of ‘dummy’ applications for all design jobs to flow through the new portal.

There are two different scenarios:

• A Connection Application was created in Essential Connections after Drop 1 (June 2022) and a DIA was requested in the old design portal prior to Drop 2 – in this scenario, the original Connection Application and the ‘dummy’ application both exist within Essential Connections, each with their own ECN; or
• A DIA was requested in the old design portal that has not yet had a Connection Application processed – in this case, when the Connection Application is applied for it will generate its own ECN (with the DIA already having a different ‘dummy’ application and ECN created during the migration process).

If you find you have a project in either scenario, please:

• Use the DIA ECN and related ‘dummy’ application case number for your design requests (easements, non-standard approvals, asset labels).
• If you need to obtain a connection offer prior to Design Submission, add a note into the collaboration section of the design submission case by creating a post, and entering the new Connection Application case number and ECN. The Design and Certification Officer will then ‘link’ the two ECNs together within the system for future reference. You will not see this linking in the external portal.

Important changes to the standard construction schedule & earthing verification process

As you know, changes to the standard construction schedule will be taking effect soon. Whilst the target date for these changes to occur was initially the 21st of November 2022, we are exploring options to delay these changes to minimise any impact to you and your colleagues. You will be advised once we have a confirmed date.

More information on the changes was covered in yesterday’s drop-in session along with upcoming changes to the earthing verification process. For anyone who was unable to attend or would like to refer back to it, a link to the recording will soon be made available to you.

Need help?

A registered user guide has been published on our Essential Connections Support to help you navigate the new design portal. Note: If the latest version (October 2022) doesn’t appear, select the CTRL+F5 keys together to refresh the guide.

Our last support session will be held next week to answer any questions you may have. An FAQ document will then be made available to you to assist with any questions and concerns offline.

For design specific training, click on the recording to access the Level 3 ASP design training Recording.

What do you need to do?

1. Access our Essential Connections Support to view our registered user guide.
2. Sign up to the above session to have your questions answered live.
3. Communicate this information to relevant members of your organisation.
   

Further Information

If you need further information, please email aspinfo@essentialenergy.com.au.

Hi All,

We are reintroducing the Standards Reference Forums which were last held in 2021 to promote engagement and consultation for development and implementation of design and construction standards.

We are engaging in a spirit of openness and transparency to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes and improvements across the scope of design and construction standards.

The Standards Reference Forums scope does not include Contestable Design and Certification, Connections, Outage Management, Authorisations and Electrical Safety Office queries.

The forum will be chaired and facilitated by Manager Network Assurance with support from Manager Engineering Overhead, and Manager Engineering Underground.

Topics included at this forum include Overhead and Underground Standards and streetlights updates.

Your invited.

• Date: Thursday the 10th of November 2022.
• Time: 10:00am - 12:00 Midday.

what do i need to do?

• Register in advance to attend by clicking on this Register Here.
• After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
• Communicate this information to relevant members of your organisation.
• View this communication via Essential Engagement.

Essential Connections Weekly Update 26th October 2022

The new design portal went live on Monday 24th October 2022, allowing new design applications to be submitted via the Essential Connections portal.

Data migration activities in relation to existing design applications and submissions are almost complete and most files related to design cases should be available from today.

Large files may take until the end of the week to come through the new system. If you need access to any missing files urgently, please email: contestableworks@essentialenergy.com.au and provide the relevant reference details for Essential Energy to manually attach the files to the new system.

Process for re-certifications

We have had a couple of queries around the process to follow for recertifications.

If the design for your project was certified via the Contestable Works process, you will need to follow the Contestable Works process for recertification.

If the design for your project was certified in the Design Portal (ST projects) or in the Essential Connections portal, you will need to complete the recertification in Essential Connections.

If you need to do a recertification of a design in Essential Connections on a migrated design case, you may find that you error messages on your screen. In this instance, check the compliance checkboxes in the same way you do for a new design submission (follow the external user guide for design submission). This won’t be required where you do a recertification on a design certified in the new portal.

Need help?

A registered user guide has been published on our Essential Connections Support portal, to help you navigate the new design portal. The guide contains information on how to log in, submit requests in the new portal and where to go for additional support so please use this as your first point of contact, along with the below support sessions. Note: If the latest version (October 2022) doesn’t appear, hit the ctrl key + F5 to refresh the guide. Please find a link to the Level 3 ASP Design Training Recording.

Our support sessions continue, with many great questions received so far, so please join one of our upcoming sessions to have your questions addressed live.

What do you need to do?

1. Access our Essential Connections Support to view our registered user guide.
2. Sign up to one of the above sessions to have your questions answered live.
3. Communicate this information to relevant members of your organisation.
4. View this communication via Essential Engagement.

Further Information

If you need further information, please email aspinfo@essentialenergy.com.au.

As you know, the BetterConnect project has been preparing for the next Essential Connections release, which will support the design phase of the end-to-end connections process to be managed in the Essential Connections portal.

Although we are progressing well with ensuring the readiness of the system, and it is available for the submission of new design applications, we are experiencing a delay in making your existing design-related data available.

What does this mean for you?

New and in-flight connection enquiries and applications

• The system is now open and ready to accept new connection enquiries and applications and Essential Energy is able to assess and provide you with connection offers

New design submissions

• You can now submit NEW easement requests and design related services (design information application requests, design submissions, asset labels and non-standard approvals) via the Essential Connections portal.

Existing design submissions (design information applications, design submissions and non-standard approvals)

• Whilst you will be able to see your in-flight design cases we are still migrating your design file attachments into Essential Connections portal - these will be available progressively over the coming days.
• We anticipate that all data will be available this week

PLEASE DO NOT ACCESS OR PROCESS ANY IN-FLIGHT DESIGN PROJECTS AS THIS MAY CORRUPT YOUR REQUESTS

Design Information Applications where the Connection Application was Submitted in the NECF Portal

If you have a design information application (DIA) request to submit for a project where the connection application was processed in the NECF portal you won’t be able to submit the request until you get an Essential Connection Number (ECN) and application case number from us. Please send an email to contestableworks@essentialenergy.com.au and include your connection offer number and street address and we will be able to provide you with the information you need to submit the Design Information Application (DIA) request.

Need help? Join our Essential Connections support sessions and have your problems solved live!

Support sessions have been scheduled to address any system questions and solve your problems live. If you need help accessing the portal or have any navigation questions, please join us in one of our sessions and we’ll do our best to assist you!

For learning materials and our step by step Registered User Manual

Information on Essential Connection portal and how to use the solution can be found on Essential Energy's support page, check out the Essential Connections Portal Registered User Manual.

Additional support

If you can’t make any of the support sessions mentioned above, please send an email to the relevant mailbox based on your type of enquiry.

Note: please send your enquiry to one mailbox only and do not cc other mailboxes as this will delay Essential Energy’s response to your enquiry.

Essential Connections Weekly Update 20th October 2022

We continue to work towards next Monday 24th October 2022 for the new design portal to go live. As previously communicated, the following processes are going live on Monday 24th October @ 09:00am.

• Design Information Applications
• Design Submissions
• Non-Standard Approvals
• Asset Labels
• Easements

Construction (Level 1 ASP) processes will not be used in the new system until later in the year. These processes will continue to be carried out via Contestable works and we will communicate further around the phased onboarding approach for construction.

If you have missed this week’s Essential Connections ASP information session or would like to revisit any of the information, please view the Information Session and/or watch the Recording.

Level 3 ASPs: Accessing Essential Connections on Monday 24 October 2022

Existing Level 3 ASPs who have been using Essential Connections will automatically have access to the portal – there is no need to register for the new system.

When you access the system on Monday, the ‘Design Portal’ tile will have disappeared from your OKTA screen, leaving only the ‘Essential Connections’ tile. Use the Essential Connections tile from Monday to access all your design related activity.

For some L3 ASPs you may find an error message when you log in, depending on how you have bookmarked the Essential Connections portal in your browser. If this is the case, simply go to Essential Energy okta to login to the system (and make sure you update your bookmark).

Essential Connections Design Go Live Support Sessions – Starting next week!

Click on the link(s) to register your attendance for one of our support sessions.

NOTE: Drop-in support sessions have been scheduled after go-live to support you and address your enquiries live. These sessions should be your first point of contact to have your queries answered.

Change in easement hold point

Not all projects will be able to transition to the new hold point as highlighted below.

What do you need to do?

1. Review the overview presentation and watch the session recording by clicking on the Essential Connections Information Session above.
2. Access the level 3 ASP 3 hub on Essential Engagement for links to training materials and our user manual.
3. Communicate this information to relevant members of your organisation.
4. View this communication via Essential Engagement.

Further Information

If you need further information, please email aspinfo@essentialenergy.com.au

Essential Connections Design Go Live Support Sessions

Drop-in support sessions have been scheduled post go-live to support you and address your enquiries live. These sessions should be your first point of contact to ask questions.

What do you need to do?

Register for the Drop-in Support Sessions that suits you.

Further Information

If you need further information, please email aspinfo@essentialenergy.com.au

Essential Connections will be unavailable from 18th October (5pm) to 24th October 2022 (9am).

As you may be aware, Essential Energy has been working on the next release of the Essential Connections portal which will support the design and construction phases of the end-to-end connections process to be managed in the one system.

To prepare for this next release, a number of activities need to be undertaken to migrate data from the existing system to Essential Connections.

What do you need to know?

From 18th October (5pm):

• The Essential Connections applications and enquiries portal will not be available from 5pm, Tuesday 18th October until 9am (AEDT), Monday 24th October 2022.
• Similarly, the Design portal will not be accessible during this time.
• There will be a freeze on design information requests, design submission requests, asset label requests, non-standard approvals and re-certification requests (that have been submitted via the design portal).
• All new design information requests will be required to be submitted via the new Essential Connections portal and will not be accepted via email.

What do you need to do?

If you are not already registered user of the new Essential Connections & Design portal, please Register Here.

Essential Connections Portal will be available on the 24th of October 2022 @ 09:00am

Further Information

If you need further information, please email aspinfo@essentialenergy.com.au

Weekly update on Essential Connections

We continue to work towards 24 October 2022 for go live.

Please find attached the Essential Connections overview presented during the weekly update session. If you missed out or would like to revisit any of the information, click on the Essential Connections Information Session to view the Slide Pack.

The next session will be held on Wednesday 19th October 2022 from 8:30am – 9:30am and cover:

Follow this link Join Zoom Meeting if you are interested in joining next week’s meeting.

Transitions activities

Please remember that from 5:00PM on 18 October 2022, the current design portal will no longer be accessible as we will start migrating data across to the new system.

ASP support sessions

Level 3 ASP Essential Connection Go Live Support Session – 25th October 2022.

Level 1 & 3 ASP Information Sessions – as usual each Wednesday from 8.30am – 9.30am.

NOTE: all ASP sessions from go live will be focused on delivering in-session system and process support for Design (October) and for Construction (November & December).

Design Information Application (DIA) submissions in the NECF portal

If you have an existing connection application that was lodged in the old portal and need to submit a Design Information Application (DIA), you will receive a communication providing you with an Essential Connections Number (ECN) and a case number to enable you to submit a DIA in the new system.

What do you need to do?

1. Review the content covered in the last Essential Connections ASP information session.
2. Please complete our readiness survey. It will only take 2 minutes.

Further Information

If you need further information, please email aspinfo@essentialenergy.com.au.

What is Happening?

Unfortunately, system issues with submission of connection applications and enquiries in the new Essential Connections Portal have resulted in delays in processing applications.

At the moment, the average time to process an application is approximately 15 to 20 days.

We apologise and ask for your patience as we put plans in place to resolve system issues and onboard additional staff to reduce the backlog and process your requests within our standard target of 10 days.

To assist in getting an application completed, please ensure you have filled out the application accurately and all required documents are uploaded.

What do you need to do?

1. Make sure your application is filled in with acturate information and you have attached all the required documents
2. Communicate this information to relevant members of your organisation and your clients.
3. View this communication via Essential Engagement.

Further Information

If you need further information, please email aspinfo@essentialenergy.com.au.