ComCom Proposes Greater Transparency From Lines Companies, With Increasing Reliance On Electricity

The Commerce Commission has today released its draft decision on the additional information New Zealand’s local lines companies must disclose publicly – reflecting the increasing reliance on electricity as part of the country’s commitment to reduce the use of fossil fuel-based energy.

The Commission requires the 29 lines companies that distribute electricity locally in New Zealand to publish information each year on aspects of their performance.

This includes data on pricing, future expenditure forecasts, outages and interruptions, and financial performance. The Commission provides regular analysis of this information to help the public, including stakeholders and consumers, to understand how each lines company is performing when compared with others, so that changes can be tracked over time.

General Manager of Infrastructure Regulation, Andy Burgess, says the Commission is committed to ensuring that the Information Disclosure (ID) requirements covering local lines companies remain fit-for-purpose as the country decarbonises with New Zealand leveraging its largely renewable electricity.

Andy Burgess says the proposed new disclosure requirements recognise the major external factors facing the whole sector, especially those relating to the greater use of renewable electricity as part of New Zealand’s commitment to address climate change (reflected in the Zero Carbon legislation).

“Local lines companies have a key role to play in supporting a low carbon future and enabling consumers to benefit from this fundamental change, and ID is a key part of our regulatory toolkit. It improves transparency and accountability to consumers and ultimately leads to improved performance of the local lines companies, particularly with regard to ensuring appropriate investment in reliability and resilience at a price level that can be justified for the benefit of consumers.”

As part of this review, the Commission has released a draft decision paper which proposes a number of changes to ID relating to decarbonisation, asset management and quality of service – among others.

“There are two aspects of this paper that will be of particular interest to stakeholders,” says Andy Burgess.

“Information on local electricity lines constraints is becoming increasingly important as more generation comes on stream and demand from electric vehicles places more pressure on local networks. Constraints can cause quality concerns and limit the number of connections to the networks. Better information will help provide solutions, including use of demand side management and storage.

“We are also proposing that local lines companies provide new information on how they manage vegetation close to lines, along with information on the risk from trees that might fall onto lines causing damage.”

This is the second phase of the targeted review with the Commission having taken on board stakeholder feedback made in tranche one and through a technical industry workshop held in March 2023.

Submissions on the draft decision paper close on 14 September 2023. Following the consultation period, there will be a two-week period for cross-submissions where parties may comment on other submissions. Cross-submissions are due by 5 October 2023.

Further information about the public consultation can be found on the Commission’s website.

Background

Under information disclosure regulation in the Commerce Act 1986, local electricity lines companies must publish information each year on their performance: in particular, information on asset management, outages and interruptions, prices and financial performance.

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