About the Code

What the Code covers

The Electricity Industry Participation Code 2010 (Code) is the set of rules that governs New Zealand’s electricity industry. It provides the duties and responsibilities for all participants in the electricity industry.

The Code covers nearly every aspect of New Zealand’s electricity industry - from generation, to transmission, system operation, security of supply, market arrangements, metering, distribution and retail.

Our role

As the regulator of New Zealand’s electricity industry, we make, administer and enforce the Code. We must make the Code consistent with our statutory objective, which is to promote competition in, reliable supply by, and the efficient operation of, the electricity industry for the long-term benefit of consumers.

We must make the Code consistent with our statutory objectives:

• to promote competition in, reliable supply by, and the efficient operation of, the electricity industry for the long-term benefit of consumers; and
• to protect the interests of domestic consumers and small business consumers.

We monitor the electricity market closely and enforce the rules, so that industry participants operate on a level playing field and consumers are treated fairly. We aim for our approach to compliance, monitoring and enforcement to be transparent to achieve consistent, fair and timely outcomes.

Who the Code applies to

The Code applies to industry participants or people acting on behalf of industry participants.

All industry participants must comply with the Code, unless they have an exemption from complying with the Code. Industry participants include:

• electricity retailers
• electricity distributors
• electricity generators
• line owners
• Transpower (the grid owner and the system operator)
• electricity consumers connected directly to the grid
• people (other than generators) who generate electricity that is fed into a network
• people who purchase electricity from the clearing manager
• industry service providers:
  • metering equipment providers
  • metering equipment owners
  • people who operate approved test houses
  • load aggregators
  • ancillary service agents
  • traders in electricity
• market operation service providers:
  • registry manager
  • reconciliation manager
  • clearing manager
  • market administrator
  • wholesale information trading system provider
  • financial transmission rights manager.

The Electricity Authority is not an industry participant. All industry participants are listed in section 7 of the Electricity Industry Act 2010 (Act). Section 5 of the Act includes definitions of the types of industry participants.

What the Code cannot do

Section 32(2) of the Act limits what may be in the Code. The Code cannot:

• impose obligations on a person who is not an industry participant
• regulate anything that is the responsibility of the Commerce Commission under the Commerce Act (other than setting quality standards and pricing methods for Transpower and distributors)
• regulate anything that is covered in the Electricity Act 1992.

Amendments to the Code

We can amend the Code at any time in line with the Act and our statutory objective. The process for us to make amendments to the Code is set out in the Act.

Anybody may propose an amendment to the Code at any time.

Exemptions to the Code

Industry participants can apply for an exemption for release from an obligation in the Code or from an obligation in a specified part of the Act.