On 28 September 2021, Essential Energy submitted a cost pass through application seeking to recover costs in relation to the 2019–20 bushfires. The bushfires burnt more than 3.4 million hectares in Essential Energy's network area or over 60 per cent of the total fireground in NSW, resulting in power outages to over 104,000 customers. Essential Energy submitted that it classes this impact as a result of a single natural disaster event, which consequently led it to incur materially higher costs in providing direct control services. To recover these costs, Essential Energy proposed a positive pass through amount of $33.8 million ($nominal), smoothed over the final two years of its 2019–24 regulatory control period.
On 21 March 2022, the AER released its decision on Essential Energy’s 2019–20 bushfire natural disaster cost pass through application. The AER has determined that the 2019–20 bushfires that are the subject of Essential Energy’s application do not constitute a single natural disaster event. Instead, the AER has determined that the bushfires in Northern NSW and the bushfires in Southern NSW constitute two separate natural disaster events and that two positive change events have occurred under the National Electricity Rules. The AER has approved pass through amounts of $11.1 million ($nominal, smoothed) for the Northern NSW bushfire event, and $20.2 million ($nominal, smoothed) for the Southern NSW bushfire event, to be recovered as follows over two regulatory years:
- $5.4 million ($nominal) to be recovered in 2022–23 for the Northern NSW bushfire
- $9.8 million ($nominal) to be recovered in 2022–23 for the Southern NSW bushfire
- $5.7 million ($nominal) to be recovered in 2023–24 for the Northern NSW bushfire
- $10.4 million ($nominal) to be recovered in 2023–24 for the Southern NSW bushfire