What is a DNSP?
A Distribution Network Service Provider (DNSP) owns and runs an electricity distribution network in Australia. It takes power from the high-voltage transmission network and delivers it through zone substations, overhead lines, underground cables and local transformers to individual homes and businesses.
“Distribution Network Service Provider” is the formal term used in the National Electricity Rules, which govern the National Electricity Market (NEM) in the eastern and southern states and territories. In everyday use, DNSPs are also called distributors, distribution businesses, networks or simply the “poles and wires” company.
Each DNSP serves a defined geographic area, so customers don’t choose their distributor in the way they choose a retailer. The New Zealand equivalent is an electricity distribution business (EDB).
Retailers vs distributors in Australia
Australia’s electricity supply chain separates the roles:
- Generators produce electricity.
- Transmission network service providers run the high-voltage transmission network.
- DNSPs run the local distribution network.
- Retailers sell electricity to customers, set plans and send bills.
Customers usually deal with their retailer for billing, plans, payment difficulty and moving house. They deal with their distributor for faults, outages, hazards such as fallen lines, planned interruptions and many connection requests. Network charges are typically passed through on the retailer’s bill.
That split creates a common customer experience problem. Many customers don’t know who their distributor is, so they ring their retailer during an outage. Clear messaging on bills and websites, and smooth retailer-to-distributor hand-offs, matter.
What a DNSP’s contact centre handles
- Faults and outages. A 24/7 fault line for no-power reports and restoration updates.
- Hazards. Hazard calls about fallen lines, sparking equipment and vehicle accidents, which must be triaged and escalated fast.
- Planned interruptions. Questions about notified planned outages.
- Life support customers. Under the National Energy Retail Rules, retailers and distributors both have life support obligations, including around registration and planned interruptions. These customers are the Australian equivalent of New Zealand’s medically dependent consumers. Victoria has its own equivalent rules.
- Connections and network services, including solar and battery connections and, increasingly, EV charging.
Reliability and performance
DNSPs report reliability using measures such as SAIDI and SAIFI. In the NEM, the Australian Energy Regulator sets service performance incentives that can include reliability and customer service measures such as how quickly calls are answered, which ties contact centre performance directly to network outcomes. Check the AER’s current determinations for the measures that apply to your network.
Storm season
Many Australian networks face severe weather such as storms, cyclones, bushfires and floods, which can cut power to large areas at once and trigger a call avalanche. A DNSP’s contact centre plan therefore needs surge capacity, automation for routine outage questions and clear priority for safety and life support calls.