The SOO set out a set of possible futures for electricity supply and demand. Incorporating key information to enable the identification of potential opportunities for efficient management of the grid, including investment in transmission upgrades and transmission alternatives.

The Statement of Opportunities (SOO) was a major publication produced by the Electricity Commission that provided information to enable identification of potential opportunities for efficient management of the grid, including investment in upgrades and investment in transmission alternatives. It outlined the Commission's views as to a reasonable range of likely future scenarios for electricity supply and demand (the Grid Planning Assumptions), and contained an analysis of the power system against the Grid Planning Assumptions and the Grid Reliability Standards. This section contains information and documents relating to the Statement of Opportunities (SOO) including inputs, assumptions and statistics and grid planning assumptions.

As part of its duties the Commission was charged with providing authoritative information on the historical, current and possible future states of electricity supply and demand, to facilitate informed decision-making about new investment in transmission and transmission alternatives.

Part F of the Electricity Governance Rules 2003 required the Commission to publish a draft Statement of Opportunities (SOO), invite submissions on it from industry participants and any other interested parties, and, having considered those submissions, publish a final SOO. The Government Policy Statement on Electricity Governance (October 2004) (GPS) required the Commission to publish a SOO at least every two years. The Commission's final 2010 SOO is forecasting to 2040.

The main users of the SOO are industry stakeholders and others materially impacted by its content. In particular:

  • National grid owner and operator Transpower
  • Electricity generators and retailers
  • Electricity distribution companies
  • Large electricity end-use customers
  • Proponents of transmission alternatives

The purpose of the SOO was to enable the identification of potential opportunities for efficient management of the grid, including investment in upgrades and transmission alternatives. The SOO was also relevant to the Grid Investment Test (GIT) and the Grid Reliability Standards (GRS) under Part F, each of which reference the possible future scenarios set out in the SOO. There were also links between the SOO and documents prepared by Transpower, as grid owner, pursuant to Part F: the Grid Reliability Report (GRR), the Grid economic Investment Report (GEIR) and Grid Upgrade Plans (GUPs).

The SOO was an information document presenting the results of independent analysis undertaken by the Commission. It provided parties with an independent set of information for a range of purposes, particularly when considering investments. It is not a document in which the Commission endorsed or rejecting any particular option or the implications of any particular option.

Rule 9.3 of section III of Part F of the Rules states that SOOs are provided for information only. No liability will attach to the Commission, Transpower, or any other person, for the accuracy of Grid Planning Assumptions (GPA) or power systems analyis set out in the SOOs.