Electricity Networks Aotearoa

🫠 41 submissions later...🫠 Today, on the last day of work for the year, we lodged our 41st submission for 2024. The consultations just kept coming...and coming.    A huge thank you to everyone who engaged with us this year. Your input has been invaluable. 🙌   We analyse, engage, and share our thoughts and recommendations with government and regulators through these submissions. We do this so the electricity distribution sector can continue to deliver reliable, sustainable, and affordable electricity to everyone in Aotearoa. Our 2024 subs are here: https://lnkd.in/gm7ncYXi   For now, we’re disappearing for a summer break. Bring on 2025... just not quite yet. 😎 ⛱️ Over and out from Tracey Kai, Richard Le Gros, Lisa Coles, Sophie Tulley, Gemma Pascall and Megan Baker  

🎄🎅 🎶 It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! 🎶🎅🎄 Before we close out the year, we want to call out the incredible mahi of our line crews, who are on-call over the holidays to keep the power flowing for everyone in Aotearoa. 🌧️☀️ Rain or shine (or even catastrophic storms), these legends are out there, ensuring we stay connected while we relax and fire up the BBQ with whānau and friends. Thank you team – your dedication is truly appreciated. A special shoutout to the crew from Waipā Networks for being such good sports and letting us add a festive upgrade to their hard hats.🎅     Oh, and the serious bit...The ENA office will close at 12 noon on Friday 20 Dec. We'll reopen on Monday 6 Jan. Kia pai ngā hararei. Have a safe and happy summer break for those taking time off. 🌞

Electricity infrastructure is more important than ever as we decarbonise and people electrify their businesses, homes and cars. So, the energy sector needs to be a big focus of the National Infrastructure Plan. In our submission to the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission, Te Waihanga, we talk about the important role of electricity networks and the need to support a growing workforce, access to smart meter data, and how to get better value from our infrastructure dollar. Check out our sub here: https://lnkd.in/gut_A5sN p.s - this is our 39th submission for the 2024 calendar year 😵💫🫠😵💫 Bring on the summer break!

Jointly hosting the energy sector Christmas get-together last night was a real honour. We heard from an honest and inspirational panel kōrero about the struggles of 2024 and the pressing need to collaborate, make change, and move forward with confidence. With over 150 sector stakeholders, we then spent time networking and reflecting on a huge, and sometimes challenging, year. A huge thank you goes to BusinessNZ Energy Council for bringing us together and inviting us to help you host this event alongside ERANZ, Energy Resources Aotearoa, Bioenergy Association of New Zealand (BANZ), and GasNZ. 🙏 Tina Schirr and Deb Bougen (and the wider BEC team) ngā mihi nui 💜 To the panel speakers — thank you for your honest reflections. We could have kept going, especially around the theme of the energy strategy. I guess it's one we will kick for touch until 2025! Simon Healy, Malcolm Johns, Sarah Sinclair, Mark Macfarlane and Chelydra Percy thank you.

Today, the Government announced a review of New Zealand’s competition rules. It'll be completed by May 2025. It's going to happen in two ways... 1️⃣ update the competition settings in the Commerce Act to ensure our legal framework is right; and 2️⃣ review the governance and effectiveness of the Commerce Commission to ensure our regulatory and enforcement framework is right. The consultation on the competition settings in the Commerce Act is open and subs are due by 7 Feb 2025. Check it out on the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment website here ➡️ https://lnkd.in/gjuCUNvA The Terms of Reference for the review of the Commerce Commission is here ➡️ https://lnkd.in/gStUZE7h Another one to add to our ever-growing consultation tracker 🧐 which you can find here: https://lnkd.in/gvBUvY_Y

Downstream is off to Ōtautahi Christchurch next year! And they say it's going to look a bit different. You can expect: 🟠 A wider range of international influencers 🟠 Multiple content streams for a wider range of topics 🟠 Improved presentation formats to encourage participation and exchange 🟠 Extended networking 🟠 More audience participation options It's all happening on 20-21 March 2025 at Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre. For more info, including the programme, visit the Downstream website: https://lnkd.in/gygUNZgB

🌟💡 The new Gen Less tool makes it simple to see how switching to energy-efficient appliances could help people save on their power bills — and their carbon footprint. 🌍💸 The new calculator from EECA is easy to use. And the message in this campaign — to do some research 'now' and then upgrade appliances when they are 'end of life' — is really important. Let's help to get this new tool out there. Spread it on your socials and share it with your communities. Ngā mihi nui EECA (Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority). Great inititive 👏

𝗪𝗲'𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝗘𝗔 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. 😊 At the end of October, Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko opened two consultations — one about the connection process and the other about connection pricing.      We support changes that will mean greater transparency and alignment around the electricity connection process and the price of that connection. But we also need to make sure that changes are practical and don't create equity issues where consumers have to pay for new businesses to get connected to the network. It's an important balance and we need to get this right.    Submissions were originally due on 6 December. Electricity Networks Aotearoa and the Electricity Engineers' Association of New Zealand jointly requested an extension to these deadlines given the complexity and potential implications of the consultations. We’re pleased to say that submissions have been extended and are now due by 20 Dec. Ngā mihi nui Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko. 🙏   We're engaging heavily with the sector about this. If you have any views on these consultations that you think the ENA should hear, please get in touch with us by emailing info@electricity.org.nz. You can read more info on the EA website: https://lnkd.in/gC5VgrA5

Earlier this month, the ENA’s Future Networks Forum hosted its fifth two-day Innovation Forum. Over 100 people joined either in person or online. 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗙𝗡𝗙’𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗵𝗶 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗼𝗶𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗼𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹𝘀. First up was Energy Networks Australia and L.E.K. Consulting about their 'The Time is Now' report. It identifies opportunities to leverage networks to unlock customer benefits and secure climate targets. This theme of opportunity was reinforced during our customer panel, where Community Energy Network, SEANZ - Sustainable Energy Association of New Zealand, Mercury NZ and SolarZero shared insightful and challenging perspectives on the emerging energy needs of households across Aotearoa. We also heard from Transpower New Zealand on the future of system operations, expectations and challenges. We beamed in Energy Networks Association (ENA) UK to hear how they enable collaborative innovation at huge scale between EDBs and with partners, leveraging the significant innovation funding by the UK regulator. We heard from the Commerce Commission about their new Innovation and Non-Traditional Solutions Allowance (INTSA) for EDBs, while the Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko came to kōrero about their new Power Innovation Pathway as a ‘front door’ for advice and support. 𝗪𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘂𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗙𝗡𝗙 𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗘𝗗𝗕𝘀. We had a session on how we might adapt the Network Transformation Roadmap to drive collaborative innovation at the scale and pace needed. Finally, participants heard about the progress on FNF projects: Customer Segmentation, Connections Journey Mapping, Future Roles & Functions, and a new project to develop a generic Hot Water Load Management Protocol to enable value stacking for customer benefit. We continue to get great feedback on the value of these events. If you're from an EDB, and you weren't able to make it, you can watch any of the sessions from our member's website here: https://lnkd.in/g3AFPZcR We’re so grateful for all our guests who shared their priorities and challenges with us. These forums help open doors to understand each other better and how we can work together to serve our communities. We hugely appreciate your time! 🙏 Dor Son Tan, Dominic Adams, Jeff Forrest, Tim McGrath, Murray Henderson, Rebecca Osborne, Ben Woodham, Mark Herring, Gareth Cartwright, Trent Tscheuschler, Jeremy Levy, Eric Pyle, Dan Clarke. Ngā mihi nui to our EDB reps who give their time on projects and presented at the Forum: Mairin Gallagher, Matt Smith, Evie Trolove, Rachel Wansbone, Daniel Gnoth, Anca Cernic. And of course, our FNF co-chairs, Sam Elder and James Tipping.

Plug in! 🔌Orion NZ Ltd and Wellington Electricity ⚡️ are rewarding customers with a 5cKWh rebate for EV charging that is managed by Intelligent Octopus 🐙 Smartly managing EV charging will make better use of existing infrastructure and avoid the need to build more which is key to keeping bills down. https://lnkd.in/gC-2tY5x