Level 2 ASPs

As part of Essential Energy’s commitment to continuous improvement, we are seeking feedback from our customers and business partners about how easy we are to do business with.

Feedback received from ASPs and Electrical Contractors to date has assisted us in ensuring that the capabilities and quality of our products and services are meeting your expectations now and into the future.

Over the next few weeks, a representative from Woolcott Research & Engagement may contact you to participate in a survey that will assess your satisfaction with our service delivery and operational performance. Your input is needed to help Essential Energy optimise customer outcomes and ensure our operations are aligned to your needs.

Further Information

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

Background

The 2019/2020 bushfire season was unprecedented. Across NSW 2,439 homes and more than 6,500 buildings have been lost, possibly up to a billion wildlife perished and, tragically, 34 people lost their lives.

More than 104,000 Essential Energy customers had their power supply impacted by fires over this time, with our teams replacing 3,200 poles, 4,500 cross arms and using over 430,000 materials to make repairs.

The devastating event will never be forgotten with the priority now on helping those impacted. To assist bushfire-affected customers Essential Energy is providing a reimbursement for power supply connection.

When assisting a bushfire-affected customer to connect to Essential Energy’s network, please assist us with connection application and reimbursement processing by taking the following steps:

• submit an Application for Low Voltage Connection, stating on it that the application is for a ‘Rural New Connection’ (even if the connection is for an urban area), and
• note in the comment section that this is for a bushfire-affected customer.

Please provide as much information as possible to assist us in reviewing and processing the application. If possible, also provide photos and / or sketches of the existing and future sites.

The Briefing on Connections for Bushfire-Affected Customers under Information on Essential Engagement will provide more information on connection application and customer reimbursement processes.

What do you need to do?

1. Review the Briefing document '20200512 - Connections for Bushfire-Affected Customers' 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 ancillary.services@essentialenergy.com.au

What is happening?

The Electrical Safety Office (ESO) has completed a minor review and update of CEOP8030 Electrical Safety Rules that is now available on Essential Energy’s Document Library as Issue 17. Details of the changes are listed in the revisions section of the document.

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?

From 1 July 2019, the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) introduced new regulatory charges for Ancillary Network Services. As an Accredited Service Provider (ASP), Authorised Person (AUP) or Electrical Contractor (EC), you would be aware of the current Ancillary Network Services charges applicable to services you provide to your customers.

Effective 1 July 2020, there will be a price increase of approximately 2.6 per cent on all Ancillary Network Services.

You can read more about Essential Energy’s draft pricing for Ancillary Network on our website at: Essential Energy > Our Network > Network Pricing and Regulatory report > Network Pricing. Additional information will be made available once the 2020-21 pricing schedules have been finalised and approved by the AER.

What do you need to do?

1. Review the 2020-21 ‘draft’ 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

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

The situation with Coronavirus (COVID-19) is an unprecedented global and national health crisis.

As mentioned previously, Essential Energy has enacted its Pandemic Management Plan and established a Pandemic Preparedness Team (PPT) to proactively manage our organisational response.

To assist Essential Energy’s response to the COVID-19 crisis we have developed critical controls to minimise the risk of exposure to COVID-19 when interacting with third party associates in warehouse and store locations.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the necessary controls put in place may limit Essential Energys warehouses’ ability to provide sales service to Accredited Service Providers. This will present the following constraints on the sales process:

• Order Processing: please provide the outage date when placing orders for Planned Outages which are deemed High Priority – a member of our External Sales team will contact you to discuss restrictions prior to processing the order.
• Cancelled Orders: if an outage is cancelled you will be unable to return products to Essential Energy’s warehouses.
• Quotes: will be processed as normal, lead time may not be available for items not in stock, this will depend on the supplier and the precautions they have in place for supplying of items. We can’t guarantee the shipments from our suppliers.
• Direct Delivery Orders/ Drop Ship Orders: will be placed on supplier’s, with the delivery date confirmed when the order is acknowledged by the supplier. This will depend on the supplier and the precautions they have in place for supplying of items under COVID-19.
• Pick-up from Warehouse Locations: protocol must be followed strictly - saved under documents on Essential Engagement.

Due of the constraints above we encourage our ASP Partners to engage their upstream suppliers directly for material orders.

If you require any further information or assistance, please email external.sales@essentialenergy.com.au.

What is happening?

The Electrical Safety Office recently completed a review of Operational Procedure: CEOP2377 Equipotential and Personal Protective Bonding.

Updates now incorporate the recent amendments made to CEOP8030 Electrical Safety Rules and other feedback received from within the business.

Details of these updates are listed within section 7.0 of CEOP2377 issue 6, now available on Essential Energy’s Document Library.

Safety Brief 905 - CEOP2377 Equipotential and Personal Protective Bonding Issue 6 is being shared for your information and can be accessed from Essential Energy’s Document Library or Essential Engagement.

What you need to do?

Communicate this information to relevant members of your organisation

For Further information

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

What is Happening?

As an organisation delivering critical services to communities across NSW and employing thousands of people across the State, it is crucial for rural, regional and remote NSW that Essential Energy responds effectively to COVID-19.

Essential Energy has enacted its Pandemic Management Plan and established a Pandemic Preparedness Team (PPT) to proactively manage our organisational response.

In line with our Pandemic Management Plan, the objectives guiding Essential Energy’s ongoing response are to:

• Protect the health and wellbeing of Essential Energy employees, contractors, suppliers and the community;
• Minimise the risk of Essential Energy being a source of infection for employees and the broader community; and
• Reduce the risk of operational disruption to Essential Energy and Essential Water.

To ensure appropriate social distancing is maintained many of Essential Energy’s employees are working from home, where operationally possible, this includes members of the Asset Management and Engineering division.

The Design and Certification team will be transitioning to working from home over the coming days. Throughout the next few weeks, as we continue to implement our measures to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask you to please correspond with the individual team members via the group email address contestableworks@essentialenergy.com.au, or, directly with the team via their individual email.

The Contestable Connections team are also beginning to work from home and should be contacted via their individual email.

At this stage the Technical Enquiries team remain available via phone on the enquiries number.

We assure you that the team will be doing their best to ensure there is minimal impact on Contestable Works, and will continue to keep you updated on any further changes as the pandemic continues.

Thank you for your understanding.

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

Last week one of Essential Energy’s mailing lists was targeted by a phishing email with a PDF link that was malware. We would like to remind our ASP partners to be vigilant for these emails and maintain your cyber security.

A phishing email is a fraudulent attempt to obtain your sensitive information by a sender disguising themselves as a trustworthy entity.

If you receive a phishing email please take the following actions:

• Delete the email
• Do not open it and do not click on any links
• If you click on a suspicious link, we recommend you change all your passwords
• Do not forward the email

Further Information

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

SafeWork NSW have created two videos to raise safety awareness in the Solar industry. You can view these videos on SafeWorks NSW YouTube Channel or follow the links below.

• Electrical Risk

• Risk of Fall