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Essential Energy finds capacity for more load and DER across 740,000 km²
How one of Australia’s largest utilities deployed Gridsight in months to unlock capacity across 95% of NSW, improving customer safety and supporting growing load and DER.
results
Measurable results growing at scale
~900K
Customers across the network
740K km²
Network covering 95% of New South Wales
58%
Smart-meter penetration used to build network visibility
CLIENT IMPACT
“Our focus is always on delivering better outcomes for our customers and communities, and we sought out specialist technology partners to help us do that. Gridsight has been exceptional to work with, implementing Visibility in a matter of months. Our network covers 750,000 square kilometers, and the insights are already helping us identify grid constraints, improve network visibility, and better understand utilization. We've since expanded our partnership with Gridsight to include Flexibility, giving us new capabilities to dynamically manage the grid and deliver even greater value for our customers - and that’s already gone live, too.”
Brad Thomas
GM Asset Management and Engineering, Essential Energy
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CHALLENGE
More load and DER put existing grid capacity under pressure
Essential Energy operates one of Australia’s largest electricity distribution networks, spanning approximately 740,000 square kilometers and serving more than 900,000 customers across regional, rural and remote communities.
As more distributed energy resources and new loads connect to the grid, Essential Energy needs to know where its network has room, where constraints are emerging and where existing infrastructure can accommodate more demand.
Answering those questions across a network this large is complex. Essential Energy needed a way to use its growing volume of smart-meter and network data to pinpoint constraints and available capacity network-wide, while giving teams the information they need to make better planning, safety and operational decisions.
As more distributed energy resources and new loads connect to the grid, Essential Energy needs to know where its network has room, where constraints are emerging and where existing infrastructure can accommodate more demand.
Answering those questions across a network this large is complex. Essential Energy needed a way to use its growing volume of smart-meter and network data to pinpoint constraints and available capacity network-wide, while giving teams the information they need to make better planning, safety and operational decisions.
Static operating assumptions give way to dynamic, constraint-aware operating limits.
Operations shift from reactive to proactive.
Manual analysis is replaced with automated, repeatable workflows.
SOLUTION
From network-wide visibility to active capacity management
For Brad Thomas, GM of Asset Management and Engineering, and his team, the goal was to better understand constraints and available capacity across Essential Energy’s vast network.
Brad’s engineering team deployed Gridsight Visibility, bringing smart-meter, GIS and network data together. Today, the platform incorporates meter data representing more than 571,000 customers network-wide, helping teams identify constraints, monitor safety and see where the grid has room for more load and DER. Visibility was implemented network-wide in four months, on time and with millions of dollars in internal project savings.
Essential Energy then expanded into Flexibility, reusing the same datasets and integration methods to reduce implementation effort, time and cost. Deployed in just three months to meet a regulatory deadline, Flexibility enables Brad’s team to actively manage available capacity as load and DER grow.
Brad’s engineering team deployed Gridsight Visibility, bringing smart-meter, GIS and network data together. Today, the platform incorporates meter data representing more than 571,000 customers network-wide, helping teams identify constraints, monitor safety and see where the grid has room for more load and DER. Visibility was implemented network-wide in four months, on time and with millions of dollars in internal project savings.
Essential Energy then expanded into Flexibility, reusing the same datasets and integration methods to reduce implementation effort, time and cost. Deployed in just three months to meet a regulatory deadline, Flexibility enables Brad’s team to actively manage available capacity as load and DER grow.
Utilities are being asked to connect more distributed energy resources, operate their networks more flexibly, and only invest in upgrades precisely where and when they are needed — while maintaining safety, reliability, and resiliency.
Utilities lack a unified, DER-aware decision layer to support fast, repeatable engineering decisions.
Results
Finding capacity for more load and DER across 740,000 km²
Gridsight is now used network-wide across Essential Energy, helping teams manage one of Australia’s largest and most geographically dispersed electricity networks. In July 2026 alone, 171 unique Essential Energy users accessed the platform.
The partnership has progressed rapidly from Visibility into Flexibility, with Connections now underway. By leveraging the same datasets and integration methods across products, Essential Energy can build on work already completed rather than starting over with each deployment, reducing implementation effort while saving time and cost.
The impact extends beyond implementation speed. Visibility is helping Essential Energy improve customer safety and identify emerging network constraints, while Flexibility enables customers to take advantage of available grid capacity.
Together, the capabilities help Essential Energy make better use of its existing network as new load and DER connect.
With Connections underway, the partnership is now extending that same foundation toward improving how new energy resources and loads connect to the network.
The partnership has progressed rapidly from Visibility into Flexibility, with Connections now underway. By leveraging the same datasets and integration methods across products, Essential Energy can build on work already completed rather than starting over with each deployment, reducing implementation effort while saving time and cost.
The impact extends beyond implementation speed. Visibility is helping Essential Energy improve customer safety and identify emerging network constraints, while Flexibility enables customers to take advantage of available grid capacity.
Together, the capabilities help Essential Energy make better use of its existing network as new load and DER connect.
With Connections underway, the partnership is now extending that same foundation toward improving how new energy resources and loads connect to the network.
