Decision paper published – Code amendment Omnibus #3

We’ve decided to amend the Electricity Industry Participation Code (Code) as part of our Code amendment omnibus #3.

In May 2024, we consulted on two proposals to amend the Code:

• inflation adjustment of the prescribed maximum fees for distributed generation applications (Part 6 of the Code)
• expanding the registry to include more detail on the distributed generation installed at an ICP (Part 11).

Thank you to our 13 submitters who provided feedback on this consultation. Your submissions informed several minor changes to the final amendments.

We proposed a one-off inflation-based increase to the level that distributors can charge for processing applications for distributed generation. This will enable distributors to better recoup their costs to process distributed generation applications. This will benefit consumers as currently fees are not always sufficient to cover costs, some of which are passed to consumers instead. We have decided to implement this adjustment from 1 November 2024 with one change – using an industry specific inflation adjustment rather than a general one.

We have also decided to expand the visibility of distributed generation information in the Electricity registry for industry participants. This will facilitate distributed generation being used by distributors, supported by flexibility traders, to more effectively manage network load, encourage consumer distributed generation uptake, and for consumers to get more value from their distributed generation. This data-related project also furthers our progress towards key distribution sector reform (as outlined in October 2023).

We’re progressing this amendment (effective 1 August 2025) with minor changes which will facilitate a smooth transition for distributors to enter distributed generation information into the registry.

The changes do not require distributors to input new information relating to distributed generation existing before the changes come into force, unless certain conditions arise. However, distributors can update information for all historical distributed generation irrespective of this. We encourage distributors to make efforts to do this as soon as practicable, so the registry provides an accurate record for participants’ benefit.

We will monitor the registry and may consider further Code amendments to require information about historical connections. We’ll also work with the registry manager to implement the updates and change the registry functional specification to reflect the changes, and the transition plan for the current data. We will invite interested parties to test the new fields in the registry when these are ready.

We will publish information on the new formats, data exchange files and data transition to give participants as much time as possible to update their systems and processes.

Read the decision paper