Copyright, disclaimer and transparency statement

Copyright

Copyright material on this website is protected by copyright owned by the Electricity Authority on behalf of the Crown.

Unless indicated otherwise for specific items or collections of content (either below or within specific items or collections), this copyright material is licensed for re-use under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 international licence. In essence, you are free to copy, store, distribute and adapt the material, as long as you attribute it to the Electricity Authority and abide by the other license terms.

CC-BY 4.0 International license terms

Please note that this license does not apply to the following items, which may not be re-used without express written permission from us, or if the copyright is a third party’s, by that copyright owner:

• any logos, emblems, trade marks or trade names on our website
• our website's design elements, photography and imagery
• the applications, models and tools made available through the EMI website www.emi.ea.govt.nz which are subject to separate terms of use
• copyright works produced by a party other than the Electricity Authority including, without limitation, letters, reports, submissions made to us in response to consultations and responses to information requests under section 46 of the Electricity Industry Act 2010
• agreements with market operator service providers and associated schedules and other documents.

The Electricity Industry Act 2010, the Electricity Industry Participation Code 2010 and the Electricity Industry (Enforcement) Regulations 2010 are not subject to copyright and may be freely copied, distributed and adapted.

Disclaimer

The information provided on the Electricity Authority’s website is intended to provide general information to the public.

All reasonable measures have been taken to ensure that the information it contains is accurate and current. However, visitors are advised that:

• information on this website is true and accurate to the best of our knowledge, but we do not accept any liability for its accuracy or content
• we may change, delete or add information on this website without notice
• information on this website does not replace or alter the Electricity Industry Act 2010, any regulations made under that Act, the Electricity Industry Participation Code 2010 or any other laws of New Zealand
• information on this website is not legal advice
• we are not responsible for the content and accuracy of any information or displayed documents that have been provided by third parties and do not endorse the views expressed within those documents
• links to any other websites are included only for convenience and should not be taken as the our endorsement of those websites, providers or their content
• we do not implicitly endorse any website, organisation or people who have links to or refer to the Electricity Authority’s website
• while we have tried to reflect key dates in on-going projects and processes, we cannot guarantee their accuracy, and dates may change from time-to-time and without notice. We disclaim any liability to you or any other third party for any errors in the dates provided.

If you believe any of the information on this website is inaccurate, contact info@ea.govt.nz.

Transparency statement

This transparency statement explains how we collect, use, and share information gathered from industry participants or other entities (directly or indirectly) for the purposes of regulatory compliance and law enforcement. We use information to detect or investigate potential:

• regulatory non-compliance
• threats to the physical security of staff, or the security of information or places.

We take care to exercise our information gathering powers appropriately and meet our obligations under the Privacy Act 2020, the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1989, the State Sector Code of Conduct, the Information Gathering Model Standards, and relevant Electricity Authority policies and procedures at all times.

Any such information gathering must be approved according to our internal authorisation processes. Those processes, and the related activities, are regularly reviewed to ensure compliance with the law, with our internal policies, and with our risk management requirements.

This statement applies to information gathered by us, our contractors or any other third parties engaged by us.

What information is covered by this statement and why do we collect it?

This section explains how we collect, use, and share information when we are carrying out our functions such as maintaining the register of industry participants, making and administering the Electricity Industry Participation Code 2010 (Code), monitoring compliance with the Electricity Industry Act 2010 (Act) and the Code, and investigating and enforcing compliance under the Act and the Code.

Our legislation empowers us to require industry participants to provide the information we need to give effect to that legislation and ensure compliance, as well as carry out investigations where we believe participants may be in breach.

We are also required to protect that information and only disclose what we consider is necessary to give effect to our legislated responsibilities.

How we collect information

Most of the information we collect is provided directly by industry participants as a requirement to fulfil statutory obligations and according to our powers as a regulator. However, if we require information that is relevant to us for considering and investigating compliance breaches or complaints with the Rulings Panel, we may gather information from industry participants using our statutory powers. We may also collect publicly available information, such as media reports, where this is relevant to carry out our compliance functions.

How we use information

To carry out our compliance functions, we may use the information we hold for audit or monitoring purposes. Where we identify the need to use the information further to consider or investigate compliance breaches and complaints with the Rulings Panel, we will only do so if required or permitted by law, or with your authorisation.

When we share information

We may share information where necessary to properly carry out our legislated functions. This information will be shared in accordance with our statutory powers and in compliance with the relevant legislation and any information sharing agreements, MOUs or similar with the other agency. This may include when we are considering and investigating compliance breaches or complaints with the Rulings Panel. We will take all practicable steps to verify information provided to third parties.

We may, for example, share information with:

• another regulator, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (as the monitoring agency) or the Rulings Panel
• the other party to an investigation or complaint with the Rulings Panel, for the purpose of investigating and resolving the investigation or complaint
• the Police or another government agency, if required by law (eg, to assist with the investigation of a criminal offence), or to report significant misconduct or breach of duty or where there is a serious threat to health or safety. If our staff are threatened or abused, we may refer this to the Police.

How do we protect information?

Information is stored and retained in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Information Security Policy, and in compliance with the Privacy Act 2020 and the Public Records Act 2005.

Contact

If you have any concerns or queries about the information we are collecting, please contact info@ea.govt.nz.