The Addicks are back in the second tier after a two-year absence and face a tough trip to Birmingham on the opening day.
Powell said: "This is what we've always aspired to. This time last year our aim was to go in the Championship and pit our wits against these teams as we feel we should rightfully be among them.
"We had to deal with League One, which we did extremely well, and it's now up to us to consolidate our position in this league and make sure we warrant our position among these teams. We will be endeavouring to do that.
"We always knew it would be a really hard season. There are no easy games, no games where we are expected to win, which is totally different to last year.
"So we can go out and really impose ourselves and approach each game the right way, as we did last year."
