Electricity Commission seeks consultation

Electricity Commission seeks consultation on transmission Statement of Opportunities

The Electricity Commission today released its draft Initial Statement of Opportunities (SOO) for consultation.

“The SOO is a critical first step in the process for consideration of Transpower’s Grid Upgrade Plan. It lays out a wide range of information about the electricity system for stakeholders, including Transpower, to allow them to better prepare Grid Upgrade Plans, in Transpower’s case, and alternatives to transmission, in the case of others,” said Roy Hemmingway, Chair of the Electricity Commission.

The SOO is for information purposes only and does not directly figure in the Electricity Commission’s eventual decisions on Transpower’s grid upgrade proposals. However, it contains important information about the current state of the electricity system and expected future demand. It also sets out five potential generation scenarios against which Transpower’s proposals and any suggested alternatives will need to be tested.

The Commission is releasing this draft SOO as an ‘initial’ SOO, because it contains a simplified reliability analysis for planning purposes that will be made more robust in future versions of the SOO.

The Commission was recently asked by Minister of Energy Trevor Mallard to undertake a thorough investigation of alternatives to Transpower’s proposed 400 kilovolt line from South Waikato to Auckland. The Initial SOO will give those proposing alternatives an important tool for assessing the value of their proposals.

Interested parties have until Friday, 10 June 2005 to submit comments on the draft Initial SOO to the Commission. The document and instructions for submission can be found on the Commission’s website: www.electricitycommission.govt.nz. - ends - For more information:

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