Processes and Contacts

This section has been constructed to assist NECA members to better understand the differences between electricity distributors and electricity retailers.

What is the latest news about REConnect?  Yes, it is still happening and REConnect greatly appreciate your patience.  They are currently in the final stage of a trial period where they are testing real live data submitted by four participating electricians and one major retailer.  The trial is testing the system's reliability and performance so that it meets the expectations of external and internal users.  They are finally getting close to Going Live and will very shortly be advertising the release date.

The REConnect Project team are providing further free training sessions to RECs throughout metro and regional Victoria.  Each session is approximately 2 hours and the session times are 10.00am and 1.00pm.  Below are the dates and venues for this training.

• 26/10/2011 Powercor Office, 740 Ballarat Road, Ardeer.               
• 24/10/2011 Powercor Office, 40 Market Street, CBD Melbourne.     
• 27/10/2011 Powercor Office, Norman Street, Ballarat                    
• 03/11/2011 Powercor Office, 601-611 Napier Street, Bendigo         
• 08/11/2011 Powercor Office, 7 Strong Street, Warrnambool          

So far RECs that have attended the training have endorsed this initiative which CitiPower and Powercor have undertaken to develop a system solution that alleviates the concerns that RECs have with the current manual process for submitting EWRs.  They are positively excited that the system provides a variety of features such as:

• The ability to submit and view the status of a job 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• The ability to trade all jobs
• Streamlined EWR process with the inclusion of attaching CES and other documentation to the EWR.
• Receipt of SMS or email updates on job progress.
• Receipt of an anticipated connect by date
• Time reductions with following up jobs between Retailers and CitiPower/Powercor.
• The prospect of eliminating the chances of lost or cancelled paperwork

As part of the project activities they are incorporating the REConnect Portal access and REC registration into the www.powercor.com.au or www.citipower.com.au website after Go Live.  The website will also contain training materials such as simulations and work instructions to provide ptoential users with the ability to learn about the functionality of the Portal from remote locations.

If you have an interest in attending one of our training sessions or have any further questions you wish to have answered, pleased contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

If you are not a NECA member and would like to know more about this or other matters than you can click here to read about the many benefits of NECA membership. You can also call NECA on 03 9645 5533 or email NECA  with your membership enquiry and we will contact you to discuss membership.