Where are we up to and what's next (October 2021)

We have completed our engagement planning and are about to begin our Phase 1 engagement sessions, starting on 19 October.

The objective of Phase 1 engagement is to:

  • Inform customers and identify what’s important to them
    • What are the burning issues for customers and stakeholders?
    • What do they want from Essential Energy in the future?
    • What do they need to make informed decisions?

Phase 1 engagement will consist of:

  • Virtual Room Drop In for background information
  • 7 Visioning forums in the regions of Taree, Ballina, Inverell, Broken Hill, Dubbo, Wagga Wagga and Bega
  • 7 group discussions with Youths, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander customers, Councils, Retailers, Accredited Service Providers and Renewable Developers and customer advocates
  • 6 in-depth discussions with culturally and linguistically diverse customers
  • 6 in-depth discussions with Commercial & Industrial customers

PLANNING PHASE WORK TO DATE

  • A co-design workshop with stakeholders, including consumer advocates, was held to develop the key themes and topics for the Regulatory Proposal, identify the customers and stakeholders that Essential Energy should engage with and determine the depth and means of engagement. A summary of the discussions can be found here.
  • We met with our ‘Essential Connectors’ - a group of residential and small business customers who have taken part in previous engagements with us, for both the last Regulatory Proposal (2019-24) and in designing tariffs to trial for residential and small business customers. A summary of the discussion can be found here.
  • We formed our Stakeholder Collaboration Collective to help guide and challenge our engagement journey.
  • We began working with other distribution networks in NSW, the ACT, the Northern Territory and Tasmania, who are on the same time frame to develop their 2024-29 Regulatory Proposals. We have devised the areas where we can jointly collaborate to develop shared positions on topics and outcomes.
    • Our first collaboration was around how emerging electricity network services can be regulated to serve the long-term interests of customers - in regulatory speak, this is known as ‘service classification’. We published a joint document and delivered a public forum for stakeholders. A summary of the forum discussion can be found here.
  • We regularly conduct Customer Satisfaction, Brand & Reputation Research and are building on the insights learned and the service levels you expect.