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 any changes in services and charges, we will be developing supporting information and guidelines for ASPs shortly. These documents will be located on Essential Energy’s Document Library and we will communicate when they are available.

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 draft full-service pricing on AER website via Essential Energy - 2024-25 Price List - 20 May 2024 (AER)
• Visit the AER website to view all documents associated with the final determination at Essential Energy - Determination 2024-29 (AER). For ease of reference, Attachment 16 on the AER website outlines the new charges for Ancillary Network Services: AER Final Decision Attachment 16 - Alternative Control Services.

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?

In September 2023 Accredited Service Providers (ASPs) started to transition from physical identification cards to Digital IDs. This communication is to provide clarification on what to do when you change mobile phones.

The Digital ID will not move across to a different mobile phone and your ID credentials will need to be re-issued for the new phone. To action this, please email Essential Energy security, eesecurity@essentialenergy.com.au to let them know you are changing devices and ask for your credentials to be re-issued. Once you receive the new credentials please follow the original instructions.

What do you need to do?

1. Communicate this information to relevant members of your organisation.
2. Contact Essential Energy security, eesecurity@essentialenergy.com.au, when you change mobile phones.

Further Information

If you need further information, please email Essential Energy Security at eesecurity@essentialenergy.com.au.

IMPORTANT: Essential Energy have updated our Bush Fire Priority Ratings

Over the past 12 months, Essential Energy has updated their Bushfire Priority Ratings (BPR). The modelling used to determine the ratings has been improved through the energy networks Australia project IGNIS. This was a joint collaboration between several utilities and the University of Melbourne. For more information relation to the bushfire modelling change please click here.

What this means is that many areas that were a Priority 1 have changed and other areas in the state have been updated to Priority 1.

The map below shows the changes.

We store these BPRs in our GIS system. The GIS data has now been updated and pole reports and information in your Design Information Packs will now have the new BPR - P1 to P4.

Remember that P1 areas require specific design parameters for circuit clearance. Refer to CEOM7097 – Overhead Design Manual, Clause 3-4-4-4 Special requirements for bushfire risk areas.

NEARA GIS parameters

Designers would be aware that NEARA has GIS information when you select a pole.

Please note unfortunately, due to technical reasons, these BPR changes are not yet reflected within the GIS shown in Neara against each pole. Until the network model in Neara is updated, you will need to refer to the “Additional Properties” panel against each pole selected.

See the screenshots below for help in finding this data.

Please update your inflight designs from the master file to view the updated bushfire risk priority in the additional properties panel for each pole.

The links below will assist you in updating your design from the master file.

• How to Use Neara - Essential Energy Guide
• How to Use Neara - Video

All of Essential Energy’s how-to guides and training videos are available on Essential Energy’s Digital Asset Management page at the link below.

• Digital Asset Management

What do you need to do?

1. Review the above information and check the design information for latest Bushfire Priority Ratings.
2. When in NEARA, please refer to the BPR noted in the Additional Properties Panel.
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?

We’ve created a new Central Team under our Manager of Contestable Design, Glenn Leman.

The below map shows the depots that are within each of these three regions.

Meet the teams

Northern Region – Drew Bugden P: 07 5506 3838

• Graham Foxwell, Dan Sherwin, Craig McElroy, Cleveland Maltman, David Smith, Steve Cuningham, Martin Tanner

Central Region – Michael Wilson M: 0488 175 560

• Paul Turley, Cameron Woo, Jason Boundy, Jeena Joseph

Southern Region – Tom Bollard M: 02 6589 8496

• Micheal Parris, Chris Gorham, Jeremy Bryce, Wayne Armour, Luke Horton

Complex Team – David Shawcross M: 0437 558 903

• Paul Elston, Troy Dent, Justin Evans, Ben Dalgarno Fixter, Ben Saxon

Case allocations

Based on project location postcodes, cases submitted into the portal are automatically allocated to the relevant region queues. Sometimes if we’re experiencing a workload spike in your project’s region, your case may be allocated to a person from a different region.

Escalation process

If you're having difficulties with a project, please contact the Design and Certification officer via our Essential Connections Portal or by phone (on the number supplied in the Design information pack), or the Team Leader. If you remain concerned, you can escalate your difficulties to Glenn Leman, either by e-mail via glenn.leman@essentialenergy.com.au, or mobile on 0467 866 192.

What do you need to do?

1. Review the above information and attached map.
2. Save the Team Leaders contact details 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 Essential Energy ASP Forum (zoom) was held on 1 May 2024. The links to supporting material are listed below.

• Link to Forum slide deck click here
• Link to ASP Forum recording click here

What do you need to do?

1. Review the slide deck and watch the recording of the ASP Forum May 2024
2. Communicate this information to relevant members of your organisation

Further Information

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

Please be advised that maintenance will occur on Tuesday 30 April 2024 4pm to 5pm. During this time Secure Web Forms (SWF) will be unavailable.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate 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?

Please remember to name all files for a Design Information Application or a Design Submission appropriately and upload them to the correct area. If your files aren’t correctly named or uploaded, we’ll need to return your case to you. To avoid delays, please follow the user guides and tips below:

• User guide: How to submit a Design Information Application (DIA)
  
• User guide: Managing Design Certification and Recertification Submission

Tips for uploading files

• The Details tab within the case is reserved for the Design Information Pack (DIP) or Certified Plans we share with you. Please ensure you upload relevant information in the Submissions Item (Case) tab – see Section 6 in the User Guides
• Name the files correctly – see the naming standards indicated on page 22 of the user guides
• We do not accept ZIP files to be uploaded for design documentation (we will accept photos in a ZIP folder - see below)
• You can add multiple files at a time by selecting the files and dragging and dropping them
• Since you are not able to delete files, if you upload something incorrect by accident, send a collaboration post on the case with instructions and the Design and Certification Officers officer will correct any errors.

Photos

Please ensure that photos are included for all design submissions – see Design Submissions – Mandatory photos. Include the appropriate asset or site number for each photo file and only upload relevant files. If additional review is needed to interpret photos, you may be invoiced for the additional time.

You can ZIP photos files into a ZIP folder for upload or combine them into a PDF document. Please don’t send video files.

Downloading your DIP and Certified plans

We’ve updated our internal processes to enable our Design and Certification Officers to ensure that only current design document revisions are available on the details page in the latest case.

If you need to refer to a previous revision, you can open the previously issued case and see the files and when you request a new revision of a DIP or a design re-certification, Essential Connections Portal clones the last case and copies all the files across to the new case.

What do you need to do?

1. Review to the User guide: How to submit a Design Information Application (DIA), User guide: Managing Design Certification and Recertification Submission and Design Submissions – Mandatory photos communications.
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?

Essential Energy’s Biannual ASP engagement forum will be held on 1 May 2024 via Zoom. In this round, we’ll be covering a range of topics including:

• Safety
• Overhead Standards Essential Connections Portal, including the Construction rollout
• Details of surveyor’s advice, asset location survey plan
• Network Assurance update, including Level 1 ASP aged defects and Level 2 ASP process assessments
• Contestable Network Solutions, contestable projects which include working with neighbours and the planning report
• Ancillary Network Service fees
• Dedicated question time.

We encourage you to participate in this forum. You’ll have the opportunity to discuss our plans and initiatives, and to ask questions or raise issues with Essential Energy team members.

Registration

The forum will be held on Wednesday 1 May 2024 from 10.00am to 12.00 noon – please click here to register.

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 has changed?

Contestable Planning have introduced new Connections Planning Design Information Assessment Reports. These reports will contain project information, along with the technical assessment criteria and results. It will be presented in a way that can be shared with the Applicant.

Why change?

• To deliver a consistent format of assessment response for each project.
• To consolidate the technical planning assessment into an easily digestible report.
• To inform the ASP & Customer of the connection requirements and justification for augmentation.

What does this mean?

• Our future planning responses will be presented in this new format.
• The Design and Certification officer will be including the assessment into the Design Information Package where applicable. The information will be combined into the one PDF.

What do you need to do?

1. Look for and read the new Connections Planning Assessment document which is attached to the Design Information Package where applicable.
2. 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.

What is Happening?

Following identification of a potential safety issue, Essential Energy will no longer accept Type 3 pillars installed at the end of a staged LV circuit without both cables terminated.

Our pillars are internally designed to meet IP2X with the lid removed, primarily to protect our own internal employees and ASPs from inadvertent contact with live points while working within the pillar.

Without a second circuit into a Type 3 pillar, the IP rating is lowered and accidental contact between metallic tools or earthed conductors and exposed live points could occur when performing service installations or other maintenance work.

What do you need to do?

To ensure network safety, any designs you submit after today must include the correct pillar type and you must install a Type 6 pillar at the end of cable routes, even if a future stage is planned to be connected at the pillar location.

If a future stage of an underground subdivision requires the pillar to be changed from a Type 6 to a Type 3, design for the next stage will need to specify item 4 (CEOM7202.05 Catalogue no. 400612). When the additional cable is installed, the distribution block within the pillar can be changed from a 3x3 to a 6x3 arrangement.

What do you need to do?

1. Review and comply with this requirement.
2. Communicate this information to relevant members of your organisation.

Further Information

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