JOB cuts at Essential Energy will be finalised at the end of staff consultation in August.
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The company announced it would slash 165 regional jobs, including some in Tamworth, at the start of July.
Who gets the short end of the stick will be decided on a merit-based selection process and employees have until August 16 to state their case.
In the last five years, Essential Energy has delivered a 40 per cent reduction in electricity costs, those savings have to be recouped elsewhere, an Essential Energy spokeswoman said.
"Over the next three to five years, Essential Energy will progress a series of initiatives to deliver a better service at a lower cost and create a business capable of responding to the rapid changes being experienced in the sector," she said.
"Delivering on those commitments and initiatives means having an appropriately-sized workforce to safely and efficiently manage the network across our service territory."
Bathurst, Lismore, Taree, Port Macquarie and Grafton are the depots expected to see the most significant cuts.
Field and non-field roles are being re-evaluated across the business.
Deputy Premier John Barilaro met with Essential Energy's chief executive immediately after the cuts were announced, but did not elaborate on any steps being taken to put a stop to the cuts.
Instead, Mr Barilaro hit out at claims he had been more talk than action.
"The NSW Government has put a line in the sand over regional jobs," he said.
"Labor are a full month behind the curve on this story.
"The Labor Party have no plan for regional jobs."
The electricity company plans to standardise and automate a number of its manual processes previously performed by employees.
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Work will be bundled and Essential Energy will use data to decide what work is done at what time to get more value out of its workforce.
Work hours have decreased since 2014 and there has been a 68 per cent reduction in electricity interruptions since 2003, leaving less for employees to do.
Essential Energy would not comment on what locations or the number of positions that would be cut until after the consultation process but said job losses would be ongoing for the next three to five years.