You cannot leave comment in this blogpost unless you are a part of the project panel.
What is Happening?
To minimise disruption to customers during the Christmas / New Year period, we’ll cease scheduling planned outages with a customer impact from 19 December 2025 until 4 January 2026.
Our Contestable Works office will also be closed from 19 December 2025, with business resuming as normal from 5 January 2026. During this period, minimal Essential Connections Portal cases/enquires/emails/documentation or Asset Labels will be processed.
What do you need to do?
- Review your planned interruption schedule for the dates above and work with your nominated Local Depot Switching Resource to reschedule where required.
- Communicate this information to relevant members of your organisation.
Further Information
If you need further information, please email aspinfo@essentialenergy.com.au.
You cannot leave comment in this blogpost unless you are a part of the project panel.
Updates to our Contestable Network Solutions leadership team:
Tom Bollard is our Contestable Design Manager. His Contestable Design team continues to support all Design Information Application, Design Submission and Notice of Arrangement Cases.
Daniel Welsh is our Contestable Planning and Assessment Manager. His Contestable Planning and Assessment team supports all Connection Applications, Connection Enquiries and detailed planning technical assessments.
Glenn Leman is our Connection Experience Manager. His Connection Experience team is a point of contact for connecting customers and help to ensure they have all the information they need to navigate the connections process.
Click on our support page for contact details.
Escalation process
As a reminder, if you are facing challenges with your connection project, please ensure you follow the following approach.
- Contact your Design and Certification Officer with the initial request for help.
- The Design and Certification Officers will brief their Team Leader who will attempt to resolve the matter.
- If needed, the Team Leader will raise it with the Contestable Design Manager, who will seek to determine a path forward that is acceptable to all parties.
- If your customer wishes to speak to somebody at Essential Energy to understand any requirements for a project, please advise the Certification Officer, who will ask the Connection Experience team to help co-ordinate a meeting.
What do you need to do?
- Review the above and ensure you update your contacts in email and phone.
- Communicate this information to relevant members of your organisation.
Further Information
If you need further information, please email techconnect@essentialenergy.com.au.
You cannot leave comment in this blogpost unless you are a part of the project panel.
What is happening?
Our External Sales Team is available Monday to Friday between 7:30am and 4:00pm to help you order the materials you need for your Essential Energy projects. We aim to respond to all enquiries within two business days. Here’s how we can help:
- Need a current price list: Let us know and we’ll be happy to provide it
- Purchasing materials for approved ECN projects through External Sales: Email us at external.sales@essentialenergy.com.au and we’ll send you a quotation. Orders will be processed once an ECN project number has been provided
- Order collection and lead times: Purchase orders can be collected from our Grafton or Wagga Wagga warehouses. Current lead times are around 4 weeks from the date of order, although this may vary for direct delivery items or special orders.
- Items not on Approved Material List (AML): If you need materials that don’t appear on the current price list or AML, please reach out to us at external.sales@essentialenergy.com.au. We’ll be happy to review your request and see how we can help.
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As a reminder: Please ensure you provide the Essential Energy items numbers you require to ensure we can provide your quote.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or would like more information.
What do you need to do?
Communicate this information to relevant members of your organisation.
Further Information
If you need further information, please email external.sales@essentialenergy.com.au.
You cannot leave comment in this blogpost unless you are a part of the project panel.
What's happening?
Essential Energy wishes to inform all ASPs that the Commercial Services Team will have periods of limited availability from Monday, 22 September 2025, through Friday, 26 September 2025, due to scheduled travel commitments. As a result, there may be delays in responses from both the Network Assurance Team and the TechConnect Team during this period.
Please be assured that this will not affect any planned outages. We appreciate your understanding and patience as our teams collaborate to further enhance service delivery for our ASPs and customers.
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
You cannot leave comment in this blogpost unless you are a part of the project panel.
What is happening?
In February, the NSW Government advised solar energy businesses that it was developing a Consumer Energy Resources (CER) Installer Portal, which will support the Emergency Backstop Mechanism in NSW by making it easier for installers to comply with new obligations.
Solar businesses and industry associations have asked the NSW Government and NSW DNSPs (Ausgrid, Endeavour Energy and Essential Energy) to ensure that industry advice has been considered when developing the NSW CER Installer Portal.
You can Click here to find updates on:
- industry engagement during portal development
- current project status, and
- a program of support and training we’re developing to help you prepare for these changes.
What do you need to do?
- Communicate this information to relevant members of your organisation.
- Find additional details regarding the Emergency Backstop Mechanism and the CER Install Portal on the DCCEWW website
- View this communication via Essential Engagement.
Further Information
If you need further information, please email future.networks@essentialenergy.com.au.
You cannot leave comment in this blogpost unless you are a part of the project panel.
Essential Energy sent out a satisfaction survey invitation on Thursday 4th September (subject: Annual ASP/EC Satisfaction Survey Your Feedback Needed) to gather feedback on our connections services.
Thank you to those who have already completed the survey - your feedback is greatly appreciated and will help us improve our services.
This survey focuses on your experience with the Connections Portal, Connections Process, our communication, and overall ease of doing business with Essential Energy.
Your feedback is valuable in helping us identify what's working well and areas where we can improve our services to better support your business needs.
The survey takes approximately 4-6 minutes to complete and all responses are confidential. We encourage you to provide honest feedback to help us enhance our service delivery.
What do you need to do?
- Complete the customer satisfaction survey if you haven't already check your email for the invitation sent Thursday 4th September
- Provide honest feedback about your experience over the past 12 months
- Share this reminder with relevant members of your organisation who interact with Essential Energy's connections services and may have received the survey invitation
- View this communication via Essential Engagement
Further Information
If you need further information, please email aspinfo@essentialenergy.com.au
You cannot leave comment in this blogpost unless you are a part of the project panel.
What is happening?
We’ve recently become aware of a bug within issue 8 of the CEOF1070.02 - Review of Environmental Factors Worksheet PDF file that caused some results not to display the calculated risk score.
We apologise for any inconvenience. We’ve fixed this bug, and a new version of the file – Issue 9 – is now available to download from the Document Library. Please use this latest version for all Design Submissions.
What do you need to do?
- Review the above and download the latest version from the Document Library.
- Communicate this information to relevant members of your organisation.
Further Information
If you need further information, please email techconnect@essentialenergy.com.au.
You cannot leave comment in this blogpost unless you are a part of the project panel.
What’s happening?
We’re letting you know about changes to our easement policies and processes that will:
- streamline document signing
- help maintain safe distances from electricity infrastructure, and
- update customer and landowner deed compliance.
We’re also clarifying Crown land requirements for electrical work.
Transition to electronic signatures
From September 2025, Essential Energy will transition to digital and electronic execution to make easement document signing more efficient and convenient for everyone. To assist you, we’ll update the example Transfer Granting Easement and Section 88B Instrument contained in CEOP8046 – Easement Requirements with our suggested electronic execution clauses.
While traditional signatures will still be valid, they may result in slight delays in easement document signing. We encourage everyone to embrace the benefits of using digital signatures.
Updated easement dimensions
We're updating CEOP8046 – Easement Requirements to include the following dimensions for switching stations:
- 4 way switching stations will require an easement of 4m x 3m
- 4 way switching stations plus bus-tie and 6 way switching stations will require an easement 5m x 3m.
Additional easements will be required to maintain safe distances on properties adjoining electricity infrastructure
We’re incorporating changes to CEOP8046 – Easement Requirements aimed at preventing potential fire hazards and enhancing safety for electricity infrastructure and surrounding properties. For example:
- a restriction on title will need to be registered on any property within 6 metres of a pad mount to ensure compliance with fire segregation.
- powerline blowout must be taken into consideration when determining the easement requirement on adjoining properties.
Updates to Customer and Landowner Deeds (including Agreement for Creation of Easement and Crown Land Acquisition Deeds)
We’ve updated our Agreements in response to changes in unfair contracts legislation. We’ll make the new documents available after 25 September 2025. Both old and new Deeds will be valid for 6 months. After that, only the new documents must be used.
We’re keen to gain your feedback on these changes to ensure they are well-informed and helpful
Please send any questions, concerns and suggestions by 17 September 2025 via email to conveyancingteam@essentialenergy.com.au.
Clarification of Crown land requirements for electrical work where Section 53 applies
The Roads Act distinguishes between Crown Roads and Council Public Roads. This distinction means that section 45 of the Electricity Supply Act can be utilised for Council roads, but not for Crown roads.
Consent is required to enter all private and public land. The Crown decides the form that this consent takes: a letter, a licence or a section 138 consent. If the Crown is prepared to provide consent by a letter, it must specifically provide:
"Crown Lands as the owner Lot xxxx DPxxxxx (Property) acknowledges that [Insert name of Customer for Works] will engage an Accredited Service Provider to undertake electrical works on the Property on existing electrical assets (ASP). While Essential Energy will continue to own and operate the existing electrical infrastructure pursuant to Section 53 Electricity Supply Act 1995 (NSW), Crown Lands acknowledges that Essential Energy is not undertaking any works and provides consent to the ASP to access the Property and undertake the relevant works."
It is important to note that this form of consent will only be accepted by Essential Energy where Section 53 applies. It is unlikely that the Crown will provide a letter of consent where any third-party interests, including Native Title, may exist.
What do you need to do?
- Communicate this information to relevant members of your organisation.
- Provide us with your feedback by 17 September 2025 email to conveyancingteam@essentialenergy.com.au.
Further Information
If you need further information, please email conveyancingteam@essentialenergy.com.au.
You cannot leave comment in this blogpost unless you are a part of the project panel.
What is happening?
On 15 May 2025, Essential Energy applied for a ring-fencing waiver to establish a training academy with hubs in Goulburn, Grafton, Orange, Parkes, Tamworth and Wagga Wagga and deliver contestable technical and safety training courses to the electricity industry.
The facility will aim to provide accredited training to future-proof internal workforce sustainability and, through commercial course offerings, address existing skills shortages and evolving training needs across the broader energy sector.
The waiver (from clauses 3.1(b), 4.2.1, 4.2.2 and 4.2.3 of the Ring-fencing Guideline (electricity distribution), would enable Essential Energy to offer two certificate IV courses from 2025 to meet current industry demand, ahead of establishing a full training academy by 2027.
Your input is welcomed
The AER will be interested to hear from third parties supporting the waiver on:
- Need for skilled workforce in regions for energy projects out to 2050 (project proponents)
- What is the current availability of training services in regions for energy projects and where lack of availability, what is the impact on project economics and delivery (project proponents) Benefits to projects and regional economic development of having regionally based workforce training (project proponents, regional councils-business community) in the short and longer-term
- Benefits to safety and overall workforce capability in underserved areas.
You can lodge your written submission through the AER website here - Initiation | Australian Energy Regulator (AER), via e-mail to AERringfencing@aer.gov.au.
Submissions must be lodged by close of business on 5 September 2025.
What do you need to do?
- Find further information, including the initiation notice, on the AER website, click here to view.
- Communicate this information to relevant members of your organisation.
Further Information
If you need further information, please email aspinfo@essentialenergy.com.au.
You cannot leave comment in this blogpost unless you are a part of the project panel.
What is happening?
On 22 July 2025, Essential Energy announced it had moved the timing for submission of Protection Settings and Switchboard Review requests to assist with lead times on standard connection projects. To further improve this process, we have also removed the requirement of an Intent to Connect (ITC) case being submitted prior to Protection Settings or Switchboard Review requests.
Key Changes:
- Any registered Essential Connections user can submit Protection Settings and Switchboard Review requests directly.
- There is no need for a Level 2 ASP or Electrical Contractor to first submit an ITC.
Submission Timing Remains Unchanged:
- Basic Connection Projects – After Connection Offer is issued.
- Standard Connection Projects – After Design Information Pack has been issued.
Compliance Item Completion:
- NOSW and CCEWs can only be submitted once all compliance items (Protection Settings and Switchboard Review) are completed.
- These must be submitted by a Level 2 ASP or Electrical Contractor.
- NOTE: It is the responsibility of the Connection Applicant (or their nominated representative) to ensure the engaged Level 2 ASP or Electrical Contractor are aware of all compliance items and any related site-specific conditions.
What do you need to do?
- Continue to submit your requests through the Essential Connections Portal.
- Communicate this information to relevant members of your organisation.
Further Information
If you need further information, please email techconnect@essentialenergy.com.au.
What's New?
Whats new - June 2025 (378 KB) (pdf)