Where are we up to and what's next (February 2022)

We have completed Phase 1 of our engagement program and planning is underway for Phase 2, with customer engagement sessions starting on 15 February, 2022.

Phase 2 is about taking what we've learned from Phase 1, and together with customers and customer representatives, start to build the investment priorities and considerations for Essential Energy's 2024-29 Regulatory Proposal.

We are meeting with customers from seven communities across our network. The numbers in the map highlight the number of customers attending each Forum, i.e. 80 customers in Taree.

As well as customer forums we are also engaging through:

  • 7 group discussions with Youths, Councils, Accredited Service Providers, Renewable Developers and customer advocates
  • 6 in-depth discussions with culturally and linguistically diverse customers
  • 6 in-depth discussions with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander customers
  • 6 in-depth discussions with Commercial & Industrial customers
  • 6 in-depth discussions with Retailers
  • Surveys via telephone and online, plus direct polling
  • a Virtual Room continues to provide information into the topics we are discussing through the customer forums.

We want to make sure our communications material is fit for purpose and easy to digest so we continue Focus Groups to test materials.

Our Stakeholder Collaborative Collective (SCC) continues to meet each fortnight, to dig deeper into the issues and work with us to share advice and innovative ideas to co-design and guide decisions to develop the 2024-29 Regulatory Proposal. All SCC members are invited to attend the Customer Forums as observers, so they can hear the voice of customer directly.

Essential Energy has been working with other networks - Ausgrid, Endeavour Energy, Evoenergy, NT Power and Water and TasNetworks - to engage with consumer advocates to understand how we, as Distributed Network Service Providers (DNSPs), can best support the communities we serve in adapting to a changing climate over the next 10 years. We have produced a consultation paper, which you can read here, and have organised a stakeholder forum for consumer advocates on 8 February 2022. We look forward to sharing the learnings with you, throughout the engagement process.

We continue to conduct Customer Satisfaction, Brand & Reputation Research and are incorporating the insights learned into the feedback for engagement for the 2024-29 Regulatory Proposal.

At the end of Phase 2 we will have a clear understanding of customers' views and priorities in relation to the key issues.