Questions and Answers

Essential Energy is committed to providing a safe and reliable power supply to all customers across regional, rural and remote NSW. As the transition to more renewable energy continues, it’s important we have a greater understanding of our customers’ energy usage, to allow us to better plan for future energy services. To support this, we have established a pilot to assist us with accessing data on customer energy use across NSW.

The Smart Energy Communities pilot involves installation of Wattwatchers smart energy management devices, with the MyEnergy app, for up to 200 Essential Energy network customer sites across three pilot communities. The recruitment of participants is being led by Wattwatchers.

The monitoring package - being provided at no cost to approved participants - is valued at over $900 at standard retail prices, and includes: hardware, pre-paid software, data and 4G communications subscriptions for three years (36 months), and installation by a licensed electrician.

Three locations across NSW have been chosen to participate in the pilot. These are Ivanhoe, Tibooburra and Palm Lake Resort Tea Gardens. These locations represent a range of different communities and electricity network considerations for the project.

Eligible sites will include homes, businesses, schools and other community facilities, with recruitment starting immediately (March 2023) for installation by 28 April, 2023. Criteria for eligibility include:

•    Being located in one of the pilot communities

•    Provision of safe accessibility and available space in the customer’s meter box or electrical switchboard to install the energy monitoring device

•    Consent to share energy data and receive offers through the MyEnergy app for up to two years.

Site recruitment was led by Wattwatchers and customers applied using an online form. Eligibility was evaluated, and applicants advised within five to seven business days as to whether or not they were approved for participation. The installation plan allows for a roughly equal split of up to 200 deployments between the three pilot communities, meaning 65-70 participants will be recruited from each community.

The device will provide participants with smart energy management information including:

•    User-friendly app and all subscriptions prepaid for three years

•    Detailed data & intuitive tools to help you to reduce and optimise your electricity use

•    Ongoing offers and opportunities to save money and reduce your environmental impact

For Essential Energy, the device will provide greater understanding of customer energy usage across NSW.

Wattwatchers is responsible for maintaining the monitoring device and service and provides online support to its customers via email: support@wattwatchers.com.au or use support options in the MyEnergy app or phone (02) 8316 7540.

If the device stops working, or has other problems, the Wattwatchers support team will assess the situation. If problems cannot be fixed remotely, Wattwatchers will send an electrician to fix or replace it under warranty. We will liaise with you to confirm next steps if this occurs.

The Wattwatchers device pilot will run for two years, concluding March 2025.

The monitoring device will be installed in your electrical switchboard.

It will take up to two hours for the licensed electrician to install the device and collect site information.

Participants will be able to download the Wattwatchers MyEnergy app to access data and insights on their own energy usage, in real-time, which may help them to change energy usage or behaviour leading to possible cost savings. MyEnergy app users may also receive in-app offers, some with rewards attached, as well as personalised energy use insights.

The monitoring package is valued at over $900 at standard retail prices, and includes: hardware; pre-paid software, data and 4G communications subscriptions for two years (24 months); and installation by a licensed electrician.

At the conclusion of the pilot, participating customers will have the option to keep the Wattwatchers monitoring equipment and MyEnergy app at their own cost for ongoing subscriptions (currently $60 a year plus GST), or to have the device removed by an electrician at no cost to them. Essential Energy may also seek to extend the data-sharing period for the pilot through further engagement with participants and their communities.

If you sell your property, let Wattwatchers know and they will liaise with the new owners. If the new owners choose not to be involved, the device will be disabled remotely or removed at no charge to them or yourself.

Wattwatchers is responsible for maintaining the monitoring device and service and provides online support to its customers via email: support@wattwatchers.com.au or use support options in the MyEnergy app or phone (02) 8316 7540.

Applications have now closed. To enquire about this program email smartenergycommunities@essentialenergy.com.au

Dynamic Connection Agreement Questions and Answers Dec 23

QnA Dynamic Connection Agreement

By signing a Dynamic Connection Agreement (DCA), you agree to allow Essential Energy to manage your inverter setting to achieve higher export limits when the network can accommodate it. Generally, we anticipate this will be done every 5 minutes as we monitor the load and exports on the network in real time using the Wattwatchers devices and our substation level metering plus other data such as weather feeds. We will need you to provide us with direct access to your inverter via your WIFI. (Note we do not need your WIFI password to do this)

Export limits apply to your premise (connection point). In the case of multiple devices that can export to the grid the sum of their exports must be no higher than the allowable fixed export limit. Where a Dynamic Connection Agreement (DCA) has been established the control of exports above the fixed limit will be managed for you by direct inverter management.

Yes, you will need to engage your solar installer at your own cost or for eligible devices Essential Energy will alter the setting for you as part of a Dynamic Connection Agreement (DCA) at a later stage.

The increased solar export will only commence after the setting in your inverter is altered to the higher limit.

Essential Energy will send you a Modified Connection Agreement to sign in July 2023.

Signing up to a Dynamic Connection Agreement (DCA) will cost you nothing. However, there may be some cost to you in upgrading your inverter or getting your approved solar installer to amend the inverter settings.

A Dynamic Connection Agreement (DCA) enables raising or lowering of export limits based on available network capacity and so there will be times in which the network instructs inverters to lower their export to facilitate network reliability.  However, your fixed export limit remains as the lower limit. We will permit more export when the network can accommodate it.

Essential Energy is subject to the highest data security requirement as we are classified as Critical Infrastructure. Data security and hosting obligations form part of our License conditions (Chapter 10) https://www.ipart.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/essential-energy-licence-variation-instrument-february-2019_0.pdf To meet these obligation we only host data in Australia and only accessible by persons authorised by Essential Energy in Australia.

If you sign up for a Dynamic Connection Agreement (DCA) even if your current inverter cannot communicate due to its age, when and if you upgrade your inverter, it is a matter of registering your new inverter with Essential Energy and  your dynamic connection will be enabled.

This is always a risk for any device connected to the internet. Your best defence is to have strong WIFI passwords. If you are unsure about this talk to your internet service provider.

There are a range of technical parameters that your inverter will exchange with Essential Energy’s “Utility Server” in accordance with an Australian interpretation of an American inverter communications standard. The full guide can be found here: https://arena.gov.au/assets/2021/09/common-smart-inverter-profile-australia.pdf This is a rather technically dense document however in essence it will be data such as voltage, time, and power needed to set the inverter. There is no personal data exchanged.  

Yes, your inverter must be able to communicate using a particular communications protocol and be connected to the internet. Generally, inverters made since 2020 are compliant with the required protocol. Older inverters may not be compliant. Essential Energy will be able to advise you once we have confirmed details on your current inverter.

Essential Energy achieves three things. Firstly, customers value their connection to the network more, secondly it speeds the transition to renewables, and thirdly the utilisation of our network increases thus ensuring our customers who have invested in the network we manage gain a greater return on their investment. To be clear Essential Energy is not gaining any increase in financial benefits from the implementation of Dynamic Connection Agreement’s.

Questions and Answers Batteries Dec Update

These are your Questions and Answers about Batteries