An Essential Energy work truck parked on the street in front of a modern suburban brick house at dusk.

Wed, 11 Nov 2026 20.00 GMT

Press Release

Essential Energy Completes Enterprise Migration to Kraken

  • More than 950,000 connection points migrated to Kraken Distribution in 17 months as part of Essential Energy’s billing transformation, replacing a series of legacy systems with one source of trusted data, enabling new AI & analytics use cases
  • Approximately 75% fewer retailer/network billing disputes relating to invoices issued through Kraken compared with the previous billing system and 3,000 business days have been saved on tariff changes*
  • More than 30% improvement in processing efficiency across billing and tariff processes, with fewer manual steps and shorter completion times.
  • Around 400.000 connection points migrated in less than two weeks at the peak of the rollout, with benefits being realised before the migration was complete
  • Co-created with Essential Energy as the first full-scale deployment of Kraken Distribution, the platform is now a core IT operating system supporting better customer outcomes and helping manage a modern, two-way grid

12 November 2026 - Melbourne / Port Macquarie – Kraken, the most-loved AI operating system for utilities, and Essential Energy today announced that Essential Energy has completed its migration to Kraken Distribution, Kraken's purpose-built operating system for electricity distribution networks. More than 950,000 connection points were migrated in just 17 months.

Essential Energy’s network covers more than 95% of New South Wales and parts of southern Queensland. As rooftop solar, batteries and electric vehicles reshape the grid, it has continued to innovate in how it manages its network, and needed a core operating system that could keep pace. Essential Energy partnered with Kraken to co-create the platform.

As a result of Kraken’s migration methodology, Essential Energy began realising benefits while the migration was still under way. When the program began in July 2025, Kraken Distribution had not yet been deployed at a distribution utility. The first connection point went live four months later, and at the peak of the migration about 400,000 National Meter Identifiers (NMIs) were migrated in less than two weeks. As connection points moved onto Kraken Distribution, simpler billing and end-to-end automation delivered efficiency improvements of more than 30%, including 3,000 business days saved on tariff change processes. Retailer billing disputes are down by approximately 75% compared to the previous billing system.

Kraken Distribution brings connection point, customer, tariff, consumption and billing data together, automating workflows and helping Essential Energy manage modern tariffs and a two-way grid. It replaces fragmented legacy systems with a single source of trusted data, so teams have meter, asset, standing and customer data in one place for faster problem solving, accurate billing and more streamlined operations. It reduces manual handling of metering and tariff updates, strengthens billing and reconciliation controls, and gives teams clearer information when resolving enquiries and exceptions. The consolidated data foundation is also supporting new AI and analytics use cases at Essential Energy.

“Fifteen months is fast for any utility transformation of this scale, and Essential Energy didn't wait for go-live to see the benefits: fewer disputes, far less manual effort, and a stronger foundation for innovation," said Amir Orad, CEO of Kraken. "Utilities do not need to accept transformation programs measured in years. With the right technology, delivery model and partnership, they can modernise decades of complexity at speed while continuing to run critical operations."

"The way customers use the electricity network is changing as more households and businesses adopt rooftop solar, batteries and electric vehicles. We need systems that can keep pace with that change," said John Cleland, CEO of Essential Energy. "Our partnership with Kraken has brought together Essential Energy's network expertise and Kraken's technology to create a product purpose-built for distribution networks. Kraken Distribution gives us greater flexibility to configure and manage new tariff structures, helping us support a more dynamic and decentralised energy system."

Kraken already has a partnership with Essential Water involving the migration of 15,000 supply points to the Kraken operating system, allowing for more streamlined service orders, reducing the need to work across multiple systems, and supporting personalised customer support, and an improved billing experience.

The migration extends Kraken's operating system for utilities across the energy value chain, from generation and retail to distribution. Kraken Distribution is built for network operators in liberalised markets looking to modernise core operations, respond quickly to market and regulatory change, and support a more flexible, decentralised electricity system.

Notes to editor

* Using Kraken Distribution, Essential Energy completed a recent tariff change for a retailer that was not feasible using the previous billing system. The same activity would have required an estimated 3,000 business days of manual processing in that system.

About Essential Energy

Essential Energy builds, operates and maintains one of Australia's largest electricity distribution networks, serving more than 950,000 customers across regional, rural and remote communities. Its network covers 95 per cent of New South Wales and parts of southern Queensland, spanning 737,000 square kilometres from the desert to the coast and from alpine to subtropical regions. It also operates Essential Water, providing water and wastewater services in New South Wales. Delivering safe and reliable power is at the core of its work. Through innovation and technology, it is supporting the energy transition and enabling the network of the future. essentialenergy.com.au

About Kraken

Kraken is the most-loved and proven operating system for energy. We help utilities transform their tech and operations, and embrace the benefits of AI so they can lead the energy transition.

Built specifically for utilities, Kraken’s AI already runs inside live utility operations, from meter reading and billing to customer service, field work and asset flexibility, on a single data model supporting more than 90 million accounts worldwide. Kraken's agents resolve customer issues, orchestrate workflows and trigger approved actions within the guardrails each utility sets. Through Open Kraken, utilities and their partners can build their own AI applications and agents using the Kraken Universal Access Layer, while Kraken remains the single system of record, action and regulatory compliance.

Kraken supports households, businesses and large industrial customers, helping utilities innovate faster, unlock revenue, make energy more affordable and build a smarter, more resilient grid. Trusted by leading energy companies including EDF Energy, E.ON Next, Octopus Energy, Origin, Plenitude, National Grid, Tokyo Gas and TotalEnergies, Kraken has a 100% migration success rate at more than 40 large global firms. Kraken delivers measurable results, including up to 40% greater efficiency, 3× improved customer satisfaction, and shifts up to 15GWh of energy every day.

One operating system unifies data, automation and intelligence across the energy value chain, from generation through distribution to supply, and extends to water and telecommunications providers. Continuous releases give clients better AI as we build it, and fast, seamless migrations get them there without disruption.

Headquartered in London and New York, with regional centres in Paris, Tokyo and Melbourne, our mission is to make a big, green dent in the universe and improve one billion lives.