The Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko is seeking to increase the information it collects from electricity retailers. Collecting better data will support us to have a deeper understanding of what households and businesses are experiencing. This will enable us to identify potential issues earlier and make well-informed decisions that will protect and benefit consumers.

The Authority has today released a consultation paper seeking feedback on its updated proposal to improve data collection from electricity retailers. Daniel Griffiths, Manager - Retail and Networks Policy, says these improvements will enable the Authority to better protect communities and strengthen its monitoring of retail pricing in the future.

"Our decisions need to be based on accurate and up-to-date data. Crucially, we are planning to collect and publish information on electricity disconnections and prepay plans. This will significantly lift our ability to provide meaningful interventions for consumers, particularly those who may need the support most."

"We already receive data from electricity retailers on a regular basis. However, we can improve the data set to shine more light on the retail market and enable us to identify potential issues early and if need be, make changes to benefit consumers.

This consultation is an important step in a multi-year project intended to improve protections for consumers and better hold retailers to account," Daniel said.

"We also want to improve our processes so it’s easier for retailers to provide the data we need. This consultation signals our intention to streamline existing retail data collection and reduce duplication by issuing a single mandatory process."

Increasing our data requirements in this way will ask more from retailers, however, the Authority believes the benefits far outweigh the potential costs.

"Electricity is vital to people and communities being able to achieve healthy, prosperous lives. We need strong, accurate data to sit behind our decision making, ensuring the policies we put in place are beneficial for consumers now and in years to come."

Policy decisions relating to network pricing, demand response, flexibility and competition will all benefit from these data collection improvements, and the Authority plans to publish its findings.

In December 2023 we consulted on our initial proposed notice. Since then, we have considered the feedback and amended the proposal to minimise costs to retailers where possible, while still ensuring the notice will achieve our ambitions.

The purpose of this second consultation is to ensure the amended notice is workable and cost effective. The Authority has also published a Privacy Impact Assessment which explains the potential privacy risks of the proposed notice and the actions we intend to take to mitigate these risks.

Consultation is open from now until 22 October 2024. The Authority welcomes all feedback on the updated notice and analysis.

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