During the year, we continued to focus on our digital resilience program, which will bolster cyber security, improve system resilience and enable more renewable energy on the network.

Recognition of our digital transition progress included Brad Flanagan, Digital Operations Manager, being awarded the Emerging Technology Leader of the Year at the 2025 iTnews Awards. These awards recognise the people who have inspired industry through growth, change and adversity, as well as the best IT projects in Australia.

The exploration and use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) across the business has continued to grow in momentum throughout the year with a range of specific pilots in areas such as asset inspection, customer communications and asset management. Alongside this we have established and strengthened our risk, governance and compliance around the responsible use of AI. The use of Microsoft Copilot has also expanded significantly across the business with users in both field and office-based roles taking advantage of the efficiencies it brings to everyday operations and tasks

The focus over the next 12 months for AI will be to further develop our policy settings, strategy and responsible use of AI in line with our core business processes – enabling us to work smarter for the benefit of our customers as well as employee and public safety, while uplifting the efficiency of our operations.

To improve digital access and reliability in the field, more than 250 Starlink devices have been deployed to teams across the network. The Starlink low Earth orbit satellite internet service enhances internet coverage in rural and remote locations, which is essential as we digitise our operations. Reliable internet coverage also improves the safety and efficiency of our crews in the field. The deployment followed a successful trial of the devices in 2023–24.

The Meter to Cash (M2C) program is a high-priority initiative to replace our billing and market systems with a modern, fit-forpurpose solution. M2C will enable Essential Energy to meet emerging regulatory and business requirements while improving the efficiency of our customer and market interactions.

M2C covers the end-to-end process from electricity and water meter data collection through to market transactions, network billing to retailers, water billing to customers, and the receipt and processing of payments.

Detailed project planning was completed in early 2025, and the business case formally approved. The program has entered the delivery phase, with solution design, build and testing activities underway. The program is expected to be completed during 2026–27.

In 2024–25, we strengthened our cyber security posture through the continued execution of a comprehensive action plan addressing regulatory compliance, identity and access management, data protection, incident response and recovery, and enterprise standards.

We embedded cyber security considerations into enterprise-wide project and delivery practices, supported by targeted education initiatives to reinforce employee awareness and accountability. Notably, we advanced the development of secure architecture patterns to support operational technology (OT) environments, including solar, Stand Alone Power Systems, and other distributed energy resources.

These initiatives align with and respond to evolving regulatory requirements, including updates to the Security of Critical Infrastructure Act 2018 (Cth) and version 2 of the Australian Energy Sector Cyber Security Framework (AESCSF).

We are leveraging our digital systems to improve customer information, including during power outages, when timely information matters most. During 2024–25, this included launching a new automated Estimated Time of Restoration (ETR) feature, to deliver faster power restoration estimates for customers. Using location information, incident type and category, the tool automatically calculates an ETR, and shares this information with customers via the power outages page on the Essential Energy website.