It provided a framework within which the Commission and Transpower would interact during the process and provided guidance to interested parties in relation to how Transpower and the Commission would interact with them.

In April 2007 a joint Transpower and Commission working group was set up to prepare a policy document that would:

  1. improve certainty around the timing of key steps in the grid upgrade approval process;
  2. improve the timeliness of the grid upgrade approval process;
  3. improve the predictability of the outcomes from the grid upgrade approval process;
  4. promote the efficient use of resources, including those of Transpower, the Commission and its consultants, and other stakeholders;
  5. promote role clarity between Transpower, the Commission and other stakeholders;
  6. be applicable to, but differentiated between, small, medium, large and amended investments;
  7. apply to both reliability and economic investments;
  8. clarify assumptions likely to be common to most proposals; and
  9. thereby improve the grid upgrade process going forward.

A draft Grid Upgrade Investment and Review Policy (GUIRP) was completed in April 2008 which set out the process to be followed by Transpower and the Commission to achieve the above.

The draft GUIRP conformed with the relevant objective in the Government Policy Statement on Electricity Governance (May 2008) which states:

95. The Commission should make available to Transpower and other stakeholders clear and specific policies and processes relating to how grid upgrade plans in general, and any particular plan specifically, will be developed, and then reviewed and approved or rejected. These criteria should be clearly explained so that the review process and linkages to other processes such as the statement of opportunities are transparent and can be understood and the analysis can be replicated by stakeholders.

Consultation

The Commission published the draft GUIRP for consultation on 7 April 2008. The Commission sought comments on key aspects of the GUIRP and issues where a preferred approach had not been identified.

Presentation

The Commission also held a presentation on the 28 April 2008 in Wellington to brief interested parties on the document and to assist in the preparation of submissions.

Final GUIRP

A final version of the GUIRP document jointly prepared by Transpower and Commission staff, approved by the Commission and approved for use by Transpower by the Transpower Board.

The consultation process with interested parties and ongoing discussions with Transpower resulted in a more streamlined and focussed GUIRP. The Commission thanked those parties who made constructive comments on the draft GUIRP. A summary of submissions and Commission response was published.

The Commission considered that the final GUIRP promoted the objective in the GPS by providing "Transpower and other stakeholders clear and specific policies and processes relating to how grid upgrade plans in general, and any particular plan specifically, will be developed, and then reviewed and approved or rejected". In addition the GUIRP set out how "the review process and linkages to other processes such as the statement of opportunities are transparent and can be understood and the analysis can be replicated by stakeholders".