Local electricity lines companies to provide greater performance insights

Published25 Nov 2022

The Commerce Commission has introduced new requirements on local electricity lines companies to improve performance information available to consumers and other stakeholders.

This additional information will provide greater transparency about:
* how the company manages its assets;
* how the company is preparing for the potential impacts of decarbonisation; and
* the quality of service the company provides to its consumers.

The new information local lines companies will disclose is intended to shed a light on different aspects of their performance. For example, the new requirements will make it easier to understand how each local lines company is approaching new connections, how it promises to work with consumers (including addressing complaints) and how it will assess the impact of new connections on its network. The Commission believes the new requirements are important for understanding how local lines companies are performing for consumers and communities.

The information that each local lines company discloses is available on the company's website. The Commission also regularly publishes analysis and tools on its website, including interactive dashboards and one-page summaries of each company's performance trends.

The Commission's final decisions on the new disclosure requirements were informed by submissions from industry and consumer groups. The additional information will become available in 2023 and 2024.

This is the first tranche of decisions in the Commission's review of information disclosure requirements for local lines companies. Tranche two of the review will be undertaken over the next 12 months and is likely to include further work in the areas of quality of service, how local lines companies are preparing for decarbonisation, and asset management.

Background

Under information disclosure regulation, governed by 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.