Level 1 ASPs

What is Happening?

As the COVID situation continues to evolve, we wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued assistance to help by complying with NSW Health requirements as well as supporting Essential Energy in our COVID response.

ASPs travelling from Greater Sydney to work on Essential Energy's network must adhere to the NSW Government’s current COVID-19 rules and restrictions.

Before you commence work on our network, you must provide evidence on site that the NSW Health requirements have been met.

If evidence of the requirements is not provided, Essential Energy has the right to cancel the outage.

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?

An on-call crew were called to a wires down job and discovered a split round Low Voltage (LV) pillar box exposing live LV conductors

Customers onsite reported two children had received electric shocks while playing near the infrastructure. Parents of children were advised to seek medical attention for their children.

Essential Energy workers immediately made safe at the work site and placed a new pillar lid over the top of the damaged pillar and glued in place as a temporary repair.

What do you need to do?

1. Download and review Safety Brief – SB-985_ASP Damaged Split Round Pillar Exposing Live Low Voltage Conductors located on the Document Library and Essential Engagement.
2. 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?

In the most recent update to the Standard Contestable (Approved) Material List CEOM7004, a number of items have been removed. CLAH (Current Limiting Arcing Horns) surge arresters have been discontinued by the manufacturer and following a review of their requirement, CLAH surge arresters are to be withdrawn from Essential Energy Covered Conductor Thick (CCT) constructions.

Other associated equipment used in conjunction with CLAH surge arresters will also be withdrawn. The CCT construction drawings in Section CEOM7303 of the Overhead Construction Manual have been updated to reflect the changes.

The Standard Contestable (Approved) Material List CEOM7004 has also been updated and the associated material has been removed. For all other updates please make yourself familiar with Issue 55 of the AML.

What do you need to do?

1. Review the above construction drawings and the AML on the Document Library.
2. 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?

To enable Essential Energy to transition to a new, upgraded financial system in mid-August 2021, we need to pause the issuing of invoices from Essential Energy between 21 July and 16 August 2021.

Invoices will recommence on 16 August 2021 with Essential Energy’s new bank account details and will be sent via your company’s nominated email address listed in our system. To ensure we have the correct email address for your company, please email accounts.receivable@essentialenergy.com.au with your company name and preferred email address.

What do you need to do?

1. Email accounts.receivable@essentialenergy.com.au with your company name and preferred email address.
2. Ensure your Essential Energy’s new bank details are updated in your system from 16 August 2021 (new details can be found on invoices issued from this date).
3. All invoices will pause between 21 July 2021 and 16 August 2021.
4. 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?

To enable Essential Energy to transition to a new, upgraded financial system in mid-August 2021, we need to pause External Sales quotations and orders between 10 July 2021 and 16 August 2021.

No External Sales orders or quotations will be processed during this period.

What do you need to do?

1. Please ensure your jobs and required orders are planned ahead to cover a minimum four-week period.
2. All orders covering this period must be submitted by Friday, 9 July 2021.
3. 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?

Essential Energy has produced a new procedure for its workers providing guidance on handling Overhead Conductors whilst on the ground.

ASP Companies should review their own Safety Management Systems (SMS) to ensure they adequately address the hazards for workers who may handle overhead conductors from the ground, even under Access Permit conditions.

What do you need to do?

1. Download and review Safety Brief – SB-982_ASP Handling OH Conductors Whilst on the Ground on the Document Library and Essential Engagement.
2. 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?

After some recent incidents and inquiries from the ASP forums Essential Energy would like to inform Accredited Service Providers (ASPs) of their responsibilities

• Part 3 of the Electricity Supply Act 1995 (the Act), Section 31A, a person who provides contestable network services must be accredited, in accordance with the Electricity Supply (Safety and Network Management) Regulation 2014, to provide those services (an ASP).
• The NSW Accredited Service Provider (ASP) Scheme Rules (Scheme Rules) details the requirements for a Company/Business to be accredited and a worker to be registered under a Company/Business accreditation.
• Once an individual and or company (Business) is accredited as an ASP, any person engaged to carry out contestable work on behalf of that ASP must be:
  • Registered with the ASP Scheme, and
  • Authorised by the relevant local distributor to perform contestable network service.

Accreditation is not transferable. Therefore, if an ASP changes to operate under a new ACN, the new company will be required to make a new application to be accredited under the ASP Scheme.

All ASPs are required to register with the Scheme any personnel who will be performing work on or near existing electricity network on behalf of the ASP and for which the ASP is accredited.

An ASP must notify the Scheme of changes in staff. Personnel, including employees and sub-contractors, will not be able to be authorised by the local electricity distributor until they have been registered by the Scheme.

What do you need to do?

1. Review the above and ensure all workers are registered and authorised before undertaking contestable works.
2. 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?

The regulator mounting platform assembly Cat No 115526 item 3 bracket below has been changed to improve the bolted connection design.

The HV regulator construction drawings in Section CEOM7104 of the Overhead Construction Manual have been updated for this change and use 4 x M24 kingbolts in place of the previously used threaded rod to attach the brackets to the pole.

The latest construction drawings are now available on Essential Energy’s Document Library.

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?

The AER has approved Essential Energy’s new regulatory charges for Ancillary Network Services from 1 July 2021.

As an Accredited Service Provider (ASP), Authorised Person (AUP) or Electrical Contractor (EC), please use the new charges applicable to the services you provide when preparing quotations for work to be undertaken after 30 June 2021.

What do you need to do?

1. Review the 2021-22 Pricing Schedules for Ancillary Network Services available on the Essential Energy website
2. Accredited Service Providers, Authorised Persons and Electrical Contractors should consider pricing changes when preparing quotations for customers regarding future work
3. Communicate this information to relevant members of your organisation.

Further information

You can read more about Essential Energy’s Ancillary Network Services pricing on our website at: Essential Energy > Our Network > Network Pricing and Regulatory report > Network.

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

What is happening?

From 24 May 2021, all new low voltage customer switchboards with ratings of more than 100A per phase must comply with AS/NZ 61439.

Non-compliant submissions for Essential Energy review of switchboards more than 100A will be returned for revision.

To ensure your compliance and avoid processing delays, please familiarise yourself with standard AS/NZ 61439.

What do you need to do?

1. Review the above key changes in AS/NZ 61439 and submit switchboards for review to: switchboard.review@essentialenergy.com.au.
2. Communicate this information to relevant members of your organisation.

Further Information

If you need further information, please email aspinfo@essentialenergy.com.au or contact your local Network Assurance Facilitator.