Service line down or sparking? Call the network first
If the line from the street is down, sagging onto something, or sparking where it meets the house, that's an emergency for the network, not a booking for a Level 2. Stay at least 8 metres away and call your network: Ausgrid on 13 13 88, Endeavour Energy on 131 003 or Essential Energy on 13 20 80. Call 000 if anyone is in danger. Once it's safe, ask the network whether the repair is theirs or yours to arrange.
What Level 2 work covers
Energy NSW runs the Accredited Service Provider Scheme under section 31A of the Electricity Supply Act 1995, and only accredited providers can do this contestable network work. Level 2 ASPs build or change the service lines between the network and your property's point of connection, energise new or altered connections, and work on customer-owned network devices such as the service protection device on the main switchboard.
Level 1 providers build poles, wires and underground network assets, and Level 3 providers design them. On a typical house, Level 2 is the one you'll deal with.
Meters run on a separate track. On the Ausgrid and Endeavour Energy networks, your electricity retailer arranges new and replacement meters, and on Ausgrid every new or replacement meter installed since 1 December 2017 has had to be a smart meter. The Level 2 looks after the connection around it.
Jobs that usually involve a Level 2
- A new connection, such as a new home or a knockdown rebuild.
- Going from single-phase to three-phase power. Three-phase power upgrades explains why you might.
- Moving an overhead service line underground. Underground power and power poles covers the options.
- Fixing a defect on a private pole or private overhead wires. Ausgrid points owners to Level 2 providers for these.
- Moving or replacing a meter box where the supply has to be disconnected and reconnected.
- Reconnecting a disconnected property. On Essential Energy's network, only an accredited and authorised Level 2 or Essential Energy itself can do that.
Your network decides who's authorised
New South Wales has three distribution networks: Ausgrid in Sydney, the Central Coast and the Hunter; Endeavour Energy in Sydney's Greater West, the Blue Mountains, the Illawarra and the South Coast; and Essential Energy across regional, rural and remote NSW. On top of the NSW accreditation, individual ASP workers need authorisation from the local distributor.
That authorisation doesn't travel. Ausgrid says its ASP2 authorisation isn't valid in any other distributor's area, and it requires ASP2 companies to guarantee completed contestable work against defects for 3 years. So the Level 2 you use needs to be authorised for your network, not just accredited.
Each network has its own process too. Endeavour Energy takes most connection and upgrade applications through its online Connections Portal, and many basic jobs get instant permission to connect.
How a job with a Level 2 usually runs
Most jobs have two sides. A licensed electrician does the work inside your property, like a new switchboard or meter box wiring. The Level 2 does the network side: the service line, the connection and the energising. Sometimes one business holds both; sometimes two work together, so ask which before you start.
Flood recovery on the NSW North Coast shows the order. Under Essential Energy's process, a licensed electrical contractor inspects the property and logs a Certificate of Compliance for Electrical Work (CCEW), and a Level 2 then reconnects the power.
The CCEW covers the electrical work on your side. Since 1 July 2026 it's lodged through the Building Commission NSW eCert portal within 7 days of the work finishing, and the electrician can enter your email so the system sends you a copy.
Checking a Level 2 before you book
Accredited Service Providers can be searched on the NSW ASP Scheme portal at aspscheme.energy.nsw.gov.au. Energy NSW suggests checking that the provider's level and class suit your job, and getting at least three quotes.
The electrician doing your side should hold a NSW licence you can look up on Service NSW's licence check. We match you with one licence-checked local electrician who does mains and connection work, and they'll tell you whether a Level 2 is needed and who'll do it. You're still free to compare, as Energy NSW suggests.
Your part, and the licensed part
You can
- Know which of the three networks you're on, and save its fault number.
- Respond within 30 days if Ausgrid sends you a defect notice for a private pole or line.
- Photograph the meter box, where the line meets the house, and the pole or pit, from the ground.
- Tell the provider if the meter board might contain asbestos. Essential Energy says homes built before 1988 may have one.
Leave to a licensed electrician
- Level 2: anything on the service line, pole, pit or connection point.
- Level 2: disconnecting, connecting and energising the supply.
- Level 2: the service protection device on the main switchboard.
- Licensed electrician: the switchboard, meter box wiring and everything inside the property.
How we'd go about it
We'd start with the network rather than a quote. Find out whether the job needs a connection application and a Level 2, then check the provider is accredited at Level 2 and authorised for your network specifically. With an old meter board, raise asbestos in the first conversation, not on the day. And ask for the CCEW by email so it's on file the moment it's lodged.
Want a specialist to sort it?
Tell us the job and your postcode. We match the licence-checked local electrician who does this kind of work, and they call you. No ring-around, and your number goes to them alone.