As per our communications from 6 August 2024, the Electrical Trades Union (ETU) provided notice to Essential Energy of its intention to commence industrial action effective from 8 August 2024.

Essential Energy has received further notice of a range of indefinite or periodic bans, including limitations on work tasks and activities. We expect rolling industrial action to continue to take place in the short term and will continue to keep you updated.

Potential Impacts

The planned industrial action is likely to create unavoidable disruptions for ASPs, contractors and customers through the possible postponement of planned work. ASPs will receive notice of planned work being postponed on the morning of the job. Notice will be provided through a phone call or email that morning.

Any job that is postponed will need to be resubmitted via the Essential Connection Portal. For projects not being administered via the Essential Connections Portal, you will need to complete and submit a ‘Request for Planned Outage’ form CEOP6013 via contestableworks@essentialenergy.com.au.

What do you need to do?

Communicate this information to relevant members of your organisation.

Further Information

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

What is happening?

A revised version of the CEOP2015 Contestable Works Guidelines, Terms and Conditions for Contestable Works is available in the Document Library.

It has been reviewed and updated in its entirely to enhance clarity and reflect current processes, including rollout of Construction in the Essential Connections portal.

Section 8 Revisions provides a summary of major changes.

While many updates based on feedback from ASPs and internal stakeholders have been incorporated, some recommendations have been logged for further exploration. Any agreed or approved revisions will be included in future updates.

What do you need to do?

1. Communicate this information to relevant members of your organisation.
2. Review the document, on the Document Library

Further Information

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

UPDATE:

On 1 August 2024, the Electrical Trades Union (ETU) provided notice to Essential Energy of its intention to commence industrial action effective from 8 August 2024, with rolling one (1) hour stoppages for participating ETU members.

Essential Energy has also received notice of a range of other indefinite or periodic bans, including limitations on the following work tasks and activities:

• Use of a specified range of Information Technology programs and Applications
• Certifying and inspecting Accredited Service Providers’ (ASPs) designs and projects
• Verification on Life Support Customers for planned outages
• Field Staff Switching – meaning that power will not be switched off which will prevent certain planned works from going ahead
• Locking or unlocking of equipment including electrical cabinets, electrical equipment, switching stations and other hardware devices
• Issuing of access permits (other than during fault and emergency conditions) and field access authorities for non-Essential Energy employees
• Creating or writing planned switching sheets.

Some of the cited actions include a Safety Commitment that ensures a level of employees being available for fault and emergency.

The safety of our employees, customers and the wider community remains our number one priority. We are reprioritising work to ensure urgent and critical work can be performed as required, and Essential Energy will continue to respond to fault and emergency work throughout the industrial action to help ensure a safe and reliable power supply for all customers.

Potential Impacts

The planned industrial action is likely to create unavoidable disruptions for ASPs, contractors and customers through the possible postponement of planned work. ASPs will receive notice of planned work being postponed on the morning of the job. Notice will be provided through a phone call or email that morning.

Any job that is postponed will need to be resubmitted via the Essential Connection Portal. For projects not being administered via the Essential Connections Portal, a ‘Request for Planned Outage’ form CEOP6013 will need to be completed and submitted via contestableworks@essentialenergy.com.au.

What do you need to do?

Communicate this information to relevant members of your organisation.

Further Information

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

Essential Energy has updated its suite of model standing offers (MSOs) to align with emerging network and customer requirements. The previous suite of five MSOs has been rationalised to three:

• Basic connection service (with or without embedded generation)
• Standard connection service (with or without embedded generation)
• Standard connection (subdivision) service

Benefits include:

• providing the connecting customer with detailed information to ensure visibility of the processes and steps required to connect to Essential Energy’s network
• formalising the process of gifting customer-funded assets to Essential Energy for Standard connections
• highlighting site-specific conditions attached to the Connection Offer

Deed of Transfer

Our updated Standard connection and Standard connection (subdivision) MSOs now include a Deed of Transfer - Gifted Assets that outlines the terms of engagement between the customer/developer and Essential Energy.

The new MSOs and Deed of Transfer are effective as of 1 July 2024. Contestable works projects commencing after this date will be required to enact the Deed of Transfer prior to connection of customer-funded assets to the network.

What do you need to do?

1. Familiarise your team with the new Deed of Transfer – available as an appendix to the new MSOs on Essential Energy’s website.
2. Communicate this information to relevant members of your organisation.
3. Review the updated MSOs, on Essential Energy’s website.

What will we do?

1. Design a new process, in collaboration with Level 1 ASPs, for the administration of the Deed of Transfer
2. Provide ongoing updates and advice as we implement the new requirement.

Further Information

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

What is happening?

Essential Energy will be hosting an opt-in session for ASPs to talk through revisions to our CEOM7098 Distribution Underground Design and Construction Manual.

If you undertake underground work, we encourage you to attend this session, ask questions and raise any concerns with the team.

Registration

The Underground manual information session will be on Wednesday 28 August 2024 from 10.00am to 10.45 am – please click here to register.

What do you need to do?

1. Click on register to reserve your spot
2. Review the document, on the Document Library
3. Communicate this information to relevant members of your organisation.

Further Information

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

What’s happening?

Essential Energy has an External Sales Department from which Accredited Service Providers (ASPs) can purchase equipment, materials, and hardware that are Essential Energy approved for completing projects on the Essential Energy network.

What does this mean for you?

• Essential Energy warehouses only stock items approved for use on the Essential Energy network.
• Prices are regulated by the Australian Energy Regulator.
• A full list of available items, including item code, description, and purchase price, is available to download, click on CEOM7004 Operational Manual: Standard Contestable (Approved) Materials List
• Direct to site delivery from the supplier for manufactured, long lead time, and large quantity bulk items (e.g., substation transformers, overhead and underground cable, regulators, streetlights, street columns, conduits).

Additions to approved materials list

The composite Poles on the CEOM7004 Operational Manual: Standard Contestable (Approved) Materials List will be made available for purchase through Essential Energy, External Sales. Before placing an order, you will need to obtain a quote for the price and availability of poles and freight from the supplier. Email External Sales on external.sales@essentialenergy.com.au with the following:

• Your customer / company details and number
• Contestable Works Project Number
• Item code of the Composite Pole
• Quantity of poles to be supplied
• Delivery site address
• Purchase Order number

What do you need to do?

Go to the Essential Energy website and click on the link Partners Sale of Materials to ASPs.

Further Information

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

What has changed?

We’ve updated our Public Lighting Installation & Consent Form CEOF6127 to ensure consistency with the latest lighting standards.

Updates provide users with additional information on lighting categories and formalise the public lighting compliance sign-off procedure with the relevant road controlling authority, the lighting designer and the Level 3 Accredited Service Provider (ASP).

Previous versions of the Public Lighting Installation & Consent Form can be submitted up to 31 August 2024 to allow designs in progress to be completed.

All public lighting projects submitted after 1 September 2024 must be accompanied by Issue 9 of the CEOF6127 – Public Lighting Installation & Consent Form, which can be downloaded from the Document Library.

To submit a typical lighting design:

1. An ASP engages with the road controlling authority to determine the lighting scope.
2. The ASP or their nominated lighting designer completes an illumination design.
3. The ASP completes the CEOF6127 - Public Lighting Installation & Consent Form with relevant details.
4. The completed consent form and illumination design are forwarded to the road controlling authority for sign off.
5. The approved consent form and illumination design are submitted to Essential Energy as part of their design submission.

What do you need to do?

Please communicate the information to your clients as required and relevant members of your organisation.

Further Information

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

Background

Essential Energy recently received the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) Final Distribution Determination for Ancillary Network Services covering the 2024-29 Regulatory Control Period (RCP). This determination regulates the pricing structure for Essential Energy to provide services to external customers.

What does this mean for you?

From 1 July 2024, Essential Energy will implement approved Ancillary Network Services as per the AER’s determination.

To help you understand these services we have provided the Ancillary Network Services 2024-29 ASP Change Overview document that outlines the changes in services and pricing structures. In addition, we have provided you with an Essential Energy Complexity Matrix Calculator (Open in Edge browser). These items can be downloaded from Essential Energy’s Document Library.

Please note, however, that throughout the 2024-29 RCP, Essential Energy may introduce several new regulatory services in targeted areas, based on external feedback, statutory changes and to better reflect the way services are provided.

Additionally, implementation of the AER’s determination by Essential Energy from 1 July 2024 will incur CPI and other cost increases each year until 30 June 2029. ASPs should review service and price changes when preparing quotations for future work.

Where is information about the changes available?

Read more about the determination, and access the final full-service pricing on Essential Energy's website called Price Schedule for Ancillary Network Services - 1 July 2024

Visit the AER website to view all documents associated with the final determination at Essential Energy - Determination 2024-29. For ease of reference, Attachment 16 on the AER web site outlines the new charges for Ancillary Network Services: AER Final Decision Attachment 16 - Alternative Control Services.

What do you need to do?

1. Review the final Price Schedule for Ancillary Network Services 1 July 2024 located on Essential Energy's website and Document Library
2. Review the Essential Energy Complexity Matrix Calculator (Open in Edge browser) on Document Library.
3. Refer to our previous communication relating to Draft Ancillary Network Services 2024-29 published on Essential Engagement on 21 May 2024, to view click here.
4. Communicate this information to relevant members of your organisation

Further Information

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

Reminder:

As previously communicated in Essential Energy is no longer providing Accredited Service Providers (ASPs) with sealing pliers and seals.

This is a reminder for ASP’s that have paid a security deposit for sealing pliers to either:

Return those sealing pliers to Essential Energy before 30 June 2024, and Essential Energy will provide a refund* of the security deposit paid by the ASP in respect of those sealing pliers.

Sealing Plier Return Postal Address

Network Authorisations Essential Energy

122 Queen Street

Grafton NSW 2460

Please provide bank account details for security deposit refund.

OR

Advise Essential Energy that the ASP wishes to keep the Essential Energy supplied sealing pliers, and Essential Energy will retain the ASPs security deposit as payment for the sealing pliers.

*For an ASP to receive a refund of their security deposit from Essential Energy, the sealing pliers must be returned to Essential Energy in a sound useable condition with all dies present (as per Essential Energy’s Operational Procedure: Electrical Inspection: Distribution and Maintenance of Sealing Pliers and Security Seals (CEOP2031) can be downloaded from Essential Energy Document Library).

Any ASP who does not return their sealing pliers supplied by Essential Energy before June 30 2024 will forfeit their security deposit paid to Essential Energy, and the sealing pliers in the ASPs possession will transfer to the ASPs ownership and be at the ASPs risk.

What do you need to do?

Please share this communication with relevant people in your organisation.

Further Information

For any assistance or enquires regarding this new process please contact the network authorisations team via email authorisations@essentialenergy.com.au or phone 02 6643 7850.

Over the coming weeks, you’ll see Essential Energy look a little different. Our logo has been updated, and the look and feel of our communications is being refreshed.

You’ll start seeing these changes from 4 June progressively across our websites, portals and digital channels, and in our correspondence, documentation and more.

Our two logos will coexist for a while, so you may see our old and new brands in various channels and communications materials at the same time.

Here’s a look at our new logo.

While our Essential Energy logo has changed, who we are and what we do remains unchanged.

Thanks for working with us to enable energy solutions that improve life for our customers and communities.

What do you need to do?

Communicate this information to relevant members of your organisation.

Further Information

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