Electricity Information Available for Free

Ever wanted to know what the wholesale electricity price is at 6.30pm on Wednesday evening in Invercargill? Have you wondered what all the rain we've had recently is doing to the hydroelectric storage lakes? With the introduction of a new free to air website you can now find out the answers to your questions.

"I am pleased to announce the introduction of a new, free website which will provide information about wholesale electricity prices, demand and hydrology to anyone with an interest in power prices," said Toby Stevenson, Chairman of the NZEM Rules Committee, the governing body of the wholesale electricity market.

"During the winter of 2001 it became clear that there is a strong desire amongst the public for timely information on electricity prices and the main drivers on price, such as demand and hydrological conditions," said Mr. Stevenson.

NZEM Market Participants currently access this information by subscription to the Commodity Market Information and Trading system (COMIT). COMIT is NZEM's trading platform and is managed by M-co, The Marketplace Company.

"In recognition of the need and benefits of making key information more widely available, promptly and at no charge, this new information service has been established on a publicly accessible website," Mr. Stevenson continued.

The new website, called COMITfree, can be found at http://www.comitfree.co.nz/ . The website will be managed by M-co on behalf of the NZEM and will draw selected information from the existing full COMIT service.

COMITfree allows users to select from 11 core locations around New Zealand and look at the latest final prices for those locations. The information is automatically updated daily at 2pm. Prices are available for the past 14 days.

In addition to final prices, COMITfree allows users to see a simple graph of national demand. It also shows basic graphs of inflows and storage. Both the demand and hydrological information is updated weekly.

COMITfree gives users a brief snapshot of the information contained on COMIT. It is specifically tailored to meet the needs of electricity consumers, particularly retail and small commercial customers who do not need the more expanded information provided by COMIT.

COMITfree enhances information already in the public domain, which includes the M-co Electricity Price Index and daily average reference point prices. This information, and more, is found http://www.m-co.co.nz/C2dPrices.htm . COMITfree will also provide a platform for any other electricity-related information the Rules Committee makes available.

COMIT supports the trading of the electricity market by linking buyers and sellers on-line and is a subscription-based service for NZEM Market Participants and other interested parties. Both COMIT and COMITfree were developed by M-co, the NZEM Market Administrator. -ends-

For background information, please contact: Ceridwyn Roberts or Vanessa Wall at M-co on +64 4 473-5240 For attributable quotes, please contact: Toby Stevenson, NZEM Rules Committee Chairman on +64 4 499-4001

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