Mentions of Electricity Commission in New Zealand Parliament debates
Electricity Commission has been mentioned in 88 parliamentary debates since November 2005.
Electricity (Renewable Preference) Amendment Bill 2010
First Reading 16 Jun 2010
CHRIS HIPKINS ... of steps to address these issues, including the introduction of an emissions trading scheme, the establishment of the Electricity Commission, and a number of energy-efficiency initiatives. However, much more still needs to be done. Towards the end of the ...
Commerce
Electricity Commission—Consideration of 5-year Review Report 3 Jun 2010
JOHN BOSCAWEN What progress has been made on the committee’s consideration of the Report from the Controller and Auditor-General on Electricity Commission: Review of the first five years?
Smart Meters (Consumer Choice) Bill
First Reading 5 May 2010
DAVID CLENDON ... is very low. To retrofit them later, as has been proposed by some, would be much, much more expensive. The Electricity Commission was charged with investigating whether the roll-out of advanced metering infrastructure—effectively, smart meters—should...
AARON GILMORE ... Commissioner for the Environment wrote a report recently on metering. That report has been considered by the Electricity Commission and the Minister of Energy and Resources, and some guidelines have been put in place around smart metering. I am ...
PESETA SAM LOTU-IIGA ... regulated under Part D of the Electricity Governance Rules. The roll-out of smart meters is unregulated. However, the Electricity Commission issued guidelines in May 2008 that recommended minimum standards for smart metering systems. These guidelines are ...
Dr KENNEDY GRAHAM ... meter that would enable any electric or electronic device to communicate with the meter. The Minister, along with the Electricity Commission, recommends against proceeding with these chips. But if the bill is voted through to the select committee, this issue ...
KATRINA SHANKS ... under Part D of the Electricity Governance Rules, the roll-out of smart meters is still unregulated. However, the Electricity Commission issued guidelines in May 2008 that recommended minimum standards for smart meter systems. The guidelines are ...
CLARE CURRAN ... before the committee for their financial reviews: Meridian Energy, Genesis, Mighty River Power, Transpower, and the Electricity Commission. I asked every one of them the same question, and I got virtually the same answer from each of them. That question was ...
Offices of Parliament, Address to Governor-General 27 Apr 2010
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE ... for the Environment. This occurs because the monitoring function that the commissioner performs in relation to the Electricity Commission is likely to be removed with the passage of the Electricity Industry Bill that is now before the House. These ...
RAHUI KATENE ... commissioner’s annual appropriation be reduced by only $150,000 of the recommended $312,000 annual provision for the Electricity Commission audit function. Although it may appear to be a bit of a Clayton’s provision, it provides ongoing support to endorse ...
Electricity Industry Bill
Third Reading 23 Sep 2010
Hon JOHN CARTER ... because not enough generation had been built to deal with dry years. There was also widespread criticism of the Electricity Commission, which was seen as slow to deal with competition issues and to approve overdue upgrades to the transmission system. ...
Hon NANAIA MAHUTA ... do not think that that is a responsible way forward. We have concerns about both the proposal to disestablish the Electricity Commission and replace it with the Electricity Authority, and the narrow focus of the authority, which will now not consider ...
Dr KENNEDY GRAHAM ... market competition, and to ensure security of supply. It seeks to modify governance arrangements by replacing the Electricity Commission with the Electricity Authority, which is to be more independent. It will allow lines businesses back into retailing, ...
In Committee 21 Sep 2010
CHRIS HIPKINS ... the point where there can be any kind of coherent system. So instead the previous Labour Government established the Electricity Commission, which was designed to address some of the failures in the market. But Gerry Brownlee, with this bill, is now ...
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE ... and where there is capacity for companies to secure a supply that means they can meet their consumers’ demands. The Electricity Commission was set up by the previous Government and was required to do a broad range of things. The Electricity Authority, set ...
Hon DAVID PARKER ... industry governance and creates a new authority called the Electricity Authority, which effectively replaces the Electricity Commission. We should not fool ourselves that this makes a substantial difference to competition in the market. It does make a ...
CHRIS HIPKINS ... what we can do and where we can go from here. The previous Labour Government decided that the establishment of the Electricity Commission to provide much more oversight to the electricity industry was the way to go, and Labour still believes that. We still ...
AARON GILMORE ... because it got stuck in those huge infrastructure bottlenecks commonly called the Resource Management Act and the Electricity Commission. What we have done is refocus the Electricity Authority to separate out what it is good at and what it is not good at. ...
CHRIS HIPKINS ... entrench Transpower’s role as the system operator. Currently, Transpower is the system operator on contract with the Electricity Commission, but the Electricity Commission could change the system operator if it chose to do so. This bill effectively ...
CHRIS HIPKINS ... in its role as the system operator. There will not be the drive for efficiencies that there could have been. The Electricity Commission will not be leaning on the market operator to make sure that there are increases in efficiency. That is another ...
Hon DAMIEN O’CONNOR ... so that it can go forward and improve matters in the future. When National was in Opposition, it railed against the Electricity Commission. National members opposed it in every speech in this Chamber on every piece of legislation. They said it was ...
Hon DAVID PARKER ... to explain how this new authority is going to have a different outcome in respect of market competition from what the Electricity Commission has had. If it is not going to have any difference, I cannot see how the Government can rely upon it to control prices ...
Hon NANAIA MAHUTA ... fronts. First of all, that member said that Labour increased the amount of bureaucracy in the system. Well, we had an Electricity Commission, and it will be replaced by an Electricity Authority, a Security and Reliability Council, and other advisory groups. ...
AARON GILMORE ... sector, and that there was very slow progress on rule-making. So what have we got? Part 2 is about replacing the Electricity Commission with an independent authority as an independent Crown entity. It is about the establishment of a Security and ...
H V ROSS ROBERTSON ... legislation back to the House, and those select committee personnel who also did such a sterling job. Scrapping the Electricity Commission is a move by the Government to improve efficiency. That is a laudable and commendable thing to do, but I have to say ...
CHRIS HIPKINS ... had the commercial business case and analysis done to prove that it is worthwhile. They know that splitting up the Electricity Commission into all of the different agencies—the Electricity Authority, the Commerce Commission, the Energy Efficiency and ...
Second Reading 20 Jul 2010
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE ... the bill improves the governance arrangements for the electricity industry. The ministerial review concluded that the Electricity Commission had not done its fundamental job of regulating the industry as well as it could, because it had too many objectives ...
Hon NANAIA MAHUTA ... green image, which we all boast about when we are overseas. Just briefly, I want to comment on the removal of the Electricity Commission in favour of an Electricity Authority. One role the commission had was to provide coordination within the sector and ...
Dr KENNEDY GRAHAM ... shortcomings is an institutional criticism that the governance arrangement is unsatisfactory, with the current Electricity Commission having too many objectives and functions to its name and not being sufficiently independent of the Government. The ...
JOHN BOSCAWEN ... We can add to that list TrustPower and Contact Energy. Contact Energy, which came out of the old New Zealand Electricity Commission, was privatised and sold off by the Government. So there are two privately owned generators and three Government-owned ...
AMY ADAMS ... for the failure of the electricity sector to adequately manage that vulnerability. The other key finding was that the Electricity Commission was trying to juggle too many balls and it was not sufficiently focusing on the key aspects of its role. With that ...
BRENDON BURNS ... One of the best submissions that we received on the select committee was from David Close, who has been an Electricity Commission member and has long been involved in power boards in Christchurch. In terms of the price issue, he noted—and, yes, he ...
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE ... in the most efficient and competitive way possible. That is what this bill will achieve. It also abolishes the Electricity Commission. This is necessary because the Electricity Commission is a perfect example of an unnecessary, convoluted bureaucracy. ...
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE ... at anything and everything that might vaguely smell like sensible economics. The reforms also replace the unfocused Electricity Commission with an Electricity Authority as an independent Crown entity. The objective of the Electricity Authority will be to ...
Hon DAVID PARKER ... are, because it knows that that was unavoidable. This legislation in respect of the changing of the name of the Electricity Commission to the Electricity Authority does not change a lot. It makes a few changes; we can argue whether those changes are ...
First Reading 15 Dec 2009
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE ... these changes are designed to improve the incentives for better management of dry years and other supply risks. The Electricity Commission was set up in 2003, following the failure of the industry’s self-governance arrangements. However, it was poorly ...
Hon DAVID PARKER ... It just does not make sense, so that is a mistake. The next mistake is in respect of the abolition of some of the Electricity Commission’s powers. Let us reflect on why the Electricity Commission was formed. Max Bradford’s reforms had this fiction that we ...
DAVID CLENDON ... solution in a context where ecologically and physically it makes no sense. The proposal to disestablish the Electricity Commission in favour of a much more narrowly focused electricity authority is also of concern. The commission has had some ....
Hon Dr PITA SHARPLES ... not be satisfied until we can come to the best possible arrangements for our people. This bill disestablishes the Electricity Commission and instead sets up the Electricity Authority, which will have a very specific pro-competition focus. So how exactly ...
Hon PETE HODGSON ... loves my work. I want to know from Gerry Brownlee where the vision is, because I do not think that shutting down the Electricity Commission and replacing it with the Electricity Authority and the Security and Reliability Council is visionary, at all. What is ...
Hon PETE HODGSON ... is the system operator. Heaven forbid! Who did that? Was it done by the Ministry of Economic Development, by the Electricity Commission, or by the good Minister himself, or was it done by the invisible hand of the market? No, it was done by TransPower. ...
Infrastructure Bill
First Reading 25 Aug 2009
MICHAEL WOODHOUSE ... that briefed the Minister for Infrastructure—the likes of Treasury, the Ministry of Economic Development, the Electricity Commission, and so on—whose officials admitted that “there was currently no practical experience and relatively little knowledge ...
Estimates Debate - In Committee
In Committee 6 Aug 2009
Hon Dr NICK SMITH ... the Accident Compensation Corporation, a person who has done considerable work for both Governments in respect of the Electricity Commission, and a person who, in my view, has a deep level of knowledge of New Zealand’s accident compensation system, the Hon ...
General Debate 5 Aug 2009
JEANETTE FITZSIMONS ... stations, like geothermal and wind, would save 61 percent of emissions from electricity. Those are already in the Electricity Commission’s statement of opportunities as being cost-effective. Did the Minister engage with us when we asked him? No. Instead,...
General Debate 22 Jul 2009
Hon DAVID PARKER ... by the new Government. I am talking about people like Roger Sowry, a very able man, who was appointed to the Electricity Commission. But I have to say that the appointment of Dr Brash to the productivity task force is in a different category. We ...
Questions to Ministers - Question No. 4 to Minister
Question No. 4 to Minister 24 Mar 2009
JEANETTE FITZSIMONS I seek leave to table two documents. The first is a letter from Genesis Energy to the Electricity Commission, which is the source of one of those quotes I used. The other is from Genesis Energy to the Rodney District Council, ...
State Owned Enterprises
Genesis Energy, Board—Confidence 24 Mar 2009
Jeanette Fitzsimons ... District Council that it had “sufficient gas arrangements” to operate the proposed Rodney power station, but told the Electricity Commission that it does not have “access to a sufficient, secure forward quantity of gas” for it?
Jeanette Fitzsimons ...ers’ dollars just on planning for the power station, but that it probably will not be built, given its statement to the Electricity Commission that it should not consider the power station as “committed or likely in a real world commercial sense”; and does he ...
Energy and Resources
Electricity, National Grid—Improvements 20 Apr 2010
Charles Chauvel ... outlining Treasury’s concerns about the Commerce Commission taking over oversight of investment generation from the Electricity Commission.
Kupe Gas Project—Benefits 18 Mar 2010
Charles Chauvel In light of the Electricity Commission’s warnings about a looming energy supply crisis, is he concerned that, despite having a contractor take all the gas ...
Charles Chauvel In light of the Electricity Commission’s warnings about a looming energy supply crisis, is the Minister concerned at all, despite having a contract to take ...
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE No, and I make two comments. First, I think the Electricity Commission overstated its concerns about security of supply. We have made a huge effort to change the circumstances in which ...
Power Prices—Reduction 25 Feb 2010
Charles Chauvel ... and that only 174 megawatts per year are projected to be added between 2009 and 2014—not enough, according to the Electricity Commission, to keep the lights on past 2012?
Electricity Market—Performance 9 Dec 2009
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE ... way in which the industry operates does allow that competition. That is something Labour never did. Labour set up the Electricity Commission, which charged people every month, on their bills, and we simply saw the price continue to rise.
Electricity—Investment in National Grid 13 May 2009
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE Yes; the Government believes that disentangling the regulatory overlap between the Electricity Commission, Transpower, and the Commerce Commission is important. I have launched a ministerial review into the electricity market,...
Electricity—Investment in National Grid 6 May 2009
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE I have received a report indicating that last Friday the Electricity Commission announced that it was approving the $473 million North Auckland and Northland project, reversing its earlier decision ...
Energy—Gas Supplies 28 Apr 2009
Charles Chauvel Does the Minister agree with the Electricity Commission’s finding last week that even if there is a big new gas discovery in New Zealand, the price of gas will “be very ...
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE I do not necessarily agree with the position that the Electricity Commission has taken with regard to future gas price, nor do I accept that there will necessarily be the importation of liquefied ...
Biofuels—Exemption from Excise and Road-user Charges 10 Mar 2009
Charles Chauvel ... the building of the Rodney power station, at a cost of over half a billion dollars, when Genesis Energy told the Electricity Commission on 4 December last year that the plant had no resource consents, no gas pipeline capacity, and no access to a ...
Charles Chauvel I seek leave to table a letter from Genesis Energy to the Electricity Commission, dated 4 December 2008, which notes that the proposed Rodney power station has no resource consents, and no forward ...
Electricity—Investment in National Grid 3 Mar 2009
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE ... working on terms of reference for a ministerial working party to look at disentangling the overlapping roles of the Electricity Commission, the Commerce Commission, and Transpower. There has been a great deal of criticism of the current regulatory and ...
Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill
Third Reading 18 Dec 2008
CHRIS HIPKINS ... allowing for new thermal generation for security of supply where absolutely necessary. It would have given the Electricity Commission the ability to investigate, but this bill takes away the ability of the Electricity Commission to do that. So what are ...
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN ... no Government can pretend otherwise around that. That is the difficult trade-off. Actually, the Government and the Electricity Commission have changed that trade-off recently to reinforce the importance of security of supply. But security of supply cannot ...
In Committee 17 Dec 2008
Hon DAVID PARKER ... who has security of supply concerns can get an exemption to the restrictions on baseload thermal generation from the Electricity Commission making a recommendation to the relevant Minister that would then be adopted. But that is unlikely to be necessary, ...
Hon PETE HODGSON ... plant. I ask the Minister to take out one of its driveshafts, to take out 250 megawatts—or, indeed, to invite the Electricity Commission to consider doing so, because he does not have the ability to do it; it would have to be done by the commission. Let ...
Hon Dr Nick Smith ... (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill. This part deals with only the consequential amendments, such as the powers of the Electricity Commission to investigate issues in respect of the electricity renewable preference provisions that are being repealed. I think ...
Hon Dr Nick Smith ... meant to be debating Part 2. It is a very narrow part, and it changes, very narrowly, the investigative powers of the Electricity Commission. The Standing Order around the Committee stage debate is that the member needs to narrowly reflect on those issues in ...
Hon DAVID PARKER Part 2 amends the principal legislation by removing the inquiry powers of the Electricity Commission. I will discuss those inquiry powers and describe to the Committee how those powers currently work under the existing ...
GRANT ROBERTSON I just want to build on the comments of my colleague David Parker about the powers of the Electricity Commission, which are covered under Part 2 of the bill, because, as was kindly pointed out to us by members opposite, we are ...
GRANT ROBERTSON ... throughout this week that public consultation is not something it is interested in, but that was the role that the Electricity Commission was going to do—to make sure the voice of the public would be heard if there was a case for an exemption or, indeed, ...
Hon Dr Nick Smith ... is a very narrow part, dealing only with the deletion of the words “Commission” from the investigating powers of the Electricity Commission. I have listened carefully to the member. He has been well outside the Standing Orders, and you should require him to ...
Hon DAVID PARKER ... can be that we can rely on a price of carbon that does not yet exist. This also links back to the date on which the Electricity Commission loses its investigatory powers. Allied to those investigatory powers is the public right of participation in these ...
Second Reading 17 Dec 2008
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE ... Zealand consumers, through the levies on their power bills, have paid some $230 million over the last 5 years to the Electricity Commission. The Electricity Commission’s response to a requirement that it have generation in reserve was to build a diesel-fired ...
Third Reading 17 Dec 2008
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE ... the organisation of the electricity industry by putting in another committee—another body, another bureaucracy—the Electricity Commission. Over the first 5 years of its existence, the Electricity Commission has taken some $230 million off New Zealanders. ...
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE Mr Hodgson—the man who presided over the establishment of the Electricity Commission, the man who made the decision to underwrite the gas contract for Genesis, and the man who made the decision to build ...
Hon DAVID PARKER ... also refer to some of the confusion that the Minister of Energy and Resources referred to in his criticisms of the Electricity Commission. What does the Electricity Commission do and why did we need it? Well, one of the reasons was that after Max Bradford’s...
First Reading 17 Dec 2008
Hon PETE HODGSON ... future as they come up for major refurbishment, or indeed cannot be refurbished and put into the reserve scheme. The Electricity Commission has the say over that and the role to play there, not Cabinet or this Parliament. That is what the future of this ...
Reinstatement of Business 9 Dec 2008
Electricity Commission
Climate Change Response (Emissions Trading) Amendment Bill, Electricity (Renewable Preference) Amendment Bill - Third Readings
Third Readings 10 Sep 2008
JEANETTE FITZSIMONS ... renewable investments out of the market. We know that heaps of energy efficiency is available in the economy. The Electricity Commission has identified real reductions, and we need to access those. The $1 billion green homes fund will leverage real ...
Commerce
Petrol Pricing—Review 17 Jun 2008
Peter Brown ... of a FuelWatch ombudsman or some such person, as in Australia; if so, who will pay for it—will it be similar to the Electricity Commission and fall as a charge against users?
Budget Statement - Budget Debate
Budget Debate 22 May 2008
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN .../08 and 2008/09 towards our target of providing insulation and clean heating for 70,000 households. In this Budget, the Electricity Commission will contribute a further $5 million towards this programme.
Budget 2008 will also ...
Debate on Crown Entities, Public Organisations, and State Enterprises - In Committee
In Committee 14 May 2008
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE ... was built in the 1960s. It desperately needs replacing, but Transpower has only just lodged an application with the Electricity Commission to build a replacement. Assuming that that is approved, it is still likely to kick into service only, at the quickest, ...
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE ... each one. Transpower has a huge strategic responsibility and is regulated by the Commerce Commission and the Electricity Commission. The expectancy of the New Zealand public towards the results of Transpower is now tinged with considerable ...
Electricity Commission
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE ... that were asked then. The current power crisis facing us this winter brings into stark relief the failure of the Electricity Commission—the grand-sounding body that was set up in 2003 by the then Minister of Energy, Pete Hodgson. He said then, as did the ...
Hon DAVID PARKER ... level of ignorance on the part of the National Party spokesperson on energy, Gerry Brownlee, when it comes to the Electricity Commission and other matters of detail. But having pointed out those mistakes in a radio interview with Sean Plunket on Radio New ...
Hon DAVID PARKER ... the member’s ignorance of these energy areas; it is second only to Mr Brownlee’s. We have heard this claim that the Electricity Commission does not do anything. Well, of course, the Electricity Commission was established in 2003 because the industry could ...
Hon DAVID PARKER ... year by year as a consequence. Some of these reviews have saved New Zealanders hundreds of millions of dollars. The Electricity Commission has oversight of Transpower’s grid investments. It did that in respect of the Waikato upgrade, and it actually knocked $...
Hon DAVID PARKER ... out what I had said, because I pointed out the fundamental mistake in National’s logic. Most of the things that the Electricity Commission pays for have always happened, will always be necessary, and will always need to be paid for. Consumers pay for those ...
Hon DAVID PARKER ... because they do not know the most basic things in respect of the electricity system. This is done through the Electricity Commission paying for these services, which it contracts to the system operator. If we were to dump the Electricity Commission ...
Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE ... and intelligence from the National Party about things to do with energy, especially in respect of the review of the Electricity Commission, has been exposed. Mr Auchinvole—I think I pronounced his name right; he is rather sensitive about it—who I am told ...
Commerce Amendment Bill 2008
First Reading 20 Mar 2008
Dr RICHARD WORTH ... needed to spend staggering sums—perhaps in the order of $4 billion. It had submitted some of those projects to the Electricity Commission for approval. The Electricity Commission’s job was to satisfy itself that the proposed spending was efficient, and ...
Broadcasting Amendment Bill 2007
Second Reading 5 Mar 2008
Hon PAUL SWAIN ... and television. We have a Telecommunications Commissioner, who regulates telecommunications, and we have an Electricity Commission, which regulates electricity, but potentially there will be a time when telecommunications go down electricity lines. ...
Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 13 Feb 2008
Hon Dr NICK SMITH ... power station that today is running at absolutely full bore. As Gerry Brownlee revealed today, the Government’s own Electricity Commission is looking at importing 100 diesel generators in containers to keep the lights on while the Prime Minister chants ...
Urgent Debates - Emissions Trading Scheme—Government Announcement
Emissions Trading Scheme—Government Announcement 20 Sep 2007
Hon DAVID PARKER ... few years ago there were very few of those in the country. Through schemes run by the Government, mainly through the Electricity Commission, and with good support from Kiwis who want to do their bit to improve things, we now have more than 10 million of ...
Climate Change Issues
Greenhouse Gas Reduction—2020 Target 6 Aug 2009
Jeanette Fitzsimons ... in 2020 by replacing two old coal and gas power plants with renewables that are cost-effective, according to the Electricity Commission’s statement of opportunities?
Greenhouse Gas Reduction—Analysis 4 Aug 2009
Jeanette Fitzsimons ... replacing the Huntly coal-fired power station with geothermal, wind, and interruptible load, as modelled by the Electricity Commission; if so, does he accept that this is achievable and vastly preferable to enduring dangerous climate change?
Energy Strategy—Emissions Trading Scheme and Greenhouse Gases 18 Oct 2007
Hon DAVID PARKER ... gains expected from efficiency as a consequence of the National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy and the Electricity Commission’s expanded electricity efficiency work programme.
Hon DAVID PARKER ... in energy efficiency, I refer the member to the KEMA study that has been released this week on the website of the Electricity Commission. It shows, with the best cost-benefit analysis this country has ever had, that very affordable reductions in ...
Electricity—Emissions 23 Aug 2007
Hon DAVID PARKER ... both in terms of reduced greenhouse gas emissions and drought-year security margins. I will be urging the Electricity Commission, Genesis, and other market participants to progress their consideration of how this additional dry-year reserve can ...
Electricity (Disconnection and Low Fixed Charges) Amendment Bill
Third Reading 10 Apr 2008
Hon MAHARA OKEROA ... the regulations can be set if electricity retailers do not follow the new disconnection guidelines developed by the Electricity Commission. The revised guideline on arrangements to assist low-income and vulnerable customers contains significantly improved ...
Hon MAHARA OKEROA ... has dropped significantly and steadily, from between 5,000 to 6,000 per month to 1,000 to 2,000 per month. The Electricity Commission has reported that retailers have been fully compliant with the guidelines. The commission will continue to monitor ...
Hon LUAMANUVAO WINNIE LABAN ... be so forgiving if we lost a much-loved mother and wife in these kinds of circumstances. Since this tragedy, the Electricity Commission has worked with electricity retailers, Government departments, and community organisations to develop guidelines for ...
Dr RICHARD WORTH ... to ensure that regulations can be made in relation to the content of the disconnection guidelines developed by the Electricity Commission. I will deal just very briefly with both parts. First, I will provide some background on the issue of low fixed ...
LINDSAY TISCH ... the changes in 2002 were designed to do. We found that there was to be a regulator. This was put in the hands of the Electricity Commission, which was given the responsibility to monitor compliance with the regulations that were promulgated at that time. So ...
HONE HARAWIRA ... paying a whole lot more for, later on. The Māori Party is hugely disappointed that the guidelines provided by the Electricity Commission for electricity retailers in the past have been ignored, leading to the crisis we face now. But I also have to point ...
Second Reading 8 Apr 2008
Hon DAVID PARKER ... procedures should be surrounding disconnection. The electricity companies have done this under the guidance of the Electricity Commission, which has developed guidelines that electricity retailers until now have adopted voluntarily. We were in the position ...
Hon DAMIEN O’CONNOR ... is a vital component of both industry and private living. It is therefore important that we have guidance through the Electricity Commission. Again, I applaud the efforts of the Hon David Parker and his oversight—
Hon DAMIEN O’CONNOR ... in and said that that obligation will continue. We will also continue to step in where necessary, and when the Electricity Commission comes to us seeking further guidance, to ensure that we have a fully integrated, working, operative, and fair system ...
Dr PITA SHARPLES ... people feel about a society that treats them like a boil on the butt rather than as people in need. We know of the Electricity Commission’s guidelines on arrangements to assist low-income domestic consumers, the recognition of the special needs of those ...
Hon LUAMANUVAO WINNIE LABAN ... leading to reconciliation and healing. Electricity is an essential service. Following the Muliaga tragedy, the Electricity Commission began working with electricity retailers, Government departments, and our community organisations to develop ...
Second Reading 19 Mar 2008
Hon DARREN HUGHES ... so that regulations can be made if electricity companies do not follow the disconnection guidelines developed by the Electricity Commission. The Act does not currently contain sufficient powers to regulate disconnection processes or to regulate the full ...
Hon DARREN HUGHES ... need to be used. I am confident that electricity retailers will continue to work positively as they have with the Electricity Commission to ensure that the disconnection guidelines are adhered to. However, the regulation powers in the bill will act as an ...
GERRY BROWNLEE ... there been very little change in the industry? There has been only the addition of a massive bureaucracy, called the Electricity Commission, which all consumers pay for with a little extra on their electricity bill, month after month. What has ever been ...
First Reading 7 Aug 2007
JO GOODHEW ... because there is not enough electricity generation to meet our ever-increasing needs. We will also restructure the Electricity Commission, allow lines companies to enter into generation, and introduce transparency into billing so that consumers can see ...
First Reading 26 Jul 2007
Hon DAVID PARKER ... contract, they are not breaching the regulations, so they are not subject to the penalty provisions in the Act. The Electricity Commission has been working with electricity retailers, Government ministries, and social agencies to develop new guidelines for ...
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE ... purpose. The bill ensures that the Government can regulate the content of voluntary disconnection guidelines that the Electricity Commission has recently developed in response to the sad, tragic, and avoidable death of Mrs Muliaga. These guidelines include ...
... costs such as electricity in the first place. We know that there have been guidelines in place prepared by the Electricity Commission in 2005 to assist low-income domestic consumers. We have looked through those guidelines, and their intention to ...
JEANETTE FITZSIMONS ... degree of distress experienced by that family. The matter is being dealt with largely through the guidelines of the Electricity Commission, which the companies are signing up to, and of course we support a back-up power to regulate if the companies ignore ...
Urgent Debates - Tranz Rail Shares—Insider Trading
Tranz Rail Shares—Insider Trading 19 Jun 2007
Hon BILL ENGLISH ... do something about it. That is not the answer. And where the Government has stood over a regulator, such as the Electricity Commission, that has led to confusion and uncertainty, and to the need for considerable change. The Government kept saying to the ...
Urgent Debates - Mercury Energy—Disconnection of Electricity Supply
Mercury Energy—Disconnection of Electricity Supply 12 Jun 2007
SUE BRADFORD ... far enough. They are not mandatory. They will be introduced after 1 month’s consultation, and then monitored by the Electricity Commission for 3 months. The commission will then report back to the Government next year, and advise as to whether the ...
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE ... definitional issues. That is why I think the timing of the development of this policy is particularly useful. The Electricity Commission will issue draft guidelines in line with the decisions made by the Government. After 3 months from the date of ...
GERRY BROWNLEE ... or encourage these when able to do so.” That seems pretty clear to me. We know that guidelines were put out by the Electricity Commission as to how these situations were to be dealt with. But in this case they were not followed. So why do we have a Prime ...
Debate on Crown Entities, Public Organisations, and State Enterprises - In Committee
In Committee 8 May 2007
Electricity Commission
GERRY BROWNLEE ... were somewhat numerous on a number of issues that probably did not need any comment, at all. Most certainly the Electricity Commission does need comment. Surely, no more useless quango has ever been set up by any Government than this one. It was set up ...
Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 13 Feb 2007
Hon DAVID PARKER ... We also need to do more to make our electricity go further by being more efficient in the way we use energy. The Electricity Commission, which is an arm of the Government, has been successful in rolling out about 1.5 million of those fluorescent bulbs ...
Prime Minister’s Statement 13 Feb 2007
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK ... the legislation. Already this year there have been major developments in guaranteeing Auckland’s power supply. The Electricity Commission’s announcement on the upgraded transmission into Auckland is going through a formal consultation process. Its ...
Finance
Electricity Commissioner—Minister's Comments 15 Nov 2006
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN The only correct part of that statement is that I called a meeting with the Electricity Commission and Transpower. Its purpose was to bang heads together, given the stand-off between, and the bad behaviour of, both ...
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN ... Dr Nick Smith who, only 3 weeks before this meeting, asked the Government why it was relying upon the advice of the Electricity Commission rather than that of Transpower. [ Interruption]
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN It is not, because I did not. I have already told the member that. What we told Transpower and the Electricity Commission—I have publicly and privately many times referred to the male rutting that was going on between the two of them—was ...
Hon Dr Nick Smith ... on Radio New Zealand, and on Newstalk ZB, when the select committee heard last Thursday that another member of the Electricity Commission said: “He had worked with Ministers all his career and had never been spoken to the way he had by Ministers under this ...
Hon Dr Nick Smith ... in which Mr Hemmingway made a number of very serious allegations about interference in the independence of the Electricity Commission.
Third Readings 12 Oct 2006
LINDSAY TISCH ... in the markets, reputation, integrity of the process, what did the Government do? It fired the chair of the Electricity Commission, Mr Hemmingway. If the Government does not like something, it interferes in the process. That is what it does. ...
General Debate 13 Sep 2006
Hon Dr NICK SMITH ... that this arrogant Government tramples all over independence. Today we have seen the sacking of the chairman of the Electricity Commission. Do members remember that Mr Roy Hemmingway was appointed by this Labour Government? He was interviewed personally by ...
Securities Legislation Bill
In Committee 10 Oct 2006
PANSY WONG ... It keeps on interfering, sacking commissioners that the Government itself has appointed—like the chairman of the Electricity Commission—and interfering in the operation of private enterprise. Without clear legislation and a vision for the future of major ...
LINDSAY TISCH Well, there is the chairman of the Electricity Commission, for example. Reading back on the reports, when this bill was being looked at in the previous debate on its Committee ...
In Committee 13 Sep 2006
PANSY WONG ... will they be left alone to implement its spirit? We have learnt this afternoon that the chairman of the Electricity Commission has been sacked, because he would not give in to political pressure. He wanted to carry out his duty according to ...
Urgent Debates - Power Outage—Upper North Island
Power Outage—Upper North Island 13 Jun 2006
Hon Dr NICK SMITH ... in 2002. What sort of nonsense do we have when transmission decisions are made not only by Transpower but also by the Electricity Commission and the Commerce Commission? Everybody knows that those reforms are a failure. We need a clarification of the roles of ...
Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON ... record our concerns. We think that crunch time—the point where demand can exceed peak capacity—may be closer than the Electricity Commission assumptions because the system is already under some pressure. Little new transmission has been built since the 1980s, ...
TARIANA TURIA ... sources of supply, and to work together for the good of our nation. Yesterday, when I heard the chair of the Electricity Commission, Roy Hemmingway, suggest that he will talk with Government agencies and Transpower about how to proceed with an ...
Hon DAVID PARKER ... us and we think it is appropriate, we now have the tools to enable that to happen. Thirdly, Dr Smith says that the Electricity Commission is the problem. The OECD organisation the International Energy Agency has exactly the opposite view to Dr Smith’s, and ...
GORDON COPELAND ... for a new, 400-kilovolt line into Auckland that was put forward by Transpower was rejected by Roy Hemmingway of the Electricity Commission, because, in his view, it involved inadequate analysis of the problem and inadequate consultation with the affected ...
Prime Minister
Electricity—Transmission System Upgrade 28 Jun 2006
Dr Don Brash ... to reform the Resource Management Act, and the continued use of the flawed grid investment test by the Government’s Electricity Commission?
Dr Don Brash ... recently by the Employers and Manufacturers Association, that the grid investment test introduced by her Government’s Electricity Commission puts narrow economic tests well ahead of crucial social and business concerns about the security of electricity supply,...
Dr Don Brash ... necessary upgrades, when her Government has tied the company in regulation from both the Commerce Commission and the Electricity Commission, and then continues to subject it to an overly onerous requirement of an unreformed Resource Management Act?
Dr Don Brash ... issue in this country, and actually admit that the initiatives taken by her Government, in creating the failed Electricity Commission and tying up the various players in Resource Management Act red tape, have actually made the situation markedly worse?
Energy, Minister—Confidence 13 Jun 2006
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK ... policy committee tomorrow morning. The Minister of Energy is asking Ministry of Economic Development officials, the Electricity Commission, and Transpower to supply reports as quickly as possible. If there is a need to change policy, that can be done, but ...
Debate on Crown Entities, Public Organisations, and State Enterprises - In Committee
In Committee 16 May 2006
CHRIS TREMAIN ... chairman and the chief executive officer were prepared to stand up and be counted on the minzone and to criticise the Electricity Commission about where that minzone sat. It is a difficult thing to do. As it turned out they were correct; the minzone was some ...
BRIAN CONNELL ... Pete” saying it is rubbish. But that is not the truth of the matter. The Government’s response and that of the Electricity Commission was that Dr Keith Turner, the Chief Executive of Meridian Energy, was being an alarmist—that he, along with other ...
BRIAN CONNELL ... the House. Remember he was the Minister, then he was not, and now he is again. So let us get on with the issue. The Electricity Commission also came out and stated that the chief executive was being an alarmist. This is a commission that is so young that it ...
Hon Dr NICK SMITH ... are so poorly maintained we are at risk of being in a Third World situation in respect of electricity supply. The Electricity Commission, an agency this Government set up, has had to admit it made a mistake of about 180 megawatts in the minzone, which ...
Hon Dr NICK SMITH ... confusion within the sector as to who is calling the shots: the Commerce Commission, Transpower New Zealand, or the Electricity Commission. There is huge uncertainty in the sector about the Government’s Kyoto policies. Every single part of those policies is ...
Financial Review Debate - In Committee
In Committee 4 Apr 2006
GORDON COPELAND ... of last year the then Minister of Energy, the Hon Trevor Mallard, who is the Minister now in the chair, asked the Electricity Commission to look again at what Transpower was proposing to do. I draw to the attention of the Committee the exchange between ...
Urgent Debates - David Parker—Resignation from Executive
David Parker—Resignation from Executive 21 Mar 2006
GERRY BROWNLEE ... his hands. Today he tried to tell us that because there is conflict in the electricity industry—the generators, the Electricity Commission, and Transpower have all got big issues going on with one another—we are better off than we have ever been before. Well,...
Prime Minister’s Statement 14 Feb 2006
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK ... picked up, but critical decisions are due on how best to guarantee power to Auckland for the longer term. Once the Electricity Commission has reported, firm decisions can and must be taken. Transpower has put its option on the table. The job of the ...
Energy
Electricity Transmission—Investment 30 Jul 2008
Peter Brown Has the Minister read the recent report by the Electricity Commission entitled Market Design Review—Options Paper; if he has, how does he react to its stating, in essence, that network ...
Gerry Brownlee I seek leave to table a document produced by the Electricity Commission showing that security of supply has been declining for the last 5 years, during a period when the price for ...
Electricity—Hydro Lake Levels 22 Jul 2008
Hon DAVID PARKER ... lower and drastic power savings were needed to get through the winter. We are better off this year, thanks to the Electricity Commission, better industry coordination, and improving supply margins. That is why there was no crisis, despite Mr Brownlee’s ...
Electricity Generator, Whirinaki—Diesel Use 1 Jul 2008
Gerry Brownlee Can the Minister confirm that on Tuesday of last week the Electricity Commission published a consultation paper in which it stated that it may need to spend another $165 million this year on using ...
Gerry Brownlee Can the Minister confirm that the Electricity Commission has also said it may need to spend a further $5 million to run a conservation campaign later in the winter, and does ...
Hon DAVID PARKER It is not yet clear how much of the funding that has been provided to the Electricity Commission will need to be drawn down, because that depends upon hydro inflows between now and the end of winter.
Gerry Brownlee ... has already cut production, we are reliant on an asbestos-ridden, inefficient gas plant at New Plymouth, and the Electricity Commission wants another $165 million from consumers to keep the lights on, yet the Minister claims we do not have a crisis and ...
Electricity—Supply 15 Apr 2008
Gerry Brownlee ... that the hydro lake levels are down to just 65 percent of average, thus putting them in the minzone level set by the Electricity Commission, and that the Electricity Commission itself has raised its risk meter to high, which indicates that New Zealanders ...
Hon DAVID PARKER I am aware of the steps that the Electricity Commission and Transpower have taken—in fact, I go over those issues daily. But it is not correct to say that as a consequence of ...
Hon DAVID PARKER Since the Labour-led Government established the Electricity Commission we have better and more transparent information about lake levels, security margins, and trigger points for more ....
Gerry Brownlee What is the purpose of the minzone and the Electricity Commission risk meter if it is not to warn New Zealanders that there are likely to be electricity shortages this winter; and why ...
Gerry Brownlee ... in residential price increases over the last 6 years and millions of dollars of consumer levies in payment to the Electricity Commission, why can the Minister not give the simple assurance to the House that the lights will stay on, the heating will stay on,...
Energy—Supply 12 Mar 2008
Hon DAVID PARKER ... by Justice Salmon. I have today released a revised Government policy statement on electricity governance to the Electricity Commission, to implement the New Zealand Energy Strategy as we head towards 90 percent renewable electricity. Of course, last ...
Clean-coal Technology—Progress 4 Mar 2008
Gerry Brownlee Can the Minister confirm that the Electricity Commission was entirely the creation of the Labour Government, and that it is staffed primarily by people with close Labour ties, ...
Electricity Supply—Cook Strait Cable 19 Feb 2008
Gerry Brownlee ... his statement when he and his colleagues have received regular briefings, reports, and memos from Transpower and the Electricity Commission over the last few years stating that the high-voltage direct current (HVDC) link was old, unreliable, and in need of ...
Hon PETE HODGSON ... long and short of it is that this pole is now 30 years old and it will need to be decommissioned at some time. The Electricity Commission and Transpower are trying to work out when that will be, and in the meantime they are looking to see whether they can ...
Gerry Brownlee ...bour’s complete failure to future-proof security of supply despite the grand pronouncements from that Minister that the Electricity Commission would do exactly that?
Gerry Brownlee ... confirm that the reason Transpower has not gone ahead with the project is that it does not have sign-off from the Electricity Commission under the electricity governance rules, and that the Electricity Commission is itself nothing more than a mouthpiece ...
Hon PETE HODGSON ... long and short of it is that if one wants to make a transmission investment in this country, one should involve the Electricity Commission in that. The commission asks a bunch of questions—and I have some of the questions in writing from the general manager ...
Gerry Brownlee Can the Minister confirm that Transpower made its application to the Electricity Commission in September of 2005 and is still waiting to hear back?
Hon PETE HODGSON No, I cannot confirm that. I can confirm the opposite, which is that the Electricity Commission and Transpower New Zealand continue to remain in discussions on this, that, and the other bit of the transmission ...
Electricity—Supply 14 Feb 2008
Gordon Copeland ... pole of the cable is apparently uninsurable, and will he hold the entity responsible for that—be it Transpower or the Electricity Commission—accountable for placing our electricity supply system at unnecessary risk?
Gerry Brownlee Can the Minister confirm that despite the urgency around the survival of the HVDC link, the Electricity Commission, which is supposed to guarantee security of supply, is not even considering a proposal either to replace or to repair ...
Hon DAVID PARKER No, it is not. The Electricity Commission can only consider an application that is made to it. It is awaiting the application from Transpower. The technical ...
Electricity—Supply 13 Feb 2008
Hon DAVID PARKER No Minister can give an absolute guarantee, but I can assure the member that even at this stage the Electricity Commission, Transpower, and other industry participants are working together to ensure a secure supply of electricity is ...
Hon DAVID PARKER The idea of mobile generators as a contingency is not one of mine. It has come from either the Electricity Commission or Transpower; I cannot recall which. As I have said before, it is unlikely to be necessary, but if it were necessary ...
Gerry Brownlee ... for how we are possibly facing another winter of power shortages, when Helen Clark stated, in 2004, that the Electricity Commission is being established to build security of supply and to ensure that there is enough standby generation for dry years, ...
Energy Strategy—Electricity 16 Oct 2007
Hon DAVID PARKER The estimates as to future demand are drawn mainly from the Electricity Commission’s work. The Electricity Commission, even before this strategy, did not think that New Zealand’s electricity demand was ...
Energy Safety—Reports 11 Oct 2007
Hon DAVID PARKER ... externalities. This strategy includes the best cost-benefit analysis we have ever had. Thanks are due to the Electricity Commission, as well as to the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority and the Ministry of Economic Development for their ...
Electricity—Supply 10 May 2007
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN ... to the decisions taken by this Government. But I do note that the status of the official risk meter put out by the Electricity Commission on 6 May—the latest—is still at low.
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN ... then the next time we call wolf people will take no notice, so it is a matter of judgment. I emphasise again that the Electricity Commission has the risk meter at low at the present time. Mr Brownlee thinks he knows more than the Electricity Commission; I ...
Gerry Brownlee ... in construction and those that are held up; if so, would he consider putting up on the website of the Government’s Electricity Commission a site perhaps called “Gridlock New Zealand” in honour of the commission’s delayed backlog of decisions, which has ...
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN The member seems to have shifted from the Electricity Commission to Transpower in that question, and they are two completely different bodies. If the member is referring to—
Gerry Brownlee ... noted that anyone can go to the Transpower website called Grid New Zealand and see a list of projects held up by the Electricity Commission; if so, will he consider putting up on the Electricity Commission website a page called “Gridlock New Zealand” in ...
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN The Electricity Commission is not holding up renewable energy projects, at all. There are difficulties at times with the planning process. I have ...
Electricity Commission—Confidence 2 May 2007
GERRY BROWNLEE Does he have confidence in the Electricity Commission?
Gerry Brownlee ... to hear submissions on the national policy statement on electricity transmission, when the Government already has the Electricity Commission charged with overseeing its policy statement on priority investment in the national grid, and does not this new board ...
Gerry Brownlee ... and he has misrepresented that position, quite inappropriately. The question actually relates to confidence in the Electricity Commission. I am not the one who has appointed someone else, to take work off the commission; it is his Government that has done ...
Hon DAVID PARKER ... a retired High Court judge—considers the content of them. The board of inquiry is not in any way a commentary on the Electricity Commission; it is about a national policy statement relating to the environment.
Gerry Brownlee How can the Minister have confidence in the Electricity Commission, when the Transpower proposal to rectify the security risk at the Ōtāhuhu substation, which blew out last year and ...
Hon DAVID PARKER ... Act. In respect of the Ōtāhuhu substation, the easy remedial steps were taken in the months that followed. The Electricity Commission has recently approved more than $244 million of grid expenditure. It has given draft approval for an $840 million ...
Gerry Brownlee Why does the Minister have confidence in the Electricity Commission when, for its $90 million per annum costs, it has overseen residential electricity price rises of over 48 percent ...
Gerry Brownlee ... because of the overlapping roles of the Commerce Commission, the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority, the Electricity Commission, and now the board of inquiry into electricity transmission, and does he think he might at any point get on top of ...
Electricity Commission—Independence 14 Sep 2006
Hon Dr NICK SMITH Did the Government promise Roy Hemmingway that the Electricity Commission would be independent of the Government; if so, why has this, in Mr Hemmingway’s words “not turned out to be true”?
Hon Dr Nick Smith ... the House that the statement by Mr Hemmingway: “When I came to New Zealand three years ago, I was promised that the Electricity Commission would be independent of the Government’s wishes.” is a lie?
Hon DAVID PARKER I am saying that the Electricity Commission is able to take its day-to-day decisions independently, but it has always been bound to give effect to the Government ...
Hon DAVID PARKER No, it is not. The Hon Trevor Mallard quite rightly directed the Electricity Commission to considers alternatives. This Government still supports that course.
Maryan Street How does the Minister respond to suggestions that he has stacked the board of the Electricity Commission in order to push through the Waikato upgrade decision?
Hon DAVID PARKER I reject that suggestion, too. The Government’s only appointment to the Electricity Commission in the last 3 years has been the very competent Hon Stan Rodger. His appointment stated he will not be participating ...
Hon Dr Nick Smith ... Vector will be able to be made independent of the Government, when its fingerprints are all over the workings of the Electricity Commission?
Hon DAVID PARKER Because the Commerce Commission has statutory independence from the Government—it is actually a bit different from the Electricity Commission in that regard. I further point out that the reality here is that once every 3 years someone in my position has to ...
Maryan Street ... to those who say that because he has not appointed Mr Hemmingway for a second term, no one will want to chair the Electricity Commission?
Hon Dr Nick Smith Will the Minister—noting the importance of independent statutory offices like the Electricity Commission to the integrity of Government—initiate an independent inquiry into the very serious accusations made by Mr Hemmingway ...
Hon DAVID PARKER Of course, it is somewhat ironic that that member who has just resumed his chair actually opposed the creation of the Electricity Commission. We already know from the draft Electricity Commission decision that it will carve substantial costs from the ...
Hon Dr Nick Smith How can the Minister retain any pretence that the Electricity Commission is independent of the Government—noting the importance of that—when the Government owns over $10 billion worth of ...
Hon DAVID PARKER No. The duty of the Electricity Commission is set out in law as being to give effect to the Government policy statement.
Peter Brown ... on the assertion being made by some that, in the interests of independence, it would be better to dispense with the Electricity Commission entirely, and to have its duties and functions undertaken by the Commerce Commission?
Hon DAVID PARKER The Government is looking at what the relative roles of the Electricity Commission and the Commerce Commission should be. It is, however, absolutely clear that more regulatory oversight is required for ...
Hon Dr Nick Smith How was it fair for the Minister yesterday to justify sacking Mr Hemmingway on the basis of the tensions between the Electricity Commission and Transpower, when the Government itself has been the cause of those tensions by pressuring the commission last year ...
Hon DAVID PARKER Not at all. The breakdown in the relationship between Transpower and the Electricity Commission at the most senior levels is something that neither organisation should be proud of. It was not caused by this ...
Electricity Commissioner—Term of Appointment 13 Sep 2006
Hon Dr NICK SMITH Does he agree with the statement today by electricity commissioner Roy Hemmingway: “I can only conclude that I am being removed from office because I stood up to the government as an ...
Hon DAVID PARKER ... at the commission, for which I thank him. Nevertheless it is also true that a dysfunctional relationship between the Electricity Commission and Transpower has developed, which the Government has moved to resolve through changes on both sides of the divide. ...
Hon DAVID PARKER ... sacked. The commissioner has served his 3-year term. I repeat that given the dysfunctional relationship between the Electricity Commission and Transpower, the Government has moved to advance that issue through changes on both sides of the divide.
Electricity Commission—Smart Meters 25 Jul 2006
JEANETTE FITZSIMONS ... that small consumers and providers of demand-side energy management solutions are not adequately represented on the Electricity Commission’s advisory groups, and that the introduction of smart meters should be accelerated to give consumers more control over ...
Hon DAVID PARKER The membership of these groups is under the control of the Electricity Commission, but I am aware that the chair of the commission believes that there should be consumer representation across all ...
Electricity Outage, Auckland—Report 18 Jul 2006
Hon Dr Nick Smith ... in New Plymouth, Huntly, Roxburgh, and Manapōuri were out.”, and what steps will the Minister take to ensure that the Electricity Commission is not caught flatfooted yet again?
Hon DAVID PARKER I would say that when Mr Hemmingway said “we” he was not referring to the Electricity Commission; he was referring to the New Zealand electricity system. I agree that on that night, when we did have record demand—we ...
Electricity Outage, Auckland—Report 27 Jun 2006
Brian Connell ...nterbury—it has now been 16 days and some people are still without power—will the Minister be seeking a report from the Electricity Commission or his officials so that we can learn how to deal with these issues without affecting the power supply in the future?
Hon Dr Nick Smith ... the Government make to the confusing array of Government bodies with electricity responsibilities, which includes the Electricity Commission, the Commerce Commission, Transpower, and the Ministry of Economic Development, when there is a chorus of commentary ...
Hon DAVID PARKER I note, as I noted last week, that the International Energy Agency made very supportive comments about the Electricity Commission, although it did agree that the division of responsibility between the Commerce Commission and the Electricity ...
Electricity—Transmission Grid 21 Jun 2006
Hon Dr NICK SMITH ... the system established with the electricity governance changes in 2003 and 2004 involving the Commerce Commission, Electricity Commission, and Transpower is the right structure to ensure the transmission grid is maintained and upgraded?
Electricity Supply—Government Policies 14 Jun 2006
Hon TREVOR MALLARD ... industry self-regulation led to a significant under-investment in the national grid. That is why we established the Electricity Commission, and I am advised that investment in the grid is now 500 percent—that is, six times—higher than it was when we became ...
Electricity Commission—Investment Process 3 May 2006
Hon DAVID PARKER The application of the grid investment test is a matter for the Electricity Commission. Differing opinions within the commission are matters that the commission itself addresses.
Hon Dr Nick Smith How does the Minister reconcile the statement by the Electricity Commission that its draft decision is “very robust” when one of its own commissioners has seen fit to publicly slam the decision-ma...
Shane Jones Is the expression of a minority opinion in line with the purpose and function of the Electricity Commission?
Hon Dr Nick Smith ... Government is already taking unacceptable risks in respect of transmission to Auckland, noting the statement from the Electricity Commission last week that “security is not at preferred levels now”, and the statement of Dr Keith Turner, chief executive of ...
Hon DAVID PARKER ... signals, as to when it should upgrade the grid. This Government rejected that model, and that is why we set up the Electricity Commission to do what it is doing.
Hon Dr Nick Smith Why does his Government back the judgment of the Electricity Commission, a board with little engineering experience, over that of Transpower and Meridian Energy, which have a huge depth of ...
Hon Dr Nick Smith Does the Minister have confidence in the confusing structure his Government has created between the Electricity Commission, Transpower, and the Commerce Commission in respect of decisions about the management of the national grid; if so, why ...
Hon DAVID PARKER ... some time in the future we think it will be wise to bring some of the functions of the Commerce Commission into the Electricity Commission.
Electricity—Supply 6 Apr 2006
Hon Dr Nick Smith How can he have confidence in the Electricity Commission when yesterday it admitted errors in both the minimum zone and the emergency zone of 15 percent, amounting to the ...
Hon Dr Nick Smith What explanation has he sought from the Electricity Commission of how it managed to make an error of 220 gigawatt hours—the equivalent of the storage in Lake Benmore—and what action ...
Hon Dr Nick Smith Why did the Government 3 weeks ago back the view of the Electricity Commission in respect of the risk of a power crisis this winter over the view of Meridian Energy and Genesis Power, when, ...
Hon TREVOR MALLARD I would point out that, of Genesis Power, Meridian Energy, and the Electricity Commission, none of them thinks we have hit the minimum zone.
Hon Dr Nick Smith ... answer I got from the Minister. The Minister did not address the question, which was why the Government believed the Electricity Commission over those two companies 3 weeks ago.
Hon Dr Nick Smith I seek leave to table the Electricity Commission’s document on the minimum zone and emergency zone, which shows that it had to be changed by 220 gigawatt hours because ...
Electricity Market—Information Accuracy 21 Mar 2006
Gerry Brownlee Why does the Minister continue to have confidence in the Electricity Commission, which insists the lights will not go out this winter, when the major electricity generators advise that they fear the ...
Hon Dr Nick Smith ... of transmission policy and investment with the confusing roles between Transpower, the Commerce Commission, and the Electricity Commission; if so, which should Parliament hold responsible if the transmission system fails?
Hon TREVOR MALLARD ... legislation that will result at some stage in the Commerce Commission’s responsibilities being transferred to the Electricity Commission. The timing of that is a matter for the Government.
Electricity—Supply 2 Mar 2006
Hon DAVID PARKER The Electricity Commission has a published set of assessment criteria that are intended to assure supply against a 1 in 60-year drought. I am ...
Hon Dr Nick Smith ... Government’s two biggest power companies, told a select committee this morning that they have no confidence in the Electricity Commission’s model and that lake levels are at the lowest level ever; why does he not face the reality that New Zealand is facing ...
Hon DAVID PARKER ... advised me that although he is concerned about lake levels, he considers that no additional action on the part of the Electricity Commission is needed at this point.
Hon DAVID PARKER ... to the first question was that Mr Turner advised me that no additional action was required on the part of the Electricity Commission at this stage, in his opinion.
Hon DAVID PARKER The Government already has put in place both reserve generation and the Electricity Commission to develop models—
Hon DAVID PARKER I seek leave to table the Electricity Commission assessment of lake levels against the minimum zone required to achieve security of electricity generation through ...
Electricity Transmission—Capacity 17 Nov 2005
Hon DAVID PARKER ... that New Zealand needs significant investment in transmission capacity. In conjunction with Transpower and the Electricity Commission, we are addressing the issue. Transpower is currently spending over $100 million to upgrade parts of the grid, and ...
Hon DAVID PARKER ... is a consequence of success. But in terms of investment in transmission capacity, this Government has established the Electricity Commission to ensure that the level of investment in transmission is timely, adequate, and necessary.