Latest news with #ElectricityAuthority
RNZ News
4 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Formal complaint lodged against Transpower over Northland transmission tower collapse
The pylon fell on 20 June 2024 with a report finding that contractors unbolted three of its four legs at once during routine maintenance. Photo: Supplied / Kawakawa Electrical Ltd The Electricity Authority has lodged a formal complaint against the national grid operator for failures relating to the collapse of a transmission tower in Northland. The collapse of Transpower's tower cut electricity to 88,000 customers in June 2024. An earlier investigation pinned the blame on contractors removing too many nuts from bolts connecting the tower to a baseplate. However, on Thursday, the Electricity Authority said Transpower failed to adhere to good industry practice around the maintenance of the tower. The regulator said the decision to file a complaint was separate from its report into the collapse in September last year. "The Authority decided to lodge the complaint because the alleged breach was significant in its duration, severity and impact; it involved a critical asset and undermined security of supply," it said in a statement. An independent panel would determine the Electricity Authority's complaint. "The Rulings Panel's assessment will help provide clarity on what good electricity industry practice requires of asset owners and the Authority aims to prevent similar incidents happening in the future." If the complaint is upheld, Transpower faces penalties of up to $2 million. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Scoop
27-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Electricity Authority Welcomes Plan To Empower Consumers And ‘Make NZ More Electric'
Press Release – Electricity Authority The electricity system is in a period of substantial change. The Authority is taking action, alongside others, to enable this change and ensure the system is fit-for-the-future and works for New Zealanders,' says Authority Chief Executive Sarah Gillies. The Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko (Authority) welcomes the manifesto released by Rewiring Aotearoa today detailing 59 actions to help households, businesses and farms switch to electric alternatives. According to Rewiring Aotearoa, these actions will help consumers access cheaper, cleaner power and the electricity system will be strengthened by more consumer energy resources, such as rooftop solar. 'We are working to deliver an electricity system that empowers consumers, supports electrification, and is reliable, secure and delivered at the lowest cost,' says Authority Chief Executive Sarah Gillies. 'We have work underway to boost security of supply, encourage more flexibility in the system, enable consumers to have greater control over their electricity use and costs, and create a more efficient electricity system. 'We agree with Rewiring Aotearoa that New Zealand's centralised electricity system can be complemented by more localised energy resources. Power generated at a local level can enhance resilience to climate change impacts, improve affordability, progress decarbonisation and empower communities and local economies. Our Decentralisation green paper aims to start a discussion about how we can move towards this future in a way that ensures people and communities benefit.' The Authority also has multiple, inter-related projects underway that could support more solar from as early as next year. For example, it is currently considering rule changes that would ensure fairer prices for consumers with solar when they supply power to the network at peak times. 'The electricity system is in a period of substantial change. The Authority is taking action, alongside others, to enable this change and ensure the system is fit-for-the-future and works for New Zealanders,' Gillies said. Notes: Other Authority work aligned with Rewiring Aotearoa's Electrification Manifesto includes: proposing rule changes to enable consumers to have contracts with multiple electricity retailers. For example, a household could be with the retailer that offers the best buy-back for solar they supply to the network, and another retailer for their electricity use. Consultation on proposed rule changes is scheduled for late May. Once in place, future rule changes will also enable peer-to-peer energy trading and for consumers to have separate retailers for selected appliances, such as their EV charger. enabling easier retail switching by improving comparison and switching services and tools for consumers, including working with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to develop a potential electricity consumer data right. making it easier for businesses and infrastructure, such as EV charging stations, to connect to the networks through our proposed rule changes for connection pricing methodologies and application process. empowering consumers to better manage their electricity costs, eg, through proposed rule changes that would require large retailers to offer customers a time-of-use pricing plan. enabling more flexibility in the system across multiple workstreams, which can help keep costs down by avoiding the need for costly network infrastructure upgrades. The Electricity Authority is an independent Crown Entity with the main statutory objective to promote competition in, reliable supply by, and the efficient operation of, the electricity industry for the long-term benefit of consumers. The additional objective of the Authority is to protect the interests of domestic consumers and small business consumers in relation to the supply of electricity to those consumers.
Scoop
20-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Electricity Authority Welcomes Plan For Boosting Consumer-supplied Flexibility
Press Release – Electricity Authority Individuals and communities providing flexibility also benefit through lower costs and greater energy resilience, whether its a business shifting its boiler use away from peak demand periods, households using smart tools and AI to use power differently. The Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko (Authority) welcomes the plan released by FlexForum today, outlining actions that make it easier for consumers to actively participate in the electricity system. 'Flexibility Plan 2.0' identifies 41 actions for the Authority and others to collectively build a 'smart, flexible consumer-centric power system'. 'Flexibility is already an important feature of the electricity system – making the system more reliable, more resilient, and keeping costs down,' Authority Chief Executive Sarah Gillies says. 'It's a low-cost way to ensure New Zealand's electricity supply is always able to meet our very changeable demand. Flexibility will become increasingly important as the economy electrifies, and more electricity is generated from weather-dependent sources such as wind and solar.' Individuals and communities providing flexibility also benefit through lower costs and greater energy resilience, whether it's a business shifting its boiler use away from peak demand periods, households using smart tools and AI to use power differently, or community generation schemes supporting those in need . 'We agree with FlexForum that consumers are key to increasing flexibility in the electricity system and more needs to be done to unlock this potential. 'Many of FlexForum's actions align closely with work already underway at the Authority. In several areas, our current work directly supports these actions, while in others, it contributes meaningfully toward achieving the overarching goals outlined by FlexForum. 'We'll closely review FlexForum's plan to identify where the Authority can further enhance and support these initiatives, and explore opportunities to take them even further,' Gillies said. Electricity Authority projects supporting 'Flexibility Plan 2.0' include: improving visibility of capacity and constraints on networks at all levels (FlexForum actions 3 and 30) – consultation on proposed rule changes is scheduled for mid-2025 moving towards real-time access to consumers' electricity information (FlexForum actions 2 and 9). This work includes supporting a potential electricity consumer data right and consulting on proposals to improve the transfer of electricity information – scheduled for July. enabling consumers to have more than one retailer for different services at their property – consultation on proposed rule changes is scheduled for late-May (action 17). making it faster and easier for distributed generation to connect to the network (action 22) through the Network Connections Project. supporting industry trials through the Power Innovation Pathway to help identify and remove regulatory barriers (actions 33 and 34), as well as to better understand and then develop requirements for flexibility service providers to interact with the market (actions 23, 24 and 38). The Authority also has work underway to support consumers to actively contribute to a more flexible system. Our decentralisation green paper seeks feedback on what a more decentralised electricity system might look like, how this might benefit consumers, and what might be needed to gain these benefits. A decentralised system relies more heavily on consumers and communities providing localised renewable generation, storage and flexible demand. Feedback will help the Authority to determine the regulatory framework required to support consumer benefit in a more decentralised electricity system. We will soon seek early feedback on the challenges and opportunities of delivering a digitalised electricity system. A digitalised system will enable consumers to more easily provide flexibility by managing their electricity use and supply from their own energy generation and storage, like rooftop solar and batteries. This is the first step in developing a roadmap to help drive greater digitalisation across all aspects of the electricity system. Notes: The Electricity Authority is an independent Crown Entity with the main statutory objective to promote competition in, reliable supply by, and the efficient operation of, the electricity industry for the long-term benefit of consumers. The additional objective of the Authority is to protect the interests of domestic consumers and small business consumers in relation to the supply of electricity to those consumers.
Scoop
20-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Electricity Authority Welcomes Plan For Boosting Consumer-supplied Flexibility
Press Release – Electricity Authority Individuals and communities providing flexibility also benefit through lower costs and greater energy resilience, whether its a business shifting its boiler use away from peak demand periods, households using smart tools and AI to use power differently. The Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko (Authority) welcomes the plan released by FlexForum today, outlining actions that make it easier for consumers to actively participate in the electricity system. 'Flexibility Plan 2.0' identifies 41 actions for the Authority and others to collectively build a 'smart, flexible consumer-centric power system'. 'Flexibility is already an important feature of the electricity system – making the system more reliable, more resilient, and keeping costs down,' Authority Chief Executive Sarah Gillies says. 'It's a low-cost way to ensure New Zealand's electricity supply is always able to meet our very changeable demand. Flexibility will become increasingly important as the economy electrifies, and more electricity is generated from weather-dependent sources such as wind and solar.' Individuals and communities providing flexibility also benefit through lower costs and greater energy resilience, whether it's a business shifting its boiler use away from peak demand periods, households using smart tools and AI to use power differently, or community generation schemes supporting those in need . 'We agree with FlexForum that consumers are key to increasing flexibility in the electricity system and more needs to be done to unlock this potential. 'Many of FlexForum's actions align closely with work already underway at the Authority. In several areas, our current work directly supports these actions, while in others, it contributes meaningfully toward achieving the overarching goals outlined by FlexForum. 'We'll closely review FlexForum's plan to identify where the Authority can further enhance and support these initiatives, and explore opportunities to take them even further,' Gillies said. Electricity Authority projects supporting 'Flexibility Plan 2.0' include: improving visibility of capacity and constraints on networks at all levels (FlexForum actions 3 and 30) – consultation on proposed rule changes is scheduled for mid-2025 moving towards real-time access to consumers' electricity information (FlexForum actions 2 and 9). This work includes supporting a potential electricity consumer data right and consulting on proposals to improve the transfer of electricity information – scheduled for July. enabling consumers to have more than one retailer for different services at their property – consultation on proposed rule changes is scheduled for late-May (action 17). making it faster and easier for distributed generation to connect to the network (action 22) through the Network Connections Project. supporting industry trials through the Power Innovation Pathway to help identify and remove regulatory barriers (actions 33 and 34), as well as to better understand and then develop requirements for flexibility service providers to interact with the market (actions 23, 24 and 38). The Authority also has work underway to support consumers to actively contribute to a more flexible system. Our decentralisation green paper seeks feedback on what a more decentralised electricity system might look like, how this might benefit consumers, and what might be needed to gain these benefits. A decentralised system relies more heavily on consumers and communities providing localised renewable generation, storage and flexible demand. Feedback will help the Authority to determine the regulatory framework required to support consumer benefit in a more decentralised electricity system. We will soon seek early feedback on the challenges and opportunities of delivering a digitalised electricity system. A digitalised system will enable consumers to more easily provide flexibility by managing their electricity use and supply from their own energy generation and storage, like rooftop solar and batteries. This is the first step in developing a roadmap to help drive greater digitalisation across all aspects of the electricity system. Notes: The Electricity Authority is an independent Crown Entity with the main statutory objective to promote competition in, reliable supply by, and the efficient operation of, the electricity industry for the long-term benefit of consumers. The additional objective of the Authority is to protect the interests of domestic consumers and small business consumers in relation to the supply of electricity to those consumers.
NZ Herald
13-05-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
Meridian to pay $70m for Z Energy's Flick
Flick will also provide transitional services, including customer care, billing, collections, platform management, and migration/transition support, for an $825,000 monthly fee to Meridian for four months and an option to extend to six months. Flick currently has a 1.81% market share based on ICPs (customer connections). The acquisition of Flick will increase Meridian's market share to 18%, maintaining the company's position as the fourth largest electricity retailer by ICP. According to Electricity Authority data, Flick had just over 41,000 customers. Z has been the majority owner of Flick since 2018 and increased its stake from 85% to 95% after buying a stake held by Gisborne lines company Eastland Energy. The last shareholders to sell included prominent private investor Marcel van den Assum and angel investor Angel HQ. Payday for Z Z paid $46 million for 70.1% of Flick as part of a strategy to widen its offering to customers and find low-carbon options for its future. At that time, Flick offered households electricity based on wholesale market prices. This was just before those wholesale prices rocketed up and became volatile, mainly because of gas shortages and other issues. It later wrote off $35m of that investment as Flick moved to a more traditional retail offering to undercut the big players and offer better services. Before that, Flick had peaked at nearly 25,000 customers, but that growth stalled and customer numbers dipped to about 20,000 in 2023. At that time, Z said the write-down reflected the customer losses and the expectation that wholesale power pricing wouldn't likely improve in the short term. Flick's struggles Over the following years, Flick, like other smaller retailers, has struggled with high wholesale electricity prices, increasing costs of hedged contracts, and shrinking margins. At times, Flick and others have stopped trying to recruit new customers. Flick was able to leverage Z's balance sheet to stay in the market and actively seek new customers. However, the well was not bottomless. In 2023, Flick said it planned to get to 'cash flow break-even', and Z would hold Flick to that plan. The market is dominated by the four major gentailers and the various brands under which they sell electricity. Z was formed when Infratil and the NZ Superannuation Fund bought Shell's fuel-distribution market in NZ in 2010 for $891m. It was floated in 2013 with a valuation of $1.4 billion and, in 2016, it bought Chevron's NZ assets, which meant Z became the wholesale fuel supplier to the network of Caltex-branded service stations. NZ's largest fuel company was also one of the country's largest listed companies until it was delisted in 2022 following an almost $2b takeover by Australian fuel company Ampol.
