The Board and staff of the Authority would like to thank all those who have participated in the Authority’s work in many valuable and different ways during the year.
The Authority’s office closes at noon on Friday, 23 December 2016 and will reopen on Wednesday, 4 January 2017.
We will publish the next edition of Market Brief on Tuesday, 17 January 2017.
We wish you all an enjoyable, relaxing and safe Christmas, and we look forward to working with you in 2017.
Default distribution agreement decision to proceed and summary of submissions
We are continuing to develop a proposal to amend the Electricity Industry Participation Code 2010 (Code) to introduce a default distribution agreement (DDA). In 2017 we will release a second consultation paper on the proposed DDA, based on the submissions received on the first consultation paper (January 2016) and further consultation on Question 3 (October 2016).
The summary of submissions to the first consultation, and subsequent further consultation on Question 3, is available on our website.
Submissions published: 2017/18 Appropriations and Strategic Priorities
We have published submissions received on our 2017/18 Appropriations and Strategic Priorities consultation.
We will consider the submissions before providing our report to the Minister with recommended appropriations for the 2017 Budget. We will provide our report to the Minister early in 2017, and publish it after Budget day.
We will further consider comments on our strategy and programmes when we develop our Statement of Intent, Statement of Performance Expectations, and Work Programme, which we will publish in June and July 2017.
We have responded to a petition by Greenpeace New Zealand requesting that ‘The New Zealand Electricity Authority must take responsibility for protecting solar power and regulate to prohibit electricity providers from penalising solar users, financially or otherwise’. Our response is available on our website.
We want to make sure that all participants and technologies are treated equally. This means we do not favour or discourage any form of generation. However, we continue to make it easier for people to make decisions about, and invest in, solar.
Code amendment: Electricity Industry Participation Code Amendment (Scarcity Pricing) 2016
We have decided to amend the scarcity pricing regime in Parts 8 and 13 of the Code to resolve six issues that would impede the regime’s ability to operate in a correct and predictable way.
Resolving these operational issues will promote the efficient operation of the electricity industry for the long-term benefit of consumers. The Code amendment will also assist delivery of the positive net benefits identified for the scarcity pricing regime in the cost-benefit analysis when we first introduced the regime in 2013.
In January 2017 we will also publish a decision and reasons paper and summary of submissions relating to this Code amendment. The amendment will come into force on 19 January 2017.
To enable greater understanding of the process the scarcity pricing regime follows, in the near future we will publish a detailed flow diagram showing each step in the process.
Code amendment: Electricity Industry Participation Code Amendment (Extended Reserve) 2016
We have decided to amend the extended reserve regime in Parts 8, 12A, 14, and 15 of the Code to enable the better operation of the regime by addressing a range of operational issues.
Resolving these operational issues will promote the efficient operation of the electricity industry for the long-term benefit of consumers. The Code amendment will also assist delivery of the positive net benefits identified for the extended reserve regime in the cost-benefit analysis when we first introduced the regime in August 2014.
In early 2017 we will also publish a decision and reasons paper and summary of submissions relating to this Code amendment. The amendment will come into force on 19 January 2017.
Nominations to the Security and Reliability Council are open
We are calling for nominations for two members and an independent chairperson of the Security and Reliability Council (SRC).
As well as the skills and experience sought for SRC members, we are particularly interested in nominations from people who have experience:
in governance or management roles responsible for thermal generation
as a chairperson
as an industrial or direct consumer.
The SRC provides independent advice to the Authority on reliability of supply issues, the performance of the electricity system and the system operator. The SRC comprises senior members of the New Zealand electricity industry, including consumers.
The expected terms of appointment are:
three years for the independent chairperson and one member
two years for the other member.
We intend to appoint the successful nominees in March 2017.
Nominations and accompanying documents (as described on the nomination form) should be emailed to info@ea.govt.nz by 5.00pm on Tuesday, 24 January 2017. The subject line of the email should be ‘Nomination for SRC membership’.
Application for exemption from section 76 of the Electricity Industry Act 2010
Top Energy Limited and Ngawha Generation Limited have requested an exemption from section 76 of the Electricity Industry Act 2010.
We have published the application for exemption on our website and ask that interested parties comment on the application by 5 pm, Tuesday 31 January 2017.
We have begun an investigation of a breach alleged of Meridian Energy Limited (Meridian) by Electric Kiwi Limited (Electric Kiwi). Electric Kiwi alleged that Meridian’s offer revisions on 2 June 2016 were not consistent with a high standard of trading conduct.
We have released a supplementary consultation paper setting out refinements to our proposal in our May 2016 Transmission Pricing Methodology (TPM) second issues paper.
